Articles by Kurt Ruppel Blog Archive Our Presentations Aren’t the Only Reason You Should Check Out the 2018 National Postal Forum info Posted May 1, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates The biggest postal event of the year, the National Postal Forum, kicks off this weekend in San Antonio, TX. This is a great year to be in San Antonio as it marks the 300th anniversary of the city’s founding. In addition, the Postal Forum begins the day after San Antonio’s Cinco de Mayo […] + Read More At PostalVision 2020, Pros Agree: Risk Intolerance Won’t Save the Mail Industry info Posted April 11, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the eighth PostalVision 2020 conference. This visionary gathering of stakeholders involves conversations about the future of postal services and other delivery operations. It’s a great opportunity for those of us who work closely with the U.S. Postal Service to consider what postal delivery in this country […] + Read More Bob Rosser Receives Idealliance Circle of Excellence Award for Contributions to the Mailing Industry info Posted February 16, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Announcements I had the good fortune to escape the Minnesota winter for a few days last week when I attended the Idealliance Postal Exchange Conference in sunny Clearwater Beach, FL. However, it wasn’t all sunshine and beaches for me and my associates Bob Rosser and Anne Skroch. We spent much of our time engaged with our […] + Read More Postage Rates, Reforms, Reviews, and Retirement: A Postal Update for 2018 info Posted January 19, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates For football fans at IWCO Direct, January has already been an exciting month. Our hometown teams, the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles, will meet this Sunday to decide who will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The Vikings are eager to be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home […] + Read More Why the Mailing Industry Needs to Engage with the PRC to Improve its Ratemaking Proposal info Posted December 12, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates As you may have heard, changes are coming to the process for setting postage rates. Media headlines suggest the changes are already a done deal, but that is far from accurate. Here’s what’s really going on in the world of postage rates. A Little Background Our current postal law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act […] + Read More Making the Case for Marketing Mail info Posted November 15, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends Regular readers of SpeakingDIRECT know that we are strong advocates for the effectiveness of direct mail, especially as part of a data-driven marketing campaign. This is based not only on what we’ve seen in our own experience helping clients craft successful data-driven marketing mail campaigns, but also from what we are seeing in studies on […] + Read More thINK Conference Highlights the Importance of Inkjet Technology for Data-Driven Marketing info Posted October 17, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends thINK, an independent community of Canon Solutions America (CSA) production print customers, solution partners, and print industry experts, held its third annual thINK Conference last week in Boca Raton, Florida. This year’s deep dive into all things inkjet attracted a record 570 attendees to preview the latest inkjet technology from CSA’s Océ division as well […] + Read More Postal Service Releases 2018 Postage Rates Proposals info Posted October 10, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates This past Friday, the Postal Service filed 2018 postage rate proposals with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for both its Market Dominant and Competitive products, which will take effect on January 21, 2018 (assuming PRC approval). The PRC will now review the Market Dominant rates to ensure they are within the legally mandated inflation-based rate […] + Read More Data and Multichannel Marketing Take Center Stage at PRINT 17 info Posted September 22, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends On Wednesday, my colleague, Matt Shanahan, provided an overview of his PRINT 17 experience. During the show, he led an IWCO Direct operations team exploring enhanced technologies that will drive even more efficient and effective direct mail production for our clients. While the ops team was taking a deep dive into technology, I spent […] + Read More Summer MTAC Meetings Focus on Big Challenges and Big Opportunities for the USPS in 2018 info Posted August 29, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates Mailing industry stakeholders gathered last week at U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, DC for the summer meeting of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC). These meetings always provide a great opportunity for networking among USPS executives and industry leaders, as well as the chance to learn more about what’s happening in the postal world. […] + Read More Pages: 12345678910111213141516Load More Articles
Our Presentations Aren’t the Only Reason You Should Check Out the 2018 National Postal Forum info Posted May 1, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates The biggest postal event of the year, the National Postal Forum, kicks off this weekend in San Antonio, TX. This is a great year to be in San Antonio as it marks the 300th anniversary of the city’s founding. In addition, the Postal Forum begins the day after San Antonio’s Cinco de Mayo […] + Read More
At PostalVision 2020, Pros Agree: Risk Intolerance Won’t Save the Mail Industry info Posted April 11, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the eighth PostalVision 2020 conference. This visionary gathering of stakeholders involves conversations about the future of postal services and other delivery operations. It’s a great opportunity for those of us who work closely with the U.S. Postal Service to consider what postal delivery in this country […] + Read More
Bob Rosser Receives Idealliance Circle of Excellence Award for Contributions to the Mailing Industry info Posted February 16, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Announcements I had the good fortune to escape the Minnesota winter for a few days last week when I attended the Idealliance Postal Exchange Conference in sunny Clearwater Beach, FL. However, it wasn’t all sunshine and beaches for me and my associates Bob Rosser and Anne Skroch. We spent much of our time engaged with our […] + Read More
Postage Rates, Reforms, Reviews, and Retirement: A Postal Update for 2018 info Posted January 19, 2018 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates For football fans at IWCO Direct, January has already been an exciting month. Our hometown teams, the Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles, will meet this Sunday to decide who will represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. The Vikings are eager to be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home […] + Read More
Why the Mailing Industry Needs to Engage with the PRC to Improve its Ratemaking Proposal info Posted December 12, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates As you may have heard, changes are coming to the process for setting postage rates. Media headlines suggest the changes are already a done deal, but that is far from accurate. Here’s what’s really going on in the world of postage rates. A Little Background Our current postal law, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act […] + Read More
Making the Case for Marketing Mail info Posted November 15, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends Regular readers of SpeakingDIRECT know that we are strong advocates for the effectiveness of direct mail, especially as part of a data-driven marketing campaign. This is based not only on what we’ve seen in our own experience helping clients craft successful data-driven marketing mail campaigns, but also from what we are seeing in studies on […] + Read More
thINK Conference Highlights the Importance of Inkjet Technology for Data-Driven Marketing info Posted October 17, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends thINK, an independent community of Canon Solutions America (CSA) production print customers, solution partners, and print industry experts, held its third annual thINK Conference last week in Boca Raton, Florida. This year’s deep dive into all things inkjet attracted a record 570 attendees to preview the latest inkjet technology from CSA’s Océ division as well […] + Read More
Postal Service Releases 2018 Postage Rates Proposals info Posted October 10, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates This past Friday, the Postal Service filed 2018 postage rate proposals with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for both its Market Dominant and Competitive products, which will take effect on January 21, 2018 (assuming PRC approval). The PRC will now review the Market Dominant rates to ensure they are within the legally mandated inflation-based rate […] + Read More
Data and Multichannel Marketing Take Center Stage at PRINT 17 info Posted September 22, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Direct Marketing Trends On Wednesday, my colleague, Matt Shanahan, provided an overview of his PRINT 17 experience. During the show, he led an IWCO Direct operations team exploring enhanced technologies that will drive even more efficient and effective direct mail production for our clients. While the ops team was taking a deep dive into technology, I spent […] + Read More
Summer MTAC Meetings Focus on Big Challenges and Big Opportunities for the USPS in 2018 info Posted August 29, 2017 by Kurt Ruppel in Postal Issues Updates Mailing industry stakeholders gathered last week at U.S. Postal Service headquarters in Washington, DC for the summer meeting of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC). These meetings always provide a great opportunity for networking among USPS executives and industry leaders, as well as the chance to learn more about what’s happening in the postal world. […] + Read More
