Well, my sneaky experiment worked, last issue. No one noticed -- or at least no one mentioned to me that they noticed -- that I reduced The Herald from 48 to 44 pages. Why? Not as a cruel trick, or wanting to get by doing less. No, you probably noticed the reason why when you pulled The Herald out of the mailbox. Yep, that's a first class stamp there on the back!

Since ATC '03, I have been campaigning to convince the Board to let me chuck USPS bulk mail and go with first class mail. I told them that if I could get The Herald down to weighing 2 oz., it would only cost about 20 cents more per member to mail out. Cutting one sheet of paper (4 pages, digest style) does just that. Plus, if you are subscribed to the GL e-mail list, you have read numerous posts bemoaning the ridiculous amount of time it is taking the post office to deliver bulk mail, often times. I simply felt that, with bulk mail, we were providing a poorer service to much of our membership than was necessary. In the end, the Board agreed that it was worth about a dollar and a quarter more of your membership dues to provide better service.

Bulk mail served us well, early on. I campaigned hard when I signed on as editor to be able to make The Herald a larger magazine. Then, it was limited to six sheets of paper to allow it to be mailed with a first class letter stamp. Going with bulk mail, allowed me to add a cardstock cover and increase size, ultimately to 48 pages. However, for reasons unknown, the USPS' delivery time for bulk mail has steadily gotten worse over the years. My options with the post office (official complaint, etc.) seemed like a good way for the entire mailing to "get lost."

So, the good news is you all should be getting your Herald sooner. If you move, and forget to tell us, it will be forwarded (then, you will remember to tell us, right?). I am hoping that we will end up with fewer "lost" issues, too. Bulk mail seemed to lose an average of 1-3 each time, forcing us to mail an additional copy at higher rates.

The down side is this will cost the chapter more. The Board will keep an eye on expenses, I'm sure. The Herald already brings in some money in advertising and our quarterly royalty checks from Magweb. It is not self-supporting, but I like to think that there are SOME members who join or renew in Great Lakes just because they enjoy the magazine! Either way, this move to first class mailing improves the service we are providing our membership, as they will receive The Herald in a more timely and dependable manner.