Amateur astronomers have a vast store of talent and expertise in making astronomical observations. When carefully channelled, their enthusiasm coupled with these characteristics can lead to the acquisition of large volumes of high-quality astronomical data. The Amateur Observation Network of the International Halley Watch (IHW) was organized to encourage comet observations by amateurs, standardize techniques whenever possible, and then collect and archive these observations for use by the astronomical community in the near and distant future as part of the whole IHW archive. The lessons learned from this experience will be useful to organizers who plan observation campaigns involving amateur astronomers in the future.