Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The New Colnect Core Coordinator - Hernan Bofill [hbofill12]

In the great Colnect team there are many different roles. Some start out initiating something new, some Colnect finds for a new role, for some a role simply grows on them. But this is not one of these cases, this case is unique. Here a role is just so perfect for a collector, that it's almost as if it was created for him.

The collector, as most of you know him, is Hernán Bofill [hbofill12] and the new role is Colnect Core Coordinator (CCC). This role will allow him to be in contact with coordinators of all categories, offering his support and advice. He will be with a finger on the pulse of all catalogs, so he'll know when something is needed to be done and what. At the same time he'll have the bird's eye view of Colnect, with the freedom to introduce and push forward ideas. Hernán Bofill [hbofill12] is now your top guy on everything related to the catalogs.
Hernán and his son, Nino
Since joining 3 years ago, Hernán has been relentless in pushing the catalogs and the community forward. Most importantly, he has been relentless in his enjoyment of what he does, refusing to let anything stifle his enthusiasm and momentum. He has very quickly made himself an invaluable resource. By offering his expertise, time, mentoring and always his care he won the respect and gratitude of many of Colnect's team and members.

You see him all the time, editing and coordinating on so many catalogs, answering on the forum and in private, swapping and listing, but let's hear a little more from him about himself.
hbofill12 as you all know him

- What do you collect?
My primary collecting items are coins. Then I have a lot of tokens and medals, that I am putting in order. Due to a "space issue” I only collect labels of the beverages that I drink. I am also a Beatles fan, so I collect Beatles CDs and memorabilia. I have a huge quantity of events tickets (Sports, Concerts, Admission) and Pins, and also some rocks, fossils and shells.

- How did you start collecting?
Since I was a child, I always had the collecting virus in me. Toys, magazines, stickers, glass balls. I always wanted to complete a series…

- Why do you think collecting is valuable?
Collecting, no matter what you collect, means two principal things to me. First, a lot of learning and knowledge. Second, creating relationships with other collecting partners.

- Which roles have you taken on Colnect before?
I've started in Colnect as a Coins editor for Argentina, Paraguay and Fantasy Issues. I would really like to thank Jim [Rubycored] for his mentoring. He was the one that motivated and pushed me to become what I am in this community. Then I became a Global Coins editor and Drink Labels coordinator. One year later, I was helping Jim and Angelo with the coordination of Coins, and handling the coordination of Tokens and Medals. In the middle of that Jim offered his Security Manager position to me and I accepted. With this, Amir also wanted me to become one of the site admins and I started working with some of the other category coordinators, helping them, for example, assign stars and grant editing permissions.

- What do you think are the main challenges Colnect faces?
We have a great catalog and we cover most of the “Swapping” collectibles, which is great. The main challenge that I see now is to improve the data in our catalogs. Doing this, I am sure that we are on the way to become the world's main collecting reference.

- Which are the first issues you'll be focusing on?
I would like to make the coordinator's day by day in Colnect more easy. I am working in a couple of ideas and I hope to share them soon.

- How can members help out?
There are many ways to help out in this community. I think that one of the best ways to start is asking your primary collection coordinator how you can help him. Be sure that he/she will find a task for you to do. This could be a good starting point.

- What would you like collectors to know about you, that they don't know yet?
Well, most of them know me but perhaps they don’t know much about me. About my personal life, I can tell you that I am from Argentina and I am 38 years old. I am married and have two kids. Nino who is 10 years old and Helena who is 6. I am a Systems Engineer and work for a pharmacy industry company, leading the Latin America software factory projects. As I said above, apart from collecting, I am a Beatles fan and enjoy going to music concerts. I also like to watch Football and Rugby.

Hernán Bofill and his family
To wrap this post up, we will finish resolving a mystery with another mystery. Many have asked and wondered, what is the meaning or reason of Hernán's OM avatar? The answer lies before you. As he wrote: "This is my necklace. It was created especially for me and it has been with me since 1997."


Thank you, hbofill12, for all that you have done and with all that you will do. Good luck and congratulations on this new role, we are all excited for you :)

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Phonecard Catalog Exceeds HALF A MILLION Phone Cards - The World's Biggest

As some of you may already know, Phonecards was the very first category on Colnect. It is the founding corner stone of our community. All other categories on Colnect have originated following the first footsteps made by the Phonecards category, community and most of all - coordinators, editors and contributors.
"A Sua Melhor Companhia No Vital" Brazilian Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
It is incredible to see how far it has gone since! Colnect now is very proud to announce that the Phonecards catalog now displays 500,005 phonecards, surpassing half a million cards.

"Jap. Writing" Japanese Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
"Igreja De Pedras - Vigia - PA - P5978" Brazilian Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
How was it done? It was done by the ceaseless quest of so many collectors to add more items, more information, make it more accurate and in general - make the Colnect Phonecards Great. It a long journey that aims for perfection. In the last 30 days alone, 2,701 Phonecards from 50 countries were added to the catalog.
"Goldcard" Japanese Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
And therefore we have to give credit, as we can, to the numerous wonderful collectors who have made it happen and are continuing to make it happen every day. Coordinators that manage the catalogs, keeping a keen eye for detail, country Editors that diversify, clean and correct the catalogs, Contributors that add new information and images every day.

"Jap. Writing" Japanese Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
The current Phonecards category coordinator is no other than the amazing Ignacio F López Vico [iflvico], Colnect's community manager and one of the original core team on Colnect. He has coordinated this category before as well, but there were more coordinators along the way who have helped bring the category to where it is today - Yury Yelensky [Landerstorm], Carlos Rodriguez, [venezuelanphonecards], Vadym Sulimenko [Dravec] and Trudy Hoogenboom [trudyh]. Important to note also Karl Heinz Degener [neizi], Hernan Bofill [hbofill12], Sombat Tamtirapong [kung1951], Graeme Kilpatrick [nzexchange] and Jorge Pablo Villegas [Jorgepablo2005].
"Jap. Writing" Japanese Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
It is not possible to properly thank the many many collectors who have each added to this accomplishment in a great way. As you see on the editors and contributors lists, they are too many to mention. Each of them taking much care in their treatment of the catalog, each responsible for different part of the catalog, sometimes even creating a whole section from scratch. Thank you all, for bringing all this beauty into the world's view.

"Jap. Writing" Japanese Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
Thank you very much to each and every one of you, for making the catalog beautiful for the hundreds of thousands visiting it every month from around the world.

"Paris s'eveille L'Arc de Triomphe" French Phonecard, newly added on Colnect
Want to join the Phonecards category team? Have Phonecards you would like to see on the Colnect catalog? Read more on our Catalog Contribution Guidelines help page and get started!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Medal Catalog Surpasses 10,001 Medals

The Medals category has been long discussed and much anticipated before it was finally created in March 2013. Medals, items that are made only for the most special and selected occasions, are precious and rare. Creating a catalog of them, much like the collection of medals, is more like a treasure hunt than regular cataloging.
"Medal Fire for Courage" Bulgaria 1950-1975, from the Colnect catalog
That is why Colnect is extremely proud to announce that the Medals catalog is now displaying over 10,001 Medals! Not only that, but the catalog has a perfect shiny 100% of items with beautiful quality images and completed with usage, composition and Colnect catalog codes. Despite the challenges the creation of a Medals category presents, the coordinators, editors and contributors of the category insisted adding as much information as possible in the best way possible.

"Medal of Motherhood" silver Albania 1950-1990, from the Colnect catalog
We would wholeheartedly like to thank all those have brought this category to light. Thank you to the category coordinator, Hernan Bofill [hbofill12], for his leadership and for the meticulous and relentless work to bring this category to perfection. Special thank you is owed to top talent collaborators Petyo Shopov [PShopov], milanovt600 as well as to hashtablakoo2000 for the creation of the Iranian section. To all the Editors and Contributors, without whom this catalog will not be possible and to all those who supported this category from the very beginning. The catalog itself is a Medal reflecting your amazing efforts :)

"Commemorative Medal to visit the Manchu emperor in Japan 1935" China, Dynastic Empires, from the Colnect catalog 
"Ordre de la Centreafricaine Reconocimiento, Chevalier" Central African Republic 1962, from the Colnect catalog 
You can follow the whole discussion that brought about the category into being, including the deliberation of what form the catalog should take, on the Medals category forum thread on the New Categories forum. Interested in creating a new collectible category yourself on Colnect? Go to the More Collectibles? page for more information.

"Order of the Zähringen Lion With Oak Leaves Commander" German Empire 1812-1918, from the Colnect catalog
Would you like to join the Colnect Medals team? Want to add more Medals to the catalogs or some other collectible? Read more on how to become a Colnect contributor on the Catalog Contribution Guidelines help page.
"Medal In Memory of Nicholas I for university" Russia 1896, from the Colnect catalog 

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