Remote control mails equivalent of anti-spam filters also saves time by instantly filtering out unwanted physical mail.
Seattle, WA (PRWEB) September 27, 2006 -- Document Command, Inc., the company that invented Remote Control Mail, the worlds first fully online service for management of postal mail, disclosed today unprecedented data about the behavior of postal mail recipients. Advances in Internet and television technology had previously enabled companies to track consumer behavior among users of the Internet and services like TiVo, but until today no equivalent data was available to describe the on-the-spot decisions of people who receive postal mail.
Remote Control Mails online postal mail service allows users, such as corporate employees or people who would otherwise use an offline mail forwarding or P.O. Box service, to have selected mail sent instead to addresses provided by Document Command. Envelopes sent to these addresses are scanned for users and displayed in an online account; users can then see their envelopes from anywhere in the world and make snap decisions, analogous to working through an email account, on what to do with the mail pieces: shred, recycle, open and scan into a PDF file, archive, forward-ship, and more with simple mouse clicks.
Following a survey of the first early adopter users of its groundbreaking product, Document Command announced that nearly 50% of all mail recipients requested deletion or shredding of envelopes on sight without even asking to look at the contents through opening and scanning. The analogies to email dont begin to capture the power of this service, says Tom Ransom, VP of Marketing for Corefino, Inc. an outsourced accounting firm based in Sunnyvale, CA, that is among Remote Control Mails early corporate customers. He adds, Were converting all of our client companies to this remarkable service, not only to increase the efficiency with which we can process their accounting documents, but to provide a productivity boost to all of their employees enterprise-wide.
Cameron Powell, DCIs VP of Business Development, explains, Sure, our clients employees will save a great deal of time by not having to wade through unwanted postal mail, some of it unsolicited, some of it just not interesting on a particular day. That allows Remote Control Mails service to act like an email spam filter. But the real news is that the companies also cut by half the amount of paper they have to receive, deliver, sort, and discard within the company, while employees can more productively plow through their mail while theyre out of the office, just as theyve been able to remotely manage mobile and email communications for the last decade.
The implications of this kind of data for the multi-billion-dollar direct mail marketing industry are staggering, says Richard Rosen, CEO of AlloyRed, a globally-recognized direct response advertising agency based in Portland, Oregon. Rosen adds, Companies who send out direct mail never know who theyre really reaching, how repetitively and wastefully, or which direct mail pieces are even opened versus discarded immediately. My expectation is that as Remote Control Mail continues to grow, the company will provide my clients with non-customer-specific data that will let them target their ad spend and refine their ads with the laser focus that advertisers on the Internet have been enjoying for a decade now. I call this strategy untarget marketing. I think it will trigger the next major inflection point in direct marketing ROI.
DCI also revealed that 30% of incoming envelopes are ordered to be opened and scanned. This is double our predictions before we launched earlier this spring, lacking any similar service to compare against, says Ron Wiener, CEO of Document Command. In addition, even after requesting scanning, only 13% of recipients asked that the original mail piece be forwarded to them or, if it contained a check, deposited in the customers bank account; 53% had the piece recycled and 34% had it shredded. Who prints out their emails? Wiener asked. Its very rare. And so is anyone needing the paper original of their postal mail. So why do companies spend so much money and employee time delivering just that? Wiener says customers are getting used to the idea of shredding paper originals and keeping only their electronic copies.
Document Command, Inc. (DCI) is headquartered at 5400 Carillon Point
Kirkland, WA 98033. The company operates a 60,000 sq ft national archival center in Beaverton, OR, with capacity for 50 million pieces of mail and 300 million documents at a time. DCI is connecting a network of mail presort bureaus in major cities to provide local mail pickup, digital processing and document scanning services for corporations and government agencies that wish to keep mail coming to their current addresses. The Remote Control Mail service is also available to residential customers and small businesses at www.remotecontrolmail.com. Toll-Free 866-892-2048. International: 425-296-7355. Information on the company is available at www.documentcommand.com
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Press Contact: Ron Wiener
Company Name: DOCUMENT COMMAND, INC.
Email: email protected from spam bots
Phone: 425-296-7355
Website: www.remotecontrolmail.com
Teens Get New Internet Forum for Support, Advice, and Friendship
Youth Empowerment Center expands reach to cyberspace to offer teens a safe environment and support beyond the limitations of geography and time
San Diego, CA - September 20, 2006 - The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center announced today that it has created a new online message board/Internet forum for teens. Teens that register can access the forum 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and read messages, ask questions, discuss issues, and share information about things that are important to them, but that they may have trouble discussing with current friends or family. There is no fee to use the forum, which is located at: http://forum.empowering-youth.org/
We want to reach out to kids who have access to computers, but may not be able to come to our youth center, said Lorraine Bowman, president of the EBEEC. The forum also allows kids to keep their identity confidential if they are in trouble or scared. We want kids to feel safe in getting the help and advice they need.
Teens do not often get a sounding board for issues that affect them on a daily basis the goal of the forum is to provide one where feedback and advice is provided not only by peers, but also experienced staff as needed so that youth can benefit from those with age and experience beyond what they may receive on teen-only systems, or public forums were caring adult supervision may not always be available. The staff members do not police the forums, but monitor activity and step in when as needed to present a more rounded view of situations, or present other options that may not be suggested by other teens. The staff does constantly watch for any possible forum visitors that may not be who they seem and who communicate or act in an inappropriate manner.
About The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center
The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization located in San Diego, California that is dedicated to providing personal support, counseling, and long-term programs to low-income, at-risk youth and families in a compassionate and healing environment.
Since May 2003, the Youth Empowerment Center has providing counseling and information to victims of violence. They believe it is important for survivors of all types of violence to regain control of their lives. The Center empowers them to make their own decisions through the recovery process. This includes such decisions as reporting their victimization to the police, and seeking medical services and counseling.
With a particular concern for at-risk youth, the EBEEC works to improve the conditions of all youth. Past programs have included Emphasis on Moms, Project Success, Girl Talk, Lasting Family Connections, Young Males United, and many more. Visit http://www.empowering-youth.org/
Contact:
The Eugene Bowman Economic Empowerment Center
Jon Gold, Media Coordinator
Lorraine Bowman, President/Founder
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, CA 92105
Phone: (619) 281-3312
Fax: (619) 281-8023
Bitch
by Fern Siegel, Wednesday, September 13, 2006
BITCH. IT IS, HANDS-DOWN, the best title--ever--for a magazine. And its tagline, "feminist response to pop culture," seals the deal. A sassy quarterly with a thoughtful edge, Bitch takes issue with the issues. It has the audacity--what some in the Fourth Estate would call an obligation--to challenge the status quo. Clearly, intelligent debate vs. name-calling and fear-mongering is a hallmark of a free society. Just ask any Third World despot his views on dissidents. Hallmark doesn't make a card with his response.
Bitch, which has been kicking butt for 10 years, is serious, though-provoking and appreciates the ironies that define pop culture. By culture, it means politics, arts, entertainment and society--and no less an esteemed institution than Duke University houses it in its archives.
Happily, the pub escapes the stench of earnestness that can envelop do-gooders. Sure, it's preaching to believers, but so is Rush Limbaugh. The difference is its take--and take it from me, Bitch isn't strident or a left-wing apologia. For openers, it notes that feminism is complex; women often disagree--intensely--on its mission and tactics. Plus, Bitch is a nonprofit magazine. According to its Web site, ad revenues count for less than 10 percent of the budget. In short, its survival is hard-won.
The magazine does not justify any particular ideology; it critiques mainstream culture. And it made me think about topics or viewpoints I hadn't previously considered. Be honest--how often does that happen? Most people read magazines that tell them what they want to hear. Opposite view? Perish the thought! The polarity in current political discourse, never mind the venom spewed on talk shows, is enough to convince the most obstinate: Discussion is a lost art in America. (That's why I love The Week: one topic, myriad views.)
Given its quarterly status, Bitch's articles are deliberately long. Like New Yorker long. They are often compelling and well-written, though I still subscribe to Frank Lloyd Wright's dictum: Less is more.
Yet the piece on "Miss Interpreted--Beauty Pageants Meet Their New Ideal" made important points about the history of such contests. For instance, some Miss Americas have used their terms to promote public policy, such as hospice care. The 1973 winner was the first to use her scholarship for professional education (law school) and lobbied to add an interview portion. Ms. Wheelchair American is judged on public-speaking abilities and knowledge of disability issues, not beauty. Miss Earth promotes eco-awareness, albeit alongside the swimsuit competition. Apparently, the environment in question is, as Walt Whitman put it, "the body electric." My favorite pageant is Miss Gay Metropolitan Tokyo, featuring male-to-female transsexuals. I'd like to see Bob Barker emcee that one. Whether pageants are a cheesy, outdated idea isn't the point. Bitch takes an insightful look at a cultural icon.
Similarly, "Bare Necessity" addresses the hot topic of porn in a Q&A with Carly Milne, the author of Naked Ambition--Women Who Are Changing Pornography. I was taken aback by Milne's casual tone--porn has its down side, but she says it's not degrading women, it's--wait for it--"sex positive." Tell that to Linda Lovelace! I can't claim--thankfully, my mother would kill me--a stint in the porn industry to research a book. (It gives new meaning to getting in bed with a subject.) Nor do I trust the author's overly breezy explanations. But she did raise provocative, unsettling points.
For music fans, the discussion of Dolly Parton and Madonna was downright smart. Madonna's obsessive reinvention, which skirts class, gender and race, is juxtaposed with Parton's busty blonde personae. Both have flirted with kitschy versions of themselves, but Parton's artifice is seen as authentic. By contrast, the Material Girl's authenticity rests on her chameleon-like abilities. When she decides she's no longer a Kabbalah devotee and morphs into a voodoo priestess who only wears brightly patterned hemp and speaks in a Haitian accent, will any of us be surprised? I, for one, will be disappointed if she doesn't.
In short, Bitch is a big-picture magazine, be it features on a child-free life or a reproductive-rights reading list, which reviewed five books that took both a scientific and historical approach. The section gave a synopsis, and an informative "good/not so good" appraisal. The FDA should be this detailed. Yes, it's another hot topic, but if we separate myth from reality, science from politics, we approach a loaded subject with knowledge and understanding. We don't have to agree; we do, however, have to agree to stick to the facts.
Finally, cheers to the copywriter who came up with this gem on the subscription card: "Bitch, because your brain is your most important body part." Anna Wintour, are you listening?
Fern Siegel is Deputy Editor of MediaPost.
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