Completing collections is not only fun, but it also satisfies my OCD-like need to complete sets of things. Has anyone else experienced this and noticed that “pin collecting” is a low-cost, high-reward option? And if you’ve worked with the IBM i platform (maybe you’ve heard of the AS/400, iSeries, i5, or Power Systems?), perhaps you’ve had experience with the COMMON organization? Did you know that for almost 30 YEARS, a conference pin has been created and made available to attendees yearly?
Before I explain, here’s a little nostalgia to help you get to know the author: in grade school, I swapped stamps and spent my recesses trading stickers (kept on photo album pages, the best being the fruit scratch n’ sniff ones in the early ’80s):
By middle school, it was matchbox cars and then text-based video games (a different floppy for each Infocom game). Newspaper comic sections, then full comic book runs, were an incredible find for my high school years (I was a DC guy right off the bat). But once I became an adult and then a parent, priorities refocused, and I settled for a few rare books that had personal meaning to me, and that was that. Or so I thought! Something I didn’t even see coming hit me like a ton of bricks: I had been, inadvertently, for just a few dollars donated each time, allowed the COMMON Users Group conference pins to sneak their way into my life! Here’s the one from Opryland that started it all for me:
I never saw myself becoming one of “those pin collectors” – the people who cover their walls with a hundred years of Olympic pins or a vast Disney pin collection. Yet, here I am, eagerly anticipating the pin design at COMMON’s POWERUp 2025 Conference in May – since it’s in Anaheim, perhaps it will be Disneyland-related?
The COMMON organization seems to have started its pin-a-year tradition in 1995, highlighting the event’s location and the organization’s core message of “For the COMMON Good”:
The organization dates back to 1960 and remains the world’s largest professional association of technology professionals focused on the IBM platform. Volunteers run its charitable arm, the COMMON Education Foundation (CEF), and pin sales help fund this important charity. Perhaps you’ve purchased one at the Registration Desk or seen the recent silent auctions containing special collections? If so, you’re helping educate the next generation of IBM technology users through your purchase!
My most significant leap forward in my collection occured this year when Laura Ubelhor (a generous volunteer) was able to combine Don Uriui’s supply of old pins (another volunteer, you’ve seen him at the registration booth) into this amazing silent auction donation for the CEF:
This colorful and fun foam pin board displays most of the historical pins from the last 30 years! This donation was a chance to fill most of the gaps in my collection in one fair swoop, so a nice donation to the CEF was worth the time savings! I’ve been swapping, adding, and removing pins, and my collection is almost complete. This display now holds a place of honor on my office wall, transforming my collection from a hobby into a piece of art.
My collection consists of 49 pieces from the conferences, plus four special ones (CEF 20th anniversary, two volunteer pins, and IBM i’s 35th year). I wear my extras to the conferences to attract traders; they’re always a great conversation starter! Did you get the Fort Worth sheriff’s badge style one last year? I heard they sold out quickly:
My journey from childhood sticker collector to COMMON pin enthusiast might seem like a random progression, but looking back, it makes perfect sense. Each collection marked a different phase of my life, and these COMMON pins represent not just where I am now but the entire community I’ve grown to be a member of. Sometimes, the most meaningful collections aren’t the ones we deliberately seek out but the ones that find us!
So here’s to the next pin, the next conference, and the next collection! Remember, when you get your next conference pin, it was a donation to a fine non-profit educational organization. When you wear it, you say, “I’m a part of the IBM i community and here to share knowledge, support career growth, and work for the COMMON good!”
Oh, and if anyone happens to have 2007, 2009, 2012, or the 2017 Harry Potter 5-pin set they’re willing to trade – let’s talk! 😊 📌
Mitch Hoffman is the Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Eradani. For more information, reach out to us today!
