A message from Chief Marketing Officer Anita Bizzotto

Planning and preparation. These are the keys to success for the Postal Service bike team and Lance Armstrong’s historic sixth consecutive yellow jersey in the 2004 Tour de France. In May, Coach Chris Carmichael predicted “Not only does (Lance) plan on winning a sixth Tour de France, he’s planning on doing it on his terms: by being so prepared and so powerful that no one can come close to challenging him again.” Lance delivered!

Planning and preparation are also keys to mailing success: the difference between keeping customer relationships current and thriving and throwing customers and money down the drain, between using the latest postal services and innovative marketing strategies and sitting back while your products and your message get lost in the clutter.

Business executives that want to beat their competition in today’s marketplace will want to make sure to register for the 2004 National Postal Forum, scheduled for September 19-22 at the Washington, DC, Convention Center. Entitled “Knowledge Is Power,” the new, reenergized Forum features more than 100 updated workshops, some 60 of which are brand new; 13 specialty tracks designed to help executives become experts in their mailing fields; and the largest exhibit hall in the industry, with learning labs and more than 150 displays. Tim Russert, senior vice president and Washington bureau chief for NBC News and moderator of “Meet the Press,” will be the closing day luncheon speaker. And the final reception will be held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, giving Forum attendees exclusive access to the many world-famous articles and exhibits on display.

If you want to enhance your planning and preparation and help your company achieve mailing success, go to www.npf.org or call (703) 218-5015 for more National Postal Forum information.

Anita