Wayne Kessler: December 2009 Archives

The trend is continuing this year:

The sour economy and Internet technology

have contributed to a drop in the mailing of holidays cards so far this season, the U.S. Postal Service said.

During the first two weeks of December, the agency saw an 11 percent drop in first-class cancellations compared with last year, which "is a good proxy for the number of cards and letters coming through the system," service spokesman Michael Woods said.

Consider me rather sad about this state of affairs.

The cost issue I understand a bit better than the Internet technology issue.  Cards have some costs, postage has some costs, the labor of sending them has some costs.  But for personal Christmas cards, those costs have value to the recipient.  They say that the recipient is worth more than not sending a card, and more than relying on the Internet to send a card.

Because the Internet's prime value on Christmas cards is the reduced cost of delivery, and the speed of delivery.  It's not the recipient experience, it's not the ability to easily share it at home with others who come in, whether they live there or just visit.  It's not the ability to have your Christmas decor enhanced every day with the receipt of this small token from others.

The internet is what business uses to send Christmas cards to their customers and prospects.  It's about cost control and message tracking.

The card industry has themselves to blame somewhat for the state of print cards.  One of the positive developments has been the expansion in low-priced options for photo cards for print.  It's great to see how people's families have changed over a year, and the creativity they can have for determining how they pose themselves for this annual event.  It seems to be becoming more of a traditional occurrence for many of our friends and family.

But card companies need to be sensitive to cost.  After all, postage is expensive, and time is money, too.  So if the mailed Christmas Card is to survive, the price has to be right.  It's clear that the tradition isn't strong enough for many to overcome expensive cards.

So, more low-cost options for print Christmas cards, please.  Less e-cards for Christmas, please.   That's my technology Christmas wish for this year.

Selecting a web hosting arrangement is very dependent on what features the site will utilize, and perhaps grow into.  However, as a 13 year customer of Pair.net, I have to say it's hard to beat them in terms of service, features, and price, as long as your site's technology requirements don't turn you in another direction.

Sometimes the biggest thanks one can get as a web developer happens after the web developer sets parameters - aka limits - on the areas of email content in a group email discussion group.  Sometimes people need someone to stand up and say, "Quit beating that dead horse."

But more of an aside about cost and value.  I received an email from ExhibitTrader.com, which is a marketplace of convention/conference exhibit products, including used items.  What really surprised me was the dropoff in used price from original price for these items, and I guess about the price of some of the items originally.  I mean, you can literally buy a house for what some of these items originally sold for, and even though they were sometimes built entirely custom, I have to wonder about the value.  If a company owns an item for many years, then I'm sure the value is there, but there items listed that were bought just 2 or 3 years ago, and that's not much time to generate value.

Of course, I'm also a believer that the trade or convention show is about to go through a MAJOR change as it is pushed by technology and the current economy.  What that change will end up looking like I'm not certain, but I'm not sure that competition requires the "bigger is better" approach at tradeshows.