Over a decade ago, a group of postal geeks from around the world got together to share their knowledge and experience of the wonderful, wacky art of postal regulatory economics. The meeting was organized by two academicians whose names are now well-known in postal circles: Michael A. Crew of Rutgers University in New Jersey and Paul R. Kleindorfer of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
The first Conference on Postal Economics and Regulation was held in England back in 1990. The conferences have been an annual event ever since in a number of different international venues. The next Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics (the name the gathering goes by these days) will be in Toledo, Spain and will run from June 4-7, 2003.
Almost all the leading post offices and express carriers sponsor or attend this conference. The United States is home to several of these sponsors, most notable among them the U.S. Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission.
Several other U.S. enterprises and organizations also serve as sponsors, including the Association for Postal Commerce and PostCom members such as R.R. Donnelley and Sons, Siemens Dematic, Pitney Bowes, United Parcel Service and Federal Express. The complete list of sponsors reads like a who's who of the postal world.
Now, those who have never been to any of these conferences might be tempted to call them “junkets.” But that's only because they've never been to one.
More typically, these meetings consist of three intensive days and nights of postal information exchange among those who are steeped in this business. In fact, the conferences have proven to be the best available forum anywhere for the study of postal regulatory issues and postal economics.
Indeed, the U.S. Postal Service and the Postal Rate Commission should be congratulated for their support. It's truly a forum in which we learn from others and others learn from us.
GENE A. DEL POLITO is president of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in Arlington, VA.
