I trekked to Nashville for the National Postal Forum for the first time in years and was shocked at the attendance.  The Postmaster General's keynote was standing room only, more than 2,000 people.  While these Forums have been larger in the past, this was quite a turnout considering the economic conditions and the experience other trade shows and conferences have had in drawing attendance.

Jack Potter, the Postmaster General, talked about all the efforts the USPS is making to cut costs while improving service and running the gauntlet of the PRC and Congress to get approvals for changes.  Meanwhile, simultaneously, the GAO issued a press release saying that yes, the USPS has made and is making cuts, but it is not enough. Timing was a bit of a slap in the face in my opinion ...

The exhibit hall was 120,000 sq ft ... but I didn't get much of a chance to see anything on the floor.  We were only there one day, primarily to cover the launch of a new Pitney Bowes product, Connect+ Customer Communications Series.   PB was quite close to the vest before the actual launch, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

The Connect+ Series is quite the breakthrough product.  It is modular and completely field upgradeable, from black & red to full color, as well as speeds and other capabilities.  It was developed in close collaboration with HP, who provided the industrial-grade inkjet technology.  You can see it in action here.

Basically, you can program this "mega postage meter" to print logos, return addresses, messaging, graphics and the postal indicia in a single pass across the top of a blank envelope, with a length up to 15 inches.

A Pitney Bowes study reflected an improvement in open-ability of envelopes of 69% using this technology.  Connect+ is connected to the "cloud," operated through a simple touch screen, and can  be accessed and managed from the desktop as well.  It comes with a series of stock graphics, but adding new graphics and messaging is easy.  It can also be configured with "weigh on the way" to compute postage on the fly.

One of the early benefits of digital printing was the ability to eliminate pre-printed stock, and print everything in one pass.  The Connect+ Series does this for mailing envelopes.  One university staffer who viewed the launch was thrilled, saying that she could foresee eliminating the need to purchase the huge number of preprinted envelopes required by each department having its own identity.  Connect+ can print the identity on the fly along with relevant messaging on plain (less costly) envelopes,  and ultimately result in less waste. So the envelope manufacturing and printing industry should be watching this closely.

Pitney Bowes plans to add increasing functionality over time, based on customer input and other market research.  Some of these things are likely to include the ability to print the address in a single pass with the postage and messaging, as well as true variable data, having the envelopes reflect true one-to-one messaging.  Interestingly, the company is seeking users and partners who will develop apps for the device,  along the lines of iPhone apps. The touch screen has plenty of room to add more, and as we all know, customers can be very creative with new products.

According to Pitney Bowes, Connect+ represents an industry first, especially with respect to its color capabilities.  It is certainly unique in its "cloud computing" model.  That delivers many benefits to Pitney Bowes and its customers in terms of tracking, control, usage measurement and much more.

As I indicated, I did not have the luxury to peruse all of the exciting announcements at the National Postal Forum, and the show does not have a "best of show" award in place.  If it did, though, I would think that Connect+ would definitely have been in the running.

In addition to corporate uses, I could easily picture one of these devices (ranging from $10,000 to $30,000) installed in a quick printer, office supply superstore or a business like FedEx Office, where users can define and print their customized envelopes on the fly, taking advantage of improved open-ability, more attractive mailings and elimination of the need to preprint envelopes.  It will be interesting to follow the development and deployment of this unique product. Pitney Bowes has indicated that major enhancements such as variable data or inline addressing are not likely to be available before 2011.  Meanwhile, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak, and we will check back with Pitney Bowes in a few months to see if sales have met their expectations.