The majesticly high ceiling of the Atlantic City Convention Center towered over thousands of mailers, printing/mailing equipment & software dealers on April 8th - 11th. For this was the place and time of the 18th annual "MAILCOM" Conference & Exhibition.

Almost two hundred exhibitors boasted their products and services to an enthusiastic audience gathered together from all over the world. Blended in among the vast isles of exhibitors were 18 members of the AIMED group, taking advantage of the great marketing and information sharing opportunity.

They were Aristo Computers, Ascom Hasler Mailing Systems, Datatech Enterprises, Duplo U.S.A. Corp., Hamilton Sorter Co., Kwik-File Inc., Martin Yale Industries, Micro General Corp., MOS Scale International, Neopost, Opex Corporation, Parcel Insurance Plan, QuickPak Inc., REI/Mail Master, RENA Systems, Tracer Research, W.A. Charnstrom and Weigh-Tronics Inc.

Highlights of the show included the launching and unveiling of many new products as well as plans for items to become available in the very near future. Ever since the U.S. Postal Service started it's ongoing "Classification Reform" reorganization program and rate case, the database management, printing & mailing world has been in a fast paced whirlwind of change and improvement.

Many new mailing rules, rates and methods are now implemented and there will be many more to follow. Vendors, distributors and manufacturers are all madly scrambling to develop, test and launch products and solutions which will enable mailers of all sizes to conform with as well as take advantage of the new options.

Companies such as Window Book Inc., the developers and suppliers of the Windows based electronic Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) and the International Mail Manual (IMM) software for the P.C. rolled out the latest new versions. Their primary product, The Complete Postal Library (with the DMM, IMM and many other helpful programs for both Domestic and International mailers) contain all of the new rules, rates and preparation requirements that one would find in the old fashioned paper/book versions of the DMM and IMM, plus postal calculators, mailing analysis software and more. As an added bonus, Window Book also incorporates pertinent mailing and postage information from the bimonthly Postal Bulletin as it is released. Other benefits of their electronic libraries and products over the paper alternatives include the fact that updates are quickly provided on a quarterly basis (before the paper DMM and IMM come out) in order to keep mailers more current as the USPS continues to roll out new rules and rates. In addition, you can easily find what you need by using the products' handy search engine and then print out only the information you need, as often as you like. No more searching around your facility for your hardcopy version or being frustrated by sections being taken out and not there when you need them. Mr. Jeff Peoples, President of Window Book Inc. is so confident that people will love to use their products that he's made us the following offer:

If you would like a TOTALLY FREE, full-working copy (NOT a demo) of their "Domestic Mail Rates Calculator & Informator" or the "International Mail Rates Calculator & Informator" software, simply visit their Web-Site at http://www.windowbook.com and you can download it instantly. If you still don't have internet access (shame on you if you don't), there has never been a better time to get it.

Or call Window Book at 617-441-3500 and tell them you read their offer in BTA Solutions and they will mail you a copy for just $5.00 to cover shipping, handling & costs.

Another red-hot booth at the show was that of the United States Postal Service. For years, Postmaster General Marvin Runyon has been aggressively fighting to get the USPS the in-house ability to change and implement more competitive rates without having to go through and consult with third parties.

The USPS claims that by getting such "rate-changing" authority and flexibility, they would be able to roll out many very attractive new pricing options and services to gain more market share and pull many of the customers who us companies such as UPS, Fed-Ex, DHL, Airborne, etc. their way. In more than one public speech, the USPS has complained that under it's current restrictions and systems, it takes less time for a person to get pregnant and have a baby than it does for them to get a postal rate change.

This "win-new-business" attitude and competitive drive was clearly demonstrated at the show by the live seminars, work-group and one-on-one discussions conducted in the USPS booth. While the USPS has been doing a very good job overall of delivering letters to every nook and crevice of our great country, they made it abundantly clear that they want more of our Domestic as well as International package, parcel and shipping business (and revenue). The additional revenue which would be earned by the increase of business in these areas is claimed to be a key factor in the plan to keep overall postage rates down as much as possible over the next few years.

Mr. Runyon's efforts and the hard work by his team is really starting to show. To the likes of many of the show attendees, the Postal Service is noticeably running and presenting itself much more like a "modern, hungry business" and less like an "old fashioned government agency" or "monopoly".

I have personally been following the actions and efforts of the Postal service very closely over the past few years and I am convinced that they could in fact be "the company to watch". Despite popular opinion (especially from those who truly don't know the facts), if Mr. Runyon and the USPS can complete and launch just half of the programs and competitive pricing structures which they have in progress on their drawing boards, they could become very tough competition for all of the other package and parcel delivery services and shippers. Don't forget, the USPS already offers service to the entire country, including the most remote areas.

With a little more internal authority (for special pricing and faster changes) and a continuation of their ongoing efforts toward automating their package and parcel routing and delivery processes, they could in fact become very hard to beat. With the right systems and an aggressive marketing campaign they truly could regain a much greater market share of tomorrow's' package and parcel distribution industry.

Also at the show, leading address management, presorting and barcoding software companies such as Postalsoft, Group1 and Mailers' Software showed the crowds their latest and greatest software versions and solutions to enable fast and flexible database management, list hygiene and the maximization of the newly available postage discounts. While many of these leading companies are in the process of developing or refining their Windows95 or WindowsNT versions of their products, there are a few companies still slowly trailing behind with old-fashioned DOS programs.

Dozens of equipment dealers gave live demonstrations of printers and mail processing machinery from items as small as a table top scale, right on up to the long Multi-Line Optical Character Readers (mail commingling/sorting/barcoding machines) with footprints several dozens of feet long. Automation is clearly realized as a primary factor in designing and running a highly efficient, cost effective and profitable printing and mailing department.

Outside of the exhibit hall, attendees ranging from "the person who runs the postage machine at a small office", to "corporate mail center managers", right on up to the "Presidents and Executives" of some of the worlds largest printing and mailing services" scrambled to attend various educational seminars and hear informative keynote speeches.

Over a hundred seminars and workgroups were presented on topics ranging from "Supporting Home Based Employees" to "Drop Shipping to Drop Costs", to "Postal Reform - The Legislative Update".

Yours truly even had the pleasure of speaking at the show again with my newest custom presentation called "The Internet & The Mail Center, a Winning Combination!".

I am pleased to say that we had one of the best attended seminars over the four day period with a full-house of well over 200 industry friends and colleagues including a deep wall of people happy to stand along the back of the hall once every seat was filled. They definitely shared in accepting the realization that now more than ever, new electronic tools currently available to us (such as the internet) must be successfully integrated with a corporations hardcopy communications efforts in able to provide the best possible service to it's customers.

The questions raised and the statements made by attendees helped us to verify that the mailing equipment dealers and mailers who realize and accept the sure coarse to automation and the development and implementation of electronic and high-tech solutions will surely become the leaders of tomorrow. Today's' "modern", "futuristic", "proactive-explorer" types of companies and individuals will quickly and surely leave their "old-fashioned", "stubborn" or "set-in-their-ways" competitors, resistant to change, far behind.

We were both surprised and pleased to find that rather than the majority of the "mailers" and "vendors" at MAILCOM still viewing the internet as "the enemy" or "unwelcomed competition", many claimed that they have already been taking advantage of the many resources available on the internet for quite some time. Many also sincerely thanked us for sharing some of our free software (posted on our Web-Site), favorite links, internet tricks and proven, helpful tips.

While there are many new things about to be released, in general there were not any major postal announcements or immediate concerns released at the show. As the printing, mailing, shipping services and solutions industries continue to get more aggressive, BTA solutions will continue to research events such as this one and will provide our readers with updates and information regarding these industry trends. Watch future issues of BTA Solutions for coverage of similar trade shows, including the National Postal Forum (NPF) to be held in New Orleans, LA from May 18-21. (For more information regarding NPF call 703-218-5015.) With the next wave of rule and rate changes in USPS Classification Reform to be officially in place effective July 1, 1997, there should be more last-minute information released at NPF. Until then, stay healthy and mail smartly.

Scott DeMayo, CMDSM, MPQCS is President of DeMayo Mail Management "Consultants", a certified Database - Printing - Mailing - Operations Consulting Firm and DMM Web (their Web-Site Development Service). Questions or comments are welcomed at (201) 361-0278 or E-mail scott@demayo.com. Readers are also invited to visit the DMM Web-Site at http://www.demayo.com