Officially called the 2011 Mega Glass Convention, the coming together of members from at least seven glass collecting groups will focus on the issues of the day. Among the top of the list will be what Chairman Jay Rogers envisions as an honest look at glass collecting today; what can be done to turn the tide of dying interest in glass collecting.

"When I started collecting about 29 years ago, there was this energy, this passion in glass collecting," the 61-year old Rogers says.

Today, he asks, where did it go?

Many of the buyers and sellers from those years have died, or are in the process of down-sizing to smaller living quarters. There are no younger collectors to "help feed the energy."

Times have changed, Roger laments. But, he understands.

"We live in a different world than the one I grew up in the 1950s, and even the 1960s," he says. "There’s no interest in what was once the greatest and most innovative industry in this country … but kids today, they have grown up in a disposable society."

As a longtime dealer, Rogers says he looks back on the 1980s as when the industry - and the country - began to change.

"I think that’s when we as a country took a real turn in a different direction," he says. "When I look at the young collector today - the people in their 20s and 30s - they pay more for their homes, cars, utilities … they don’t have the disposable incomes we had when we were younger, or when our parents were younger … where do they get the money to buy a $1,000 piece of glass?"

Another one of the dilemmas that Rogers said he and other glass collectors have noticed that new collectors often jump into the milieu less informed, instantly wanting the best.

"Everybody wants to start at the top," he says. "They start out looking for the rare cranberry opalescent piece … it does make the top pieces sell; but, it kills the bottom and medium markets. Where are the people that started collecting from the bottom and consistently building their collection?"

Rogers also wonders whether the introduction to glass collecting has become more of a "turn off" to what would be young potential collectors.

"The nature of book writing has changed," he claims. "When I first came into collecting, there were writers who had a way of writing that made collecting exciting to people. Now, they write like academics - there’s no passion in the writing.

"One of those was Bill Heacock. He was author of the series of books 1-9 called Victorian Colored Pattern Glass (Antique Publications). Bill was, by far, the most passionate writer on glass of the Victorian era in my estimation. I really attribute the boom of the 70s and 80s interest in pattern glass directly to Bill. Today, the newer writers seem to write more from the mind, rather than the heart."

Accepting the current realities, and finding means to turn the losses to gains, is a major topic of the summit, according to Rogers.

"We’ve got to get glass out in front of everyone," he says " … we can’t change an aging populations of collectors … nor can we drag the next generation of collectors to the trough and expect them to drink if we don’t lead the way."

Confirmed participants at the Mega Convention are already pouring in from the National Toothpick Holder Collectors Society, Antique Glass Salt and Sugar Shaker Club, Mt. Washington/Pairpoint Glass Society, Early American Pattern Glass Society, Wave Crest Collectors Club, Vaseline Glass Collectors, Inc., and the National American Glass Club.

Glass artist David P. Salazar has created a special edition piece commemorating the historical occasion.

"Mt. Washington glass collectors are avid toothpick holder collectors and many toothpick holder collectors are avid EAPG collectors," Rogers says. "I have coined the term ’cross-pollinators’ for these collectors. So, from this seed of thought comes an idea that in my estimation is overdue … Light a fire that excites a sense of something old and making it new."

A centerpiece of the Conference is education and sharing knowledge "on our similarities rather than what separates us," according to Rogers.

Each of the seven clubs will have its own separate business meetings; however, there will be collateral events which will include speakers, auctions, a visit to an antique show and interactive seminars. Speakers include Jeffrey S. Evans (Jeffrey S. Evans Auctions), a representative from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art of Kansas City and Alina Adams of the Wave Crest Collectors Club. This is just the beginning, Rogers said.

Rogers - who anticipates around 350 participants at this first Mega Convention - would like to see such a meeting every other year or so. And, he wants to hear frank, honest and concrete talk about how to change the ongoing trend.

"I think some of these collector organizations get caught in a trap; they do the same thing every year," he says. "But, it’s time to step out and do something different … we need to broaden our base. We need to get the history of this once great American industry and this great period of American design.

"But we also have to be honest about what has happened in the past 30 years. History is as history is. You can try to ignore it, but it’s still there … I think we’ll get out of (this slump). I think there is hope … how we keep this industry alive - you’ve got to believe in something, or there’s no reason to continue on."

Contact: (404) 523-6065

www.2011mega-glassconvention.info

Eric C. Rodenberg