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Mailing Education for Printers at ON DEMAND

Press release from the issuing company

Rochester, New York -- The Bennett Group, Inc., a sought after mailing training firm and home to the Mailing Training Institute, has again been chosen to provide five sessions in the ON DEMAND Mailing Education Conference Track.  The track continues to be one of the hottest industry topics that ON DEMAND brings to Expo and Conference attendees. 

Throughout the country, printers are facing declining margins and increasing competition.  Those conditions are causing many of them to explore mailing services as a way to carve out significant new revenue streams and to differentiate themselves from the crowd.  As an example of the industry's increasing interest in this subject, for the first time, at this year's ON DEMAND Expo (March 30-April 2, 2009 in Philadelphia) there is a dedicated Mailing and Fulfillment Pavilion within the larger Expo hall.  For more information about the ON DEMAND Expo and Conference go to www.ondemandexpo.com .

On the Conference side, the Mailing Education track of conference sessions at ON DEMAND will take attendees from concept to mailbox, explaining mailpiece design, mailing software, database management, Variable Data Processing (VDP) for mail, marketing of mailing services-all of the steps that a printer needs to take to quickly move into this profitable arena.  This extraordinary education track is a must for anyone interested in putting printed pieces into the USPS mailstream–and making money while doing it!

Of special note is the new series of educational "Intensives" at ON DEMAND that provide attendees with quick, economical ways to take a deep dive into the hottest business and technology issues in printing and document production.  This includes a Mailing & Fulfillment Intensive, Making Money in Mailing: A "How-to" Guide for Printers (Thursday, April 2 • 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM).  It is a distillation into a single four hour session of the most important core concepts that are vital to the successful start-up of a mailing services operation by a printer.

The four hour Mailing & Fulfillment Intensive session includes the following presentations:

Printers Expand Into Mailing: 10 Steps to Success
Mary Ann Bennett, President, The Bennett Group, Inc.
Discover the tools to use to cut postage up to 50%, receive faster mail delivery and increase response rates.  Learn how capabilities such as personalized addressing are creating new revenue streams and opportunities for full service shops.  You'll walk away with basic steps that your company can quickly take to move into this profitable arena.

Peer-to-Peer Panel Discussion
Robert M. Dahlke, Jr., VP of Sales, VISOgraphic, Inc.
Arthur Novick, Operations Manager, Mercury Print Productions, Inc.
You know you want to offer your clients in-house mailing services.  Now learn how.  What equipment will you need?  Which software should you buy?  What's it going to cost to get it all in place?  How much floor space will you need?  How will you effectively sell your mailing expertise to your clients and how quickly will you be able to turn a profit?  Get answers from fellow printers who've been there.

Understanding Variable Data Processing (VDP) through "VCD"
Dr. John Leininger, Professor, Clemson University
Are you having trouble explaining VDP to your customers?  Try baking them some personalized cookies.  Seriously!  The Variable Cookie Demonstration (VCD) is designed to help you experience the real-life power of personalization by illustrating how VDP is used with digital printing.  Learn how to convince your customers that VDP is the most powerful tool in the box that can be used for increasing response rates.  Discover how to utilize variable data to create customized direct marketing campaigns. Understand how to communicate the latest personalization techniques to your clients.  And see how to build and present an effective ROI-based sales tool for digital print applications.

The Mailing & Fulfillment Intensive session, as well as all sessions in the entire Mailing Education track, are targeted for printers who currently mail, printers who are expanding into mailing, or the mailing company looking to enhance existing capabilities, reduce current expenses and increase future profits.

According to Mary Ann Bennett, President and CEO of The Bennett Group, and founder of the Mailing Training Institute, "There is a very real need for this knowledge about Mailing in the print industry.  Printers realize that in order to survive and thrive they need to expand into Mailing and other related services.  We have seen a substantial increase in the number of printers who are taking advantage of our Mailing Education services."

Bennett goes on to explain, "Over the next 18 months, major mailing issues including reducing 'undeliverable as addressed' mail, maximizing return on mailpiece design, meeting Move Update requirements and implementing the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) are all topics that can and should benefit from more exposure, conversation, discussion and education.  Our firm is pleased to bring the latest information on all of these topics to the ON DEMAND Conference."

Also integral to The Bennett Group's commitment is increasing mailing education for the academic arena.  Using this Mailing Education track as a real-life learning experience, several students from the Variable Data Creative Inquiry class at Clemson University, Clemson, SC are involved in all production aspects for this conference track.  "I believe that education in direct mail marketing is critical and I believe that Clemson University can serve as a model for other colleges and universities to incorporate mailing education into their curriculums," said Bennett.

Bennett states, "Our firm is committed to increasing the availability of mailing education in all forms and across all learning platforms.  Given that commitment, we will take our mailing training programs wherever we need to go."

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