One of the really fun things to do in this hobby is to visit other
people and to see their collections.  However, travel being what it is,
it is difficult to visit a large number of people.

A recent and interesting development on the web is the emergence of a
variety of new web sites that allow you to post pictures.  Generally,
the sites do not charge you to post your photos.  This gives us the
opportunity to post pictures of our collections so that others may
engage in virtual visiting.  To give this a try, I have posted pictures
of our collection on the web and I invite MMD members to have a look.
I am also hopeful that others will do the same with their collections
so that we might share.

While MMD has a photo gallery (and I have contributed), the photo album
sites are a little different in that each individual controls what is
or is not posted.  Thus, if you sell a piece you can remove it or if
you buy a piece you can add it.  MMD may want to add a virtual visiting
section with links to the sites of various collections.

To access my site, go to http://www.photopoint.com/.  There, you will
find a box to enter the email address of the person whose album you
wish to view.  Type in gbay@home.com and you will see all of our albums
including grandkids, etc.  Ignore those, if you wish, and go to the
ones showing our collection and enjoy.  I don't claim that the photo-
graphy and scanning is particularly good or that the collection is all
that exciting, but you may have some fun "visiting".

As it stands, Photopoint does not allow you to post audio clips al-
though they probably will in the future.  I like the site because it
has a very easy interface.  However, there are other sites such as
clubphoto.com that are more robust.

I'd be interested in any comments you might have about the pros and
cons of the "virtual visiting" concept.

Gerry Bay