A new Postmaster General (PMG), new postage rate increases, and a new reporting system. Taken alone, any of these three topics would be reason enough to attend this year’s National Postal Forum (NPF), May 17-20, 2015, in Anaheim, California. With all 3 events occurring within months of each other, attendance should be mandatory for business mailers.
PMG Megan Brennan is taking charge of the United States Postal Service (USPS) during a time of uncertainty. The “Network Optimization” program begun under her predecessor has produced mixed results. Expenses have decreased, but so have service levels. Mailers are seeing unprecedented delivery delays across the country. Congress has still failed to take up any bills to reform the disastrous impact of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. The U.S. Senate hasn’t confirmed any of President Obama’s nominees to the USPS Board of Governors for the last 5 years.
In her first few months in office, PMG Brennan has already begun to make changes. The closures of many processing plants have been delayed. The senior leadership team has seen the first of several needed departures. There seems to be more outreach to the mailing community.
On Monday, May 18, 2015, Postmaster General Brennan will deliver the keynote address to the NPF attendees. We’re hopeful that she will address the issues facing the USPS and mailers with concrete ideas, and not platitudes or “marketing-speak”. We also look forward to the opportunity to ask questions of her and her leadership team. And receive straight answers.
In addition to getting the chance to meet with vendors at the exhibit hall, there will be many new classes and sessions for attendees. We’re planning to learn more about the metrics, the Mailer Scorecard (and potential fines and penalties), mailers’ groups working together, and the migration to Internet-based production. A few specific classes that stand out are: Measuring ROI of Multi-Channel Direct Mail on Sunday morning, PCC + MTAC = Gr8 Synergy on Monday, and Cloud 101 on Wednesday.
Mark Fallon, President of The Berkshire Company, will be presenting 4 classes:
- Boot Camp for Mail Center Managers I, Sunday 2:45PM - 3:45PM (Room 210A)
- Boot Camp for Mail Center Managers II, Monday 1:30PM - 2:30PM (Room 213A)
- Quality Control in Mail Operations, Tuesday, 11:00AM to 12:00PM (Room 209A)
- On The Shoulders of Giants: You Can’t Get There From Here Without Help, Wednesday, 3:15PM to 4:15PM (Room 208A) – Note: This is a new class about mentors and coaches, presented with Sean Joyce.
It’s shaping up to be an eventful conference. We’re looking forward to an interesting, interactive and productive week at NPF 2015. Hope to see you there!