News and Notes from National Postal Forum 2024

The 2024 National Postal Forum was held in the centrally located city of Indianapolis in the first week of June. This annual event is a must-attend for those of us looking to gain as much insight into the rapidly undulating situation at the US Postal Service as possible. It is a chance to re-connect with old friends, make new connections, and learn about several hot topics in the industry. I had the chance to attend this year (sadly without my partner in crime, Carolyn Angelini, PS Director of Resource and Postal Affairs) and here are the top takeaways:

1. Pressure on the PMG

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been under a lot of scrutiny lately, not just by the industry, but with a few appearances on Capitol Hill as well, to defend his Delivering for America plan. NPF offered a few chances for him to speak to this pressure, and he came out swinging! While the opening kick-off presentation offered a very rosy view of the plan, there are many in our industry still doubtful based on recent challenges with delivery performance partnered with the continuing twice-per-year rate increases.

2. Attendance

The official numbers posted by the NPF committee show over 4,000 attendees at the forum this year, a number that continues to grow since the COVID year of digital only access to the event. The exhibit hall was certainly packed most days and especially in between the workshop sessions! This is an incredibly valuable event in the Direct Mail industry, and yet it remains an untapped resource for most in the Non-Profit space. Certainly,an opportunity for growth in this field!

3. Network Changes and Service Performance

The topic on everyone’s mind seemed to be the changes that the USPS is bringing to the network, and the declining service standards that appear to be directly related to some of these changes. One of the final sessions of NPF was a town hall where we were invited to submit questions that the PMG would answer personally, and it was immediately apparent that he received a tidal wave of questions on this topic. He did not dodge it entirely but was purposefully vague about the “why” of these performance challenges. However, Mr. DeJoy is clear about the only way to fix it – charge ahead with the changes currently in process.

4. Postal Promotions 2025

There was also a lot of interest in the postal promotions, especially for 2025 and beyond. We have gathered every last drop of information that the USPS has shared on the promotions, but the goal was to glean some new details that had not been shared so far, even in the promotions-focused User Group 8 calls. Unfortunately, we were all disappointed. The single session provided on the topic offered only a general overview of the 2025 promotions, and questions were met with a lot of “we’ll have to get back to you on that”. We know for sure that there are substantial changes coming in 2025 with two new promotions, new add-on promotions, and the loss of gloss stock eligibility for the Tactile/Sensory promo – but the only good news we received was to confirm that Mobile Shopping will be eligible in 2025 again, but not in 2026.

5. Connections!

One of the best aspects of these annual forums is the ability to connect with existing partners and develop new relationships, especially with the hard-working folks at the post office itself! This year’s iteration of NPF did not disappoint, and we are all very much looking forward to Nashville in April 2025! See you there!