[meteorite-list] IMCA not a knight in shining armour !

[Notkin]

Bob Walker posted:

> I'd like to hear from other Listoids who have had "disagreements"  
> with IMCA - I'm beginning to take the view that there is a bad odour  
> to IMCA


Dear Bob:

It always upsets me when I hear someone grumbling about the IMCA, but  
thankfully that's a rare occurrence.

No organization is perfect, but the IMCA is a wonderful example of  
what hardworking people can accomplish when they try to make their  
community a better place. It's easy to sit behind a keyboard and point  
fingers. It's a lot harder to actually get up and do something positive.

Look at the current list of IMCA officers -- Dr. Larry Lebofsky, Anne  
Black, Peter Marmet, Jeff Kuyken, Andrzej Pilski, Martin Altmann,  
Sergey Vasiliev, Maria Haas, Norbert Classen. These people are not  
amateurs! They are some of the most respected names in our field and  
they give up enormous amounts of their personal time for no financial  
compensation in order to help steer the IMCA. The IMCA has established  
a set of ethical standards that members must adhere to and that's an  
excellent step forward as there have been quite a few out-and-out  
crooks selling in our field over the past decade. An IMCA logo on your  
website or eBay page tells prospective buyers that you are known by  
your peers to be a reputable seller.

I have a suggestion for you: If you want to know what really goes on  
in the IMCA why not volunteer? They can for sure use the help and you  
will have the opportunity to discover for yourself how these good  
people are helping to improve the meteorite collecting world.


Geoff N.

www.aerolite.org
IMCA #4242