Postcrossing Meetup in Belgrade

On Saturday, 17.06. the first meeting of lovers of postcards and postage stamps was held in Belgrade. The Postcrossing community in Serbia has around 800 members and has sent more than 60,000 postcards so far.

Meetings of "postcrossers" like the one in Belgrade take place in every country, and at them community members have the opportunity to exchange postcards, postage stamps, but also positive experiences related to this hobby that has been popular since ancient times.

For each meeting, a commemorative postcard is printed on which the date and place of the meeting are marked, and the design of this postcard is often created by the members. The special charm of the postcards is given by the signatures of all those present at the meeting, which will be on the back of the postcard.

This kind of postcard within the Postcrossing community has a special charm, so when many members emphasize what kind of postcard they would like to receive from a randomly selected stranger, they emphasize that they want this particular one from the meeting.

The organizer of the event was Anna Radun, one of the most active members in our country, who sent around 2700 postcards. She has been doing this hobby for more than 13 years, and she says that this is exactly how she met wonderful people with whom she actively socialises.

"We are fans of the written word, for us postcross is not just a word on paper and a stamp on a postcard, first of all it is beautiful emotions that people share all over the world." - says Radun and adds that the live gathering is important for people to see that they are not alone in this hobby, that there is support in terms of finding postcards, organization and consultation for anything that is not clear.

She came up with the idea of organizing the meeting together with Vladimir Vojinović because she has corresponded with him for years and shares her love for this hobby.

"This event is special because for the first time we sent messages to all active members at Postcrossing and organized the most numerous meeting that took place in this part of the Balkans." - says Radun and adds that guests from Macedonia were also expected but, unfortunately, they were prevented from coming.

As many as 21 countries around the world recognized the value of this hobby, and the effort of the community to present their country in the best possible way, so they printed a special commemorative postage stamp marked "postcrossing" in 64 different variants.

Stefan Tešanović, the founder and president of the Society of Maksimaphiles of Serbia, points out that this hobby is a unique opportunity to promote the culture and tradition of Serbia through personal experiences.

"Something that would further strengthen the community is the possibility for the JP Post of Serbia to issue a commemorative stamp in the amount of 100 dinars, which is the cost of sending one postcard abroad. This commemorative stamp would give us the opportunity to further promote the exchange of postcards, as well as philately itself." - said Tešanović and added that one of the special branches of philately gathers people who collect postcards that were sent and addressed to them.

"It adds special value when there is a stamp on the postcard itself that promotes Postcrossing and the values it represents. That's why we came up with the idea to submit a request to the JP Post of Serbia to issue a commemorative stamp in the amount of 100 dinars with the motifs of Serbia and the Postcrossing community." - pointed out Tesanovic.