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 ************************************ 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 ************************************ -----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 ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).