I wanted to let other organizers know about what I think is a cost effective way to send out tournament announcements. I used a service called click2mail. They are affiliated with the USPS and provide automated direct mail processing. I have used them the last two years to send out announcements for the Chesapeake Open.
To send a mailing you download a MS Word template, edit it, and upload it back to their site. Next, you upload a mailing list from the USCF. After that, they print and mail them. The cost per two-sided black and white postcard including postage is 32.5 cents. If you add in the mailing list costs, it works out to 37.5 cents per postcard. Since they get the automated rate on the postcards of 22 cents vs. the normal rate of 27 cents, you’re only paying five cents for them to print them out.
The processing is very fast. I uploaded the file and mailing list on a Thursday evening and the postcards were mailed on Saturday. I received mine on Monday.
Their web site is not the easiest in the world to use. It seems to be setup for online editing which makes no sense to me. It takes a little searching to find the templates to download. They can do more than postcards but the larger stuff gets pricey.
Given the amount of time I’ve spent in the past printing fliers on my inkjet printer, stuffing and labeling envelopes, and taking them to the post office, this is clearly the way to go.
I think this is a good example how how we need to use technology to help promote our tournaments.
Mike Regan