23/10: 4th Unofficial London 2012 Pin Collectors Pin Meet

Yesterday saw the 4th pin meet for the London 2012 pin collectors. Our number grow steadily at each meet and this time we had 23 attendees of whom 11 were 'first-timers' to one of our meets. Collectors from Land's End and Calgary attended as well as those that live near the Olympic Park. There were a few familiar faces that were not able to make it, so let's hope that they will be free for the next meet.

Many of the collectors enhanced their collections and made some very good trades. Those that attended for the first time were welcomed into the groups and all of them were bitten by the bug I think. Speaking to them towards the end of the meet, I think they will be back for the next meet with traders in hand!

We were joined by two representatives from the London 2012 team at Coca Cola who shared some information with us about the plans for the Coca Cola Pin Trading Centres and listened to our ideas for designs for their range of Coca Cola pins that will be available next year.

Honav attended and announced their new range of pins which show posters and logos from past Games using artwork from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) museum's collection. You can read more about the new pins in a following post.

Originally we had hoped that a film crew from London 2012 would be joining us to record the event and make a small video promoting pin collecting and trading for their website. Unfortunately they had to cancel at the 11th hour, but have promised to join us at the next meet. They are fully committed to publicising pin trading to their readers.

We discussed plans for future meetings and the general consensus was that we will aim to get together next year in January and then once a month from March until Games time.

Thank you to everyone that attended and continue to make these meetings a success. As soon as I have details for the next meet, I'll post on the blog.

Finally, thank you to Jan and her team at the Railway Tavern in Stratford. Not only does she allow us to use the pub conservatory for our meets, completely free of charge, but she and her staff always make us feel welcome. We really do appreciate your support.

So, in summary a thoroughly enjoyable day. Not only a chance to trade pins, but to meet other collectors and see pins you have only seen pictures of before. I'm looking forward to Pin Meet 5 already.