2015 January

V I S I T U S A T W W W . T E X A S N E W S P A P E R S . I N F O

Texas Community Newspaper Association (931) 698.4096 (888)450-8329 fax 1

Now Is The Time To Make 2015 Great

TCNATodayTCNA offers connections—connections to information, trends, training and direct revenue opportunities.

Board of DirectorsThe leadership of TCNA is in good hands. The board of directors, director, and assistant are listed with contact information.

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Graphics Series Ellen Hanrahan shows us that our computers are not the same as old typewriters. Here are some tips that will keep us looking professional.

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Work PositivelyDr. Joey Faucette teaches us that it really is that easy to “pay it forward” by the actions we take in our lives.

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Presentation ProcessesBob Berting , Mr. Community Paper, shows us how to work with sales, graphics and the customer to obtain the best possible outcome. Page 3

USPS UpdateDonna Hanbery of the Saturation Mailers Coalition keeps us informed regarding legislation and rules governing the United States Postal Service. Those rules will change the way you do business.

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by Brian Gay

At the first of the year and after you have enjoyed the holidays, take a few minutes to reflect back over the past year and recall some of the things that you wanted to accomplish but did not. Now take a few minutes to analyze why.

Author and motivational speaker, Bri-an Tracy puts it into perspective when he states that if you ask 100 people if they have goals, 90% will raise their

hand. I am sure that each and every one of you would be there with hands raised. We all have goals. We know what we want to accomplish. We are proud to tell others that we have goals. But, here we are, starting the New Year and we have not accomplished what we set out to achieve a year ago. Does this sound familiar?

Next, Brian Tracey asks how many people have their goals written down? Only 10 hands are still raised. This 10% are the people who are on top.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY MEDIA OF TEXAS JANUARY 2015

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They make the most money and they enjoy life. Some of you have your hand in the air but have not accom-plished all that you wanted to last year. Certainly, nothing like what you had in mind a year ago. Things did not seem to click for you on achieving your goals. Your sales are up or you are able to accomplish your job with more skill and knowledge but the end result was a far cry from your origi-nal goals. Somewhere along the line things seemed to stall.

Bridges Take Selling From A to BJohn Foust compares impressive bridges spanning water to bridge words and phrases.

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“Will the people who have their goals written down and well planned out on how to achieve those goals please keep their hands raised?” Now we have only 2 people with their hands in the air. Guess what? The people “the 2 percenters” are the people who are the super stars in their jobs. Ev-erything with their personal life is in place. They tend to be envied by the 98%. This all happens because they had goals that were written down and well-planned out.

Would you start a trip across the Unit-ed States without a map? Without that map you may know where you want to go, but not have a clue how to get there. If you took some time before you left on the trip, you could plan where you wanted to stop each night. You would plan for the best routes. You would plan to make the trip an ef-ficient use of your time. You wold not just start out and head for the setting sun. The same is true of your goals. Without a plan you work aimlessly trying to hit your goal.

continued from page 1

Bridges TakeSelling from A to Bby John Foust

One of the most impressive bridges I’ve ever seen is the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It is four and a half miles long and connects the eastern and western shores of Maryland. Rising high above the waves, it enables travelers to cross the bay in a fraction of the time the trip would take by boat.

Although most bridges aren’t quite as

dramatic, they all serve the same pur-pose. They help us move from Point A to Point B, usually over water.

Words can be bridges, too. When we communicate, we use certain phrases to connect pieces of information. Most of these bridges are so subtle that we hardly notice them. But if we didn’t have them, communication would

be as choppy as the waters under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

Language bridges are especially im-portant in selling. Whether we are making a sales presentation or writ-ing ad copy, bridges help us make the shift from the product to the person. Consider features and benefits. A fea-ture belongs to the product (all-wheel

continued on page 7

If you decide to join this elite group of the most successful people., “The 2 Percenters, “ here are a few things you should know. You will increase your income by at least 15% the first year. You will be looked up to as a person that is going places. You will be asked to be a leader. You will enjoy your job. You will feel fulfilled. You will find new energy you never knew existed. Your persona life will improve. You will become more proactive instead of reactive.

Take the time to set goals so that you are part of the top 2%. Make an invest-ment in yourself. After all, the return is far greater than any other investment. For a few hours of your time you will reap the rewards. There is plenty of room at the top. Even after reading this, only 2% of you will invest in yourself and become a super star. Your first goal should be to become one of the 2%. Now write it down. Next spend some time planning how to get there. Remember: “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

This article was taken from Brian Gay’s

sales training book entitled “Land Stand-ing.” Thanks Brian!

“The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is often the will to try it and the faith to believe it’s possible.”

Rich Devos

“We miss 100 percent of the sales we don’t ask for.”

Zig Ziglar

“Tell me and I will forget, Show me and I will remember, Involve me and I will understand.”

Confucius

“Go out on a limb —that’s where the fruit is.”

Will Rogers



DirectorDonna Stanley 512-259-4449

PublisherHill Country

News

PresidentKathleen Holton (817) 594-7447

EditorWeatherford

Democrat

DirectorNicole Morris 361-668-6397

Publisher/EditorReal Hometown

Media

DirectorDennis Skinner 903-794-0996

PublisherAmerican

Classifieds/Texarkana

Vice PresidentAmber Weems 830-693-7152

PublisherVictory

Publishing

Past PresidentDennis Wade 512-994-0482

PresidentGranite

Publications

TreasurerRick Wamre 214-560-4212

PresidentAdvocate

Media

Executive Director

Douglas FryTCNA Office

931-698-4096

SecretaryJonathan McElvy

713-686-8494Publisher

The Leader News

LeadershipNot only is the board of directors made up of some of the sharpest and most dedicated media minds in Texas, they also take time from their very busy schedules to make decisions that will help your and your business.

by Bob Berting, Mr. Community Paper

Even with today’s amazing technol-ogy, there remains a classic, time worn problem. How are the advertising ma-terials organized and communicated between the client, the salesperson, and the graphic artist? More specifi-cally, how are presentation layouts presented back to the client? The an-

swer: usually not well organized. But to solve the problem, let’s take a few steps back.

THE ROLE OF THE SALESPERSONThe salesperson has to become a trusted advisor to the client and have the ability to get the client involved in the planning and content of the

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Presentation Layout Processes

ads. They must be able to demonstrate that they are a marketing pro who knows good layout de-sign, can write good copy, knows type faces, and can sell long range campaigns. It is obvious that this type of salesperson should have these skills when hired by the sales manager and then trained to be extremely good at them so as to be in control with the customer. The optimal word is control.. The salesper-son has to take control and work with the client like an advertising agency

Administrative Assistant

Vickie BeldenTCNA Office

931-698-4096



approach. One of the major prob-lems in newspaper advertising is that the customer thinks they know more than the salesperson who is calling on them. The salesperson has to establish themselves as an expert and trusted advisor. Even a new salesperson can be perceived as someone who the cus-tomer can trust and be guided toward a meaningful advertising program.

ROUGH LAYOUT ORGANIZATIONThe content has to be organized so that the client can see and approve the format. This format includes the selection of headlines, art work, sug-gested copy, and overall ad design. The idea is to also find the customer’s personalized beliefs and goals (CPBG) and work them into the ad ideas. This can be done by showing a head shot of the customer to personalize their ads, featuring employees in the ads, and special goal/belief statements pledging quality, dependability, and dedication to excellent customer service.

THE NEXT CRITICAL ACTIONThe final step is for the salesperson to explain that they want to tell the story of the client’s business with an ongo-ing campaign but that research needs to be done to know why their custom-ers shop with them and the benefits they are receiving. This information can build an ad campaign with the dif-ferent reasons becoming the headings of the ads.

The CPBG points can be distributed into feature copy boxes. An objection may arise that the customer wants to run special promotions as the ad head-ings from time to time. That’s OK as long as the campaign reverts back to

the “story” of the original strategy. The next step is to tell the customer that they will be brought a campaign kick off ad layout (don’t call it a spec lay-out) or 2-3 sample ads depicting the start of a campaign. It is important that the customer fully agrees to this and gives permission to do so. Objections might arise which could delay the cre-ative process but that’s OK because it’s better to know before the work is done than after the time and expense of do-ing the layouts.

THE ROLE OF THE LAYOUT ARTIST

Keep in mind that the salesperson knows what image is to be projected, what goals are to be targeted, and how the campaign is to flow. Any rough lay-outs done with the customer are given to the layout artist, incorporating the customer’s personalized beliefs and goals (CPBG). The artist proceeds to develop a kick off ad for the campaign or a series of ads to give a feeling of the campaign flow. It is important that the salesperson and the artist carefully go over the layouts before taking them to the customer, making sure that the proper image is projected.

THE LAYOUT PRESENTATIONThe presentation layouts are ready and mounted to give a more professional look. It is important that the layouts are shown to the customer before any marketing plan. This procedure ties in with the adage “sell with emotion and justify with facts.” It’s very important that the layouts tell the story of their business, designed for efficient reader-ship, and to utilize the customer’s per-sonalized beliefs and goals.

THE HAPPY ENDING

Presentation Layout Processescontinued from page 3

If all the groundwork has been laid by the salesperson, if the presentation lay-outs really sparkle, and if the customer has complete trust and belief in the publication as the key player in their media mix---they will buy the plan.

As a final word of caution, you can’t rush the process of creativity. There might be more than one meeting to thoroughly understand the customer’s personalized beliefs and goals.

Bob Berting, newspaper marketing con-sultant, has published his new e-book for sales professionals in the newspaper in-dustry entitled “Advanced Selling Skills For The Advertising Sales Pro”. This is a publication for beginning salespeople who can learn advanced selling techniques and experienced salespeople who can sharpen their selling skills. Salespeople can learn more about this publication by using the link www.adsalespro.com and see the table of contents as well as reading the complimentary first chapter. Payment of $24.95 to download the 34 page e-book.

Bob can be contacted at [email protected] or 800-536-5408. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, India-napolis, In 46250.

Free PapersWorking For You

In a letter to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

“No government ought to be without censors & where the press is free, no one ever will.”

Your free community paper works hard each issue to provide you with great value. That value comes to you, our readers, at no cost. To some, freedom of the press means freedom from interference from others. We believe freedom of the press means that connection to our community should not cost the reader. You should not have to pay to be connected to or be a part of this region. That’s why we’re free.

Let freedom ring.



I welcome your input and suggestions. A former art teacher, I entered the free paper publishing business in the early 80s. I write for IFPA, Community Papers of Michigan, and still learning. E-mail: [email protected] Ellen Hanrahan ©2015

Type DetailsTHE BEGINNING OF A NEW YEAR AND ALL SORTS OF RESOLUTIONS… AND I’M STILL WORKING ON THOSE FROM TEN YEARS AGO! WHAT BETTER TIME TO REVIEW SOME OF OUR…

The letter l and letter i show an awkward spacing arrange-ment. Correct use of a ligature

streamlines these letters. The glyph pal-ette makes it so much easier to choose characters because it packs more choic-es into the typeface itself. Years ago, you purchased an “expert set” to get the characters you needed…the following examples of ligature combinations in the Utopia Expert set.

The top example uses quote marks. Use prime number marks instead.

The Glyph Panel —need I say more?—contains uppercase and lowercase let-ter forms, figures, accented characters, and punctuation. These fonts also con-tain a myriad of currency symbols, stan-dard ligatures (fi, fl), common fractions (1/4, 1/2, 3/4), common mathematics operators, superscript numerals (1,2,3), common delimiters and conjoiners, and other symbols (including daggers, trademark, registered trademark, copy-right, paragraph, litre, etc.).

No new resolutions for me, but this time of year is a time of reflection. And since I have this arti-cle to do, I thought about what got me started in this endeavor. It started with my dad, Joe Hauser (Hartford Booster), and the very early days of IFPA. He and I attended a conference in St. Louis in the early 80s. I had only been in the business a year or two and it was totally spur of the moment, but one of the best decisions he ever made—and I still remember our 7-hour drive back to Wisconsin where all talk was about the confer-ence and what we had learned... I kid you not! We even missed an exit! Dad will be 93 in April and is in assisted living. His mind is still pretty sharp and he still has his opinions… but that decision those many years ago brought about this change. So thanks dad.

ALL IN THE DETAILS: Quotes & ApostrophesThis article ran in the IFPA newsletter many years ago, and like all the basics of design is still relevant today. Attention to detail gives your work a professional look, so do not let the default functions of the computer stop you from the correct use of quotes, apostrophes and prime numbers. In the following examples, the top example is what you usually see and the bottom example is one of those “typographic details” that I am talking about…

‘09’09

The ‘tail’ should point in the direction of the missing numbers. See the lower example. The top example is found in car ads, but a simple “find and replace” can update all your information quickly.

Remember the ‘60’s, baby?Remember the ’60s, baby?

Besides the wrong use of a quote mark, you don’t need the apostrophe before the letter ‘s’. You’re referring to a num-ber of years… not showing possession.

He’s 6’2” tall.He’s 6'2" tall.

Details: LigaturesLigatures are a combination of two or more char-acters to help streamline awkward letter combi-nations. Just as you kern certain letter pairs to visually adjust letterspace for easier readability, so too with ligatures. The most common ligature combos are the fl and fi. Depending on the type-face, (especially italics) you run into the problem of these letters bumping into each other. Most typefaces carry the basic ligature combinations. Expert typeface sets usually carry an expanded version of the ligatures.

flabby fishflabby fish

W Y Z X V W Y Z X V regular italic

Details: The Dotless iLigatures are not normally used in display type and some ligatures do not work well with ital-ics. At times you may be able to take advantage of the dotless i—accessed by selecting Option Shift B on the Mac or looking in the glyph pal-ette. Fish Vice vs Fısh VıceDetails: Small Caps or rather Small CapSSometimes small caps can be used to lead into a paragraph. There are certain typefaces that contain “true” small caps—in other words, let-ter forms specifically created to work in com-bination with each of the other letters in that family. However, these special typefaces usually were part of an expert collection, or at the very least were part of a type family that had a more expensive price tag. With all the typefaces avail-able now, you certainly will not see these as part of a free or relatively inexpensive type set.Check out this Sentence and Notice the Small Caps.The typeface above is ITC Officina Serif Book SC (small caps), designed so the lowercase let-ter caps were proportional to the uppercase letters. The weight of the lower case letters complement the uppercase letters. Compare that to the default setting at the top of the next column. The proportions of those letters vary greatly depending on the typeface and how it is used.

CheCk out this sentenCe and notiCe the small Caps.

CheCk out this sentenCe and notiCe a differenCe in the small Caps now.

This headline example is also 11 points in size, but the default setting in InDesign is 70% of the cap height, with no compensation for weight or line thickness. Lower case caps no longer seem to be the same “visual weight” as the upper case caps. If I increase the text size it only calls more attention to the “weight” change. This is one reason why the first letter of each word in a small cap sentence can appear visually darker than the other letters. In large type sizes that can be visually distracting—as in the example below.

In the following example, I change the default setting (found in the Preferences > Advanced Type setting dialog box in InDesign). The type size is still 11 point type, but I changed my default preferences to small cap of 82%.CheCk out this sentenCe and notiCe the small Caps.Since I don’t always have a typeface that has the true small caps, I will always change default setting so I am in control, or at the very least change my Vertical Scale and/or Horizontal Scale settings to get small caps that are more proportional.

CheCk out this sentenCe and notiCe the small Caps.

CheCk out this sentenCe and notiCe a differenCe in the small Caps now.

And a Little Bit of DashThis little professional detail is used inappro-priately. Most of the time I see people use a hyphen when a dash is more appropriate. There are three types of dashes:hyphen used between the parts of a com-pound word or the syllables of a divided word.En dash a line longer than a hyphen, about the width of the letter N. Used primarily to indicate a length of time.Em dash about the width of the letter M. Used in a sentence to set off a thought or a change in thought without using a comma or colon.

• State-of the-art hyphen • 8:30am–5:30pm En dash • Typography essentials—they’re back!

Em dashSometimes I may add a little space before or after the dash—depending on the typeface!

Happy New Year to you and yours!…until next month!



Work PositiveYES, IT’S

REALLY THAT SIMPLE

Dr. Joey Faucette

You have read story after story of random acts of kindness. The

person at the drive-thru window who pays for the coffee of the person be-hind them, who then pays for the cof-fee of the next person, and so on for up to 27 customers. The same type of generosity occurs at traffic toll booths.

You have held the door of a retail store for a physically challenged person to wheel in. You have let someone over into your lane of traffic…at least once, right? You have arrived at a fast-food counter simultaneously with another parent and motioned her ahead of you, remembering what it’s like to eat out with an 18-month old.

There is so much positive goodness in the world, particularly as we real-

ize that while we perceive, conceive, believe, and achieve a Work Positive lifestyle, more than anything else we receive it. Therefore we serve others, knowing that givers really do gain, that what goes around comes around, that you reap what you sow, yet primarily motivated by an internal attitude of gratitude for how we receive a Work Positive life.

It is as we serve one another out of the abundance of our businesses that the negative world becomes more posi-tive. Like a rising tide, all the ships around us are lifted up and together, we live out of our common hope to re-define reality and fulfill our collective dreams. I celebrate with you as you fulfill your business dreams and you celebrate with me as my companies succeed. That which was impossible appears before us and becomes pos-sible. We achieve greatness together.

We discover such greatness as we serve each other. We realize the posi-tive truth that “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.”

Service brings sustenance. Why? The universe was created to support it—what goes around, comes around; you reap what you sow.

Receiving such service is a natural byproduct of how our Work Positive lifestyles enlarge our perceptions, con-verge more resources for our conceiv-ing, strengthen our beliefs, and create more achievements.

At this time of year when the world soon slows down for a few minutes, join me in creating a little more peace on earth and good will to all people as we Work Positive.

Will you please…

…smile at a stranger?

…drop a check in a red bucket?

…call someone who may be alone?

…hand-write a thank you note to a fa-vorite customer?

…go see someone in the hospital?

Yes, it’s really that simple.

Dr. Joey Faucette is the #1 Amazon best-selling author of Work Positive in a Nega-tive World (Entrepreneur Press), coach, and speaker who helps business profes-sionals increase sales with greater produc-tivity so they can leave the office earlier to do what they love with those they love. Discover more at www.ListentoLife.org.



drive, for instance), while a benefit be-longs to the person using the product (better traction).

Without a bridge, a sales point is blunt and awkward. When you read or hear,“The vehicle has all-wheel drive. Get better traction,” it’s easy to sense the need for a few words to tie the two thoughts together.

Adding a bridge creates the smooth transition we need: “The vehicle has four-wheel drive. THIS WILL GIVE YOU better traction.” Now the focus has shifted from the car to the person driving the car.

There are plenty of bridges you can use to connect features and benefits: as a result...this means that...due to this...this creates...this allows you to...this promotes...this generates...be-cause of this. Unless you’re talking to

a stilted and formal person, stay away from stilted and formal connectors like “therefore” and “hence.”

Although it is more common to put the feature before the benefit, some-times you can switch the order. For ex-ample: “You’ll get better traction when you drive, BECAUSE this vehicle has all-wheel drive.” Either way, a bridge is a bridge and will help you commu-nicate more effectively.

In some cases, you may want to use a second bridge to lead to a more meaningful benefit: “The vehicle has all-wheel drive. This will give you bet-ter traction. AND your passengers will feel safer riding with you, especially in bad weather.” The second benefit is more important than the first, be-cause it is emotional rather than logi-cal. But you can’t convincingly arrive at the second benefit (feel safer) with-

out starting with the first one (better traction). Obviously, this progression works only when there is a close rela-tionship between the two benefits.

Word bridges serve two useful purpos-es. They separate features and benefits, helping audiences see each distinctly. And they link them together to create a smooth flow through sales points.

It’s all a matter of moving your mes-sage from Point A to Point B.

(c) Copyright 2015 by John Foust. All rights reserved.

John Foust has conducted training programs for thousands of newspaper advertising professionals. Many ad de-partments are using his training videos to save time and get quick results from in-house training. E-mail for informa-tion: [email protected]


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continued on page 9

USPS UpdateTRACKING TERMINATES

By Donna Hanbery, Executive Director, Saturation Mailers Coalition

The Mailers Technical Advisory Com-mittee is a group of Postal Service stakeholders that meets on a quarterly basis with the Postal Service. During the November meetings, MTAC mem-bers learned that the Postal Service was discontinuing two tracking pro-grams that have been used by mailers, including mailers of standard mail, shared mail programs and periodicals, like free papers and newspapers, to track delivery of pieces with requested in-home dates.

As a result of a recent cyber intrusion event, the Postal Service revealed that two programs, known as Advance and ePub-Watch, were being taken down. During the November meeting, the Postal Service revealed that there were no plans to bring back these programs. Many SMC members have used the Advance program to interact with the USPS and their customers to report when mail was received at a delivery unit and when delivery dates began and ended. Some SMC members have reported they are now getting this in-formation by phone calls and in-per-son interactions with delivery units and that the program is sorely missed.

HUB PILOT PROGRAM TO BEGIN AND DETAILS SHARED

The November MTAC meeting includ-ed an update on the Postal Service’s plans to begin pilot testing its Hub fa-cility initiative. As a result of network rationalization, with related closures and changes in delivery and mail en-try locations, many mailers have ex-perienced frustration in facilities that will, or will not, accept mail entry and requirements where it appears that

the mailer, and the Postal Service, are back-hauling mail from required entry points to delivery locations. The Hub Pilot Initiative is designed to give the Postal Service and mailers of standard, periodical and bound printed matter and parcels, entered in cross dock con-tainers for five digit zip, five digit car-rier route (not FSS) pallets and bun-dles and opportunity to enter mail at a more convenient location and receive the DFCF discount with the same ser-vice standard that would apply to an SCF drop.

The pilot plan is scheduled to begin with live testing at two locations in January 2015. An additional two pilot sites are expected to be identified as part of the initial test period.

Phase 1 implementation is scheduled to begin in April 2015. A potential list of HUB locations is still being devel-oped and will change depending upon the Postal Service implementation of its Phase 2 network rationalization ini-tiative. The list is subject to updates, and is posted, on the USPS FAST web-site. The Postal Service has cautioned that operating hours of HUB facilities will vary greatly and mailers will need to balance their critical entry times with facility operating hours. FAST appointments will be required.

Although a number of questions, in-cluding discount eligibility for the DDU rate, are still being considered by the Postal Service and mailers, it is hoped that the HUB pilot and program will result in shared efficiencies and cost savings for both the Postal Service and mailers.

YEAR END FINANCIAL NEWSThe Postal Service fiscal year ended on September 30, 2014. As a result of a cyber security intrusion, the Postal

Service did not have final numbers to share at its November Postal Service Board meeting, but prereviewed unau-dited numbers that showed the Postal Service had experienced significant revenue growth on an operating basis, before the congressionally mandated $5.7B of prefunding for Postal Service retiree health costs were subtracted from the equation.

Highlights of the year-end report in-cluded:

The Postal Service’s shipping and packaging service-produced revenue increases of 9.1%.

Due to the 4.3% exigency increase - that went into effect in January 2014 - and shipping and packages growth, the Postal Service reported operating revenues of $569M. This number would have been much higher, show-ing $1.9B in revenues, but for a one-time change in how the Postal Ser-vice accounts for its sales of Forever stamps.

When the $5.7B of the prefunding mandate is booked, along with an ad-ditional $1.2B in non-cash workers compensation expense, the Postal Ser-vice ended the 2014 fiscal year with a $5.5B loss. The Postal Service did not pay the $5.7B prepayment, default-ing on the obligation as it has in prior years.

Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe praised the organization for its prog-ress on an operating basis, noting “we have grown our revenue for two years in a row, primarily through growth in our package business and price chang-es, and we are making strong progress in many core areas of our business – from operational performance to data and technology use, to developing and



marketing new products and services – all of which are helping to build a strong future of the organization.”

BRENNAN SHARES 2015 GOALSSpeaking at the November MTAC meeting, Megan Brennan stated that her focus through the year ahead will be on open communications, trans-parency, and working to improve cus-tomer service. Commenting on the past year, Brennan pointed out that the USPS’ operating expenses were under plan by $353M and $503M less than the same period last year. Salary and benefit expenses were down $349M over the prior year, and transporta-tion expenses were also down. These changes were attributed to the Postal Service changing its employee mix to use more non-career employees.

Brennan stated the Postal Service was ready for its peak mailing season. She stated the Service had made significant investments in employee complement, mail processing equipment and space with additional annexes and vehicles added to handle peak season volumes. She reported that the USPS will be de-livering as early as 7:00 and as late as 8:00 p.m., as well as expanded Sunday delivery, to accomplish peak perfor-mance during its peak season.

Looking ahead to 2015, Brennan said that the USPS would continue cost reduction efforts with initiatives, in-cluding Phase 2 of its network ratio-nalization, and beginning a 5-year ef-fort to reduce ground transportation expenses. Brennan told the group that the USPS will explore ways to lever-age its first and last mile delivery in-frastructure, pilot testing of new gen-eration of mail boxes with larger box

size in suburban locations and larger package receptacles in urban areas, a warehousing pilot test and expansion of its customized delivery test.

PMG DONAHOE TO RETIRE - MEGAN BRENNAN APPOINTED

NEW PMG AND CEOBig news came out of the November Postal Board of Governors meeting. Postmaster General and Chief Execu-tive Officer Patrick R. Donahoe an-nounced his retirement February 1, 2015. Donahoe became the Postmas-ter General of the United States Postal Service in 2010, within days of the USPS learning that the Postal Regulato-ry Commission had rejected its appeal for an exigency price increase. Taking over the change-challenged agency at a time of crises, Donahoe was praised by the Postal Board of Governors as a “visionary leader” who became “the calm in the financial storm.”

Donahue’s accomplishment included the creation of an integrated financial plan and aggressive measures to cut costs – including the rationalization of mail processing, delivery and opera-tions. Although these changes have significantly lowered the cost base of the Postal Service, the Service contin-ues to be strained by Congressional funding mandates and what postal ex-ecutives criticize as an inflexible busi-ness model.

Donahoe was praised as a constant cheerleader for the mail industry and for implementing a number of new products, including Every Door Di-rect Mail, which has generated more than $1B in new revenue, and the ex-pansion of the Service’s shipping and package business to capitalize on the increase in e-commerce. Over the past few years, the Service’s package busi-

ness has shown double digit growth while single first class mail, historical-ly the most profitable USPS product, continues to decline.

Donahoe began his 39-year Postal Ser-vice career as a clerk in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to becoming the PMG, he had served for years as the Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Oper-ating Officer. Describing his service, Donahoe said: “Working for a brand that touches every citizen of this great country every day has been a tremen-dous honor.”

MEGAN BRENNAN APPOINTED AS THE 74TH POSTMASTER GENERAL AND CEO OF THE

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICEMegan Brennan was named the 74th Postmaster General and CEO, and the first woman Postmaster General, at the November Postal Board of Governor meetings. In announcing her selection, Mickey Barnett, Chairman of the Post-al Service Board of Governors, stated: “Megan has demonstrated outstanding vision, leadership and executive ability in her role as Chief Operating Officer and has been extraordinarily success-ful in managing the operations of the Postal Service. She is highly regard-ed throughout the Postal Service and among the much broader community of our major customers and business partners – and rightly so.”

Barnett praised Megan’s past perfor-mance and responsibility as the Chief Operating Officer for the day-to-day activities of 491,000 career employees, working in more than 31,000 facili-ties supported by a fleet of more than 200,000 vehicles. She has “led impor-tant initiatives to provide Sunday de-livery services, improve tracking, and greater predictability and reliability.”


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2015 January

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