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Postal issues are understandably top-of-mind for today’s direct mailers, and keeping up with changes is essential for being compliant and getting the most for postal dollars. To help keep you informed, Harte-Hanks provides the Postology Report. This monthly report keeps you up-to-date with the latest postal happenings and the impact of these changes on your business.

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In this Issue:

The 2011 USPS National Postal Forum

Once a year, the United States Postal Service (USPS) puts on a show inviting the industry to learn what‘s new in the mailing world from a postal nuts-and-bolts perspective. This year, the National Postal Forum was held in San Diego, CA...

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USPS Core Mission: Delivery

Pat Donahoe, CEO and Postmaster General of the USPS, opened the National Postal Forum and set the stage with the video, I Want My Mail. Commenting on the video, Pat said, “That kind of sums up why we are all here: people want their mail.  They rely on their mail.  They value their mail....

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That Prepaid Retirement Issue that Won’t Go Away

The USPS may choose to not pay its $5.5 billion annual obligation to the Treasury Department this fall.  That payment covers the healthcare benefits of retired employees. The USPS will have to make a decision on this later in the year, said Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe at a press conference at the National Postal Forum in San Diego...

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A USPS Summer Sale for 2011 – Call it Mobile
The USPS will offer a special discount as a summer promotion to temporarily adjust the prices for its market-dominant products: First-Class Mail and Standard Mail. This adjustment will take effect at 12:01 AM on July 1, 2011 and expire at 11:59 PM on August 31, 2011.  The change will provide commercial mailers an upfront three percent (3%) discount on the prices for First-Class Mail and Standard Mail letters and flats which include a mobile barcode inside or on the mailpieces...

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Here is a sampling of industry news
from across the nation:
U.S. Postal Service Press Release: Building on the simplicity of flat-rate shipping and value of Forever postage, the U.S. Postal Service today announced a new way to ship that lets customers lock in future postage at current prices using select Priority Mail Flat Rate packaging...
The American Independent: The U.S. Postal Service is hurting.  In April, The American Independent reported that it’s teetering on the brink of financial insolvency, with no obvious solution in sight...
Dallas Morning News: Nearly 30 letters containing a white powder — some of them from the Dallas area — that were delivered to District of Columbia schools on Thursday are similar to those mailed to schools elsewhere in the U.S. over the last several weeks, the FBI said...
PRNewswire: After months of extensive research and testing, the U.S. Postal Service has agreed to move forward with the Picture Permit Imprint Indicia concept introduced by Avanzado, LLC and spearheaded by the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC)...
Washington Post: Some of the folks responsible for developing and promoting e-mail, e-commerce and social media are banding together in an attempt to save the U.S. Postal Service, the institution arguably most threatened by the technological developments of the past few years...
Art Daily: The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum has acquired from The Franklin Institute a Confederate postage-stamp printing plate that was confiscated during the Civil War.  The printing plate contains 400 5-cent Jefferson Davis stamp images etched in copper and weighs nearly 100 pounds...

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