Commentary: The Little Engine That Can't (Without You)

September 15, 2009 By Paul Miller, editor-in-chief, All About ROI

multipage

As the ACMA’s hard-lobbying executive director, Hamilton Davison, told me after the event, the “quality of the dialogue was incredible. To the best of my knowledge, this was the first time the USPS, the PRC and catalogers sat down for a detailed discussion together.”

Representatives from three vendor firms were in attendance, along with one trade group, NEMOA. The DMA, which recently set up a catalog and multichannel marketing segment advisory board to work with its catalog VP, Neil O’Keefe, essentially won’t have anything to do with the ACMA. Four other vendors had signed up to come, but last-minute issues arose. But imagine how incredible the dialogue might have been if more from the catalog mailing community were on hand?

(Full disclosure: Although I was on hand for the ACMA’s postal event this past May in D.C., which drew 70 attendees, I didn’t make the August forum — but then again, my business doesn’t rely on the print catalog; we in the media have our own set of issues to deal with this year.)

At this forum, members discussed with the USPS suits issues ranging from catalog postal processing costs to updated plans for automation of catalog mail to the latest on flats sorting machines. They analyzed ways to make future postage sales, like the one held this past summer, more successful — all while explaining to the PRC reps how they make business decisions on mail volume, which has plummeted since the 2007 postage increase.

The net result? One mailer attendee proclaimed to have established “real relationships” with the relevant people across the many different silos of the USPS and PRC. As an attendee pointed out to me, many of the postal reps on hand “seem to really understand the issues. They’ve spent a lot of time learning, and I believe they’re going to help change things from the inside.”

Counting Davison, the vendors, and postal and PRC reps, about 20 people attended this forum, which took place at the USPS’ L’Enfant Plaza headquarters. I know that’s enough for a pickup baseball game, but it’s far short of what’s really needed to keep the catalog mailing business, as we know it, intact.

No doubt, money’s tight for everyone right now. And virtual conferences appear to be replacing in-person events for many cash-strapped companies. For an organization as tiny as the ACMA — but one with such an aggressive agenda and opportunity to bring about positive change — more members and others with similar interests in the business need to step up to make this happen. Sitting back and watching Davison do a dance on Washington isn't going to cut it.