It's a Challenge: The good news this week is that, while the Post Office has raised the rates for first class postage (from 39 to 41 cents), the rate for 2-ounce postage has dropped -- from 63 to 58 cents. So that means GAAMC saves 5 cents on every copy of Challenge we mail out over last year (or, for that matter, last month).

The bad news is -- well, partly my fault, I guess. Along with being Challenge editor, I also run the front desk on Monday nights at GAAMC. I wasn't there on May 7th, because I was meeting with my teammates to do our final review of our class presentation (which was in lieu of a final exam), which we were doing the next day. In my place, I was told, three people took over and did the stuff I usually do: take door donations; make name tags; put up the white board and the cork board; and generally be a friendly, welcoming face for all those who walk through the door.

What I didn't mention was that I never, never, never put out a stack of Challenge copies on the front desk. I do hand them out to non-members and first timers, after asking if they had gotten a copy. But in the past, members would take an extra copy or three on top of the one they had been mailed at home. The result would be no copies to impress the first timers, and no copies to entice the non-members to join (or rejoin, as the case may be).

On April 30th, I left some 40 copies of Challenge in the front desk storage box. When I returned on May 14th, only 6 were left. Because the people at the front desk put out a stack of Challenges. Now I have to do an additional print run of 35 copies, because a snafu over creating labels meant that our corporate subscribers did not get their copies mailed out by the beginning of May -- and their copies were a huge chunk of the ones sitting in the front desk storage box on May 7th.

I must educate more of the "regulars" in how the front desk operates. I think I shall request a chunk of time at the upcoming Board meeting for a little instruction. And maybe an operations sheet as well.