Just confirmed my trip, I will be there too!! Woohoo 
Do we have a official meetup card yet???
Awesome, I’m looking forward to seeing you there!
I’m working on the meetup card right now and I’ll have the design ready in about a week!
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Thank you for thinking about attending, we’d love to have you!
The USPS has not released an official plan for the stamp dedication ceremony yet, but they will closer to the ceremony date, so we don’t know exactly what time it will be yet.
However, I went to the show in 2019 where they dedicated the Military Working Dogs stamps and I can tell you how that went because this will likely be similar. The dedication ceremony started at noon and lasted about 35 minutes. The ceremonies all operate in a similar manner, they start off with the National Anthem, then have a few short speeches from various people that may include the local Postmaster, national USPS representatives, a representative from the stamp show, the artist, representatives relevant to the stamp topic, etc. Then, they drop the curtain covering the new stamp to reveal it, several photos are taken, and then the ceremony is over. Everybody is gifted a “Ceremony Program”, which is a program from the ceremony in a nice envelope with the new stamp and a first day postmark on it. Everyone also receives a lapel pin featuring one of the new stamps. Sometimes people get their programs autographed by the speakers.
The meetup will begin immediately after all of that is over with. I’ll hold up a sign with the Postcrossing logo, we’ll all find each other and sit down at a table and start signing postcards and chatting. This takes the longest but it depends on how many people are there, but I’d estimate it to take between 1-1.5 hours. After that you can go mail your postcards at the USPS booth with the First Day of Issue postmark. The USPS booth will also have the brand new stamps for sale. You can only get the FIrst Day of Issue postmark if you’re mailing something with the new stamp on it. However, if you’re using different stamps, the USPS will also have a few other special postmarks available, because they do a different postmark for each day of the show. I will post a copy of all of those here once they are announced closer to the show date.
TLDR- the whole thing should last no longer than Noon-3PM, but you’re welcome to come as early as you want and stay as late as you want to look around and enjoy the stamp show because admission is free for everyone.
I hope this helps, please let me know if you have any other questions!
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Thank you for the details, I could see the situation as if I was there. 
It is a very nice ceremony, I am very much looking forward to it. 
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Thank you for answering everthing in depth, I am super excited to see you all there. Looking forward to our meetup card next week :))
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Very excited, will be there 
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Totally new to this…will be attending. I look forward to the Postcrossing official card. Do we need to register to receive the Pony Car stamp and cancellation mark ? Thanks
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No! No registration is needed, you just have to show up. Admission is free for everyone!
Anyone going from San Jose for the meet-up ?
Many of you have asked about the meetup card design, here’s what I have for us-
A California Grizzly Bear with a Pony Car.
I’ll need to get an idea of how many to order. I can order them and then either mail them to you in advance or bring them along with me.
If I order 2,000 they’re 8 cents each, but if I order 3,000 they’re 7 cents each, and if I order 5,000 they’re only 5 cents each.
I’ll buy 200 of the postcards for myself but I need an idea of how many other people want so that I know how many to order.
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Looks cute love the car! @Angelthepup22 I would confirm the exact number I need in a few days here. Btw Can we also bring our own meetup cards for the meetup to get signatures on from other members? Thanks in advance, Geetika
We usually just sign the back side of the meetup card we order but yes, you’re welcome to bring others too. Are you planning to create another meetup card design?
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@Angelthepup22 No not a meetup card (it won’t bear the postcrossing logo!) But more like a whole GASS event card that I am planning to illustrate for my visit to Sacramento and would like a few cards to have signatures from the postcrossing meetup attendees too for my own personal swap collection.
Yes! You’re totally welcome to do that!
They typically have a different ‘theme’ for each day of the show, and that will be reflected in each day’s special postmark, I’ll let you know what they are as soon as I find out so that you can include those themes in your illustration if you’d like to.
So I will order some , of course, but as I said earlier I have never done this ! Could you please explain what we do with the cards themselves? And approximately how many an average event would be needed ?
Thank you for making the design! I’ll take 20 please and pick them up at the event.
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Meetup cards are kind of like a commemorative item from the event, sort of like a party favor I suppose, or like if you go to a concert and buy a tshirt that has the artist’s name and the concert date on it, or a commemorative cup from a sporting event.
All of the postcrossers in attendance at a meetup sign their usernames on the back side of the cards, and then we send them to people. Some people specifically collect cards from meetups and there’s even a facebook group just for trading them!
Personally, I usually send 5-10 as official Postcrossing cards (with ID numbers) and then send several more to friends I swap meetup cards with.
How many should you buy? That depends on what you want to do with them. I’d recommend keeping at least one for yourself in your collection, mailing some to people as official cards, and then keeping extras in your postcard stash so that if you come across a Postcrossing profile later on where someone mentions that they collect them, you can send them one of these.
Why am I buying 200 or 300? The first reason is that they’re very cheap since we’re buying in bulk. 300 postcards for $20 is a very good price. I will send some as official cards, swap some with other people, hold onto some extras to trade or give away at future meetups, and keep a bunch in my postcard stash in case I get profile requesting bears, cars, or Postcrossing meetup cards.
I hope this helps explain it but if you have any more questions please let me know, I’ll be happy to answer!
Hi, I would like to purchase 30 cards, and I can also pick up at the event. I can pay in advance via paypal or venmo if that may be helpful. Thanks!
I would like a 20! Thanks, Geetika. Do you know if we also have a special FDOI postmark for the pony stamps issue? @Angelthepup22
Thanks in advance 
I’d like 15. If you need payment before the event, please let me know.