Museum-L:
Ann is correct that delivery of bulk mail is dependent upon each post office
and each mail carrier. We've been sending our exhibit announcements via
bulk mail for about eight years I remember one mailing where a recipient in
New Orleans received the announcement in two days, but a recipient in New
York City (we're in New York City) received it in six weeks.
Another problem with bulk mail is that mail with problems such as "no such
address," or "forwarding order expired" or whatever, may not be returned to
you. (And then you again mail to the invalid address during your next
mailing.) If you mail it first class, it will be returned immediately.
This summer we started an electronic newsletter, called "E-POPS." You can
sign up for it on our web site (www.satchmo.net). We are adding new
subscribers at the rate of 3-5 per day! E-POPS has been such a success that
we are considering, within the next year, discontinuing large bulk mailings
altogether. The expense of designing and printing an announcement, printing
labels, affixing labels, postage, etc. doesn't compare with the cost of
composing an E-POPS, with photos, and then hitting one button and instantly
reaching 2,000 subscribers. But--before I get flamed--I should add that we
haven't made this decision yet. But we're thinking about it!
Michael
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Michael Cogswell
Director
Louis Armstrong House & Archives
Queens College
Flushing, NY 11367
718-997-3670 (tel)
718-997-3677 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
Visit our web site: www.satchmo.net
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-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Anne Hartmann
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 5:09 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: bulk rate postage
We used bulk rate for our newsletter for about a year. However, we found
that in order to ensure that it got it into the hands of our members at
least a week and a half before the first of the month it had to get in the
mail system by the second week in the preceding month. The problem with
bulk seems to be that the individual postperson determines when bulk is
delivered. If he/she has a lot of mail today it might be tomorrow or
several days before that bilk mail gets out to the public. We have now gone
to first class and we have happy members. However, the cost is horrendous.
So for next year we are going to be mailing our calendar of events out in an
oversized postcard (cheaper to print & mail) that can be clipped to a magnet
on the refrigerator. Details about each program will be on our website. In
addition, we are collecting our members' e-mail addresses and will be
sending out reminders about events, etc.
Anne E. Hartmann
Executive Director
Maine Discovery Museum
74 Main St.
Bangor, ME 04401
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