Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 - (Page 6) PUBLISHER Ron Brent Editor’s Note BY DAN O’ROURKE Dan O’Rourke, CMM dan.o@rbpub.com EDITOR MANAGING EDITOR Erin Eagan erin.e@rbpub.com Vera Angelico, John L. Campo, Mark Fallon, Jon Freeman, Wes Friesen, Shoshana Grove, Debora Haskel, David Henkel, Dave Lewis, Michael Maguire, Mike Maselli, Kate Muth, Peggy Smith, Mark Taylor, Dr. Tatiana Vazioulina Rachel Spahr rachel@rbpub.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Are You Prepared? I recently read an article asking, “Are your employees ready for promotion to management?” The article focused on employees being promoted based on good job performance but not having the training necessary for the role of manager. This brings up a parallel quandary — do you expect your staff, or are you expected by your management, to operate your mail center without all of the knowledge and skills necessary to do the job? In today’s tight money environment, one of the first things cut from the budget is training, especially travel-based training. Bad idea. If you want your operation to lag and falter, cutting training will do it faster than anything. Two of the most critical aspects of running your processing center are staying abreast of managerial/ operational developments and knowing how you and your operation stack up against your peers. So, two things: First, our sister publication, DOCUMENT, is presenting its 1st annual Document Strategies Forum this September 10 -12 in Chicago. Mailing Systems Technology has put together a special “mailing” track seminar for this forum. And, if I do say so myself, it’s a doozy! We have lined up a top-notch group of presenters, focusing on the topics you most want (based on your survey responses). The seminar (September 11 and 12) — has Mark Fallon, President & CEO of The Berkshire Company, presenting on operation cost reduction. Vera Angelico, a licensed architect who specializes in mail center design — and the author of our great “green” series, will be presenting on the hot topic of green mail operations. Kate Muth, VP of PostCom, will present a session on the future of our industry — what to expect around the corner. Mark Taylor, President of TAYLOR Systems Engineering Corporation, will lead a presentation on managerial effectiveness. We have several peer panels lined up to focus specifically on issues faced by session attendees and more! We’ve also lined up an all-day tutorial on September 10 devoted to the new Intelligent Mail Barcode. We have the top-notch team from Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software (the same group that presented our extremely informative webcast on IMB) to present this very timely session. If you’re going to use IMB (and you will be using IMB), this is a must-attend tutorial. I’ve been to many seminars over the years — some bad, some good, a few real good. Trust me, this is going to be a great one! Second, our Annual Wage & Operations Survey results, presented in our September/October and November/December issues, is your view into the mailing industry — your “where do we stand” look at your operation. The key to keeping the results of this survey the best and most comprehensive in the mailing industry is your input. When we all contribute, we all benefit. So, again, I ask for your input to our (your) Annual Wage & Operations Survey. Please contribute by completing the survey at www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com. The more input, the better the results. The bottom line, mail centers will continue processing the mail — and you’ll do it under tighter and tighter budget constraints. Keeping up with developments in the mailing industry is a critical and a formidable task. Mailing Systems Technology will be one of your major tools in accomplishing this mission. As always, thanks for reading Mailing Systems Technology. CIRCULATION ADVERTISING 608-241-8777 Ken Waddell ken.w@rbpub.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Meghan McCombs, Liz Hauser, Greg Middleton 2901 International Lane Madison WI 53704-3128 608-241-8777 • Fax 608-241-8666 rbpub@rbpub.com www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com Volume 21, Issue 4 Subscriptions are free to qualified recipients: $20 per year to all others in the United States. Subscription rate for Canada or Mexico is $40 per year, and for elsewhere outside of the United States is $45. Back issue rate is $5. Send subscriptions to: Mailing Systems Technology, PO Box 259098, Madison WI 53725-9098; or call 608-241-8777; fax 608-241-8666; e-mail rbpub@rbpub.com or subscribe online at www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com. For quality, customized reprints, please contact our exclusive reprint provider. FosteReprints • 866-879-9144 • www.marketingreprints.com. All material in this magazine is copyrighted ©2008 by RB Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Nothing may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher. Any correspondence sent to Mailing Systems Technology, RB Publishing Inc. or its staff becomes property of RB Publishing Inc. The articles in this magazine represent the views of the authors and not those of RB Publishing Inc. or Mailing Systems Technology. RB Publishing Inc. and/or Mailing Systems Technology expressly disclaim any liability for the products or services sold or otherwise endorsed by advertisers or authors included in this magazine. Mailing Systems Technology (ISSN 1088-2677) [Volume 21, Issue 4] is published seven times per year ( January [including the Annual Resource Guide], February, March-April, May-June, July-August, September-October, November-December) by RB Publishing Inc., 2901 International Lane, Suite 200, Madison WI 53704-3128, 608-241-8777. Periodicals postage paid at Madison WI and additional offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to: Mailing Systems Technology PO Box 259098 Madison WI 53725-9098 6 MAY-JUNE 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com http://www.marketingreprints.com http://www.MailingSystemsTechnology.com http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer It’s an Inside Job Greening Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Intelligent Mail and Address Quality 7 Steps to Combat “Do Not Mail” A Successful Resolution Q&A with Dan G. Blair, Chairman, Postal Regulatory Commission The Intelligent Mail Barcode Developing High-Performance Teams Simple Strategies to Save You Money A Powerful Social Network With Change, Comes Opportunity Increasing the Deliverability of Mail Kate’s Slate Products & Services People of Distinction Advertiser Index Sho Time Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20160910 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20160708 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_2015910 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_201010 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_201008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20100506 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20100304 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20100102 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20091112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20090910 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_200908 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20090506 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20090304 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20090102 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20081112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20080910 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20080708 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20080506 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_20080304 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rbpublishing/mst_200802 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com