PCC Advisory Committee Teleconference Minutes

June 20, 2012

Industry Attendees:
Theresa Peterlein, Peterlein Consulting
Naomi Quiram, Gustavaus Adolphus College
Larry Chaido – TransGlobal Consultants

Postal Attendees
Maura Robinson
Sharon Owens
Tony Williams
Rick Cooper
Pete Allen
Margaret Pepe
Anthony Frost
Lewis Johnson
Laurie Timmons (Absent)

Opening Remarks 
Maura Robinson welcomed and thanked the members for their participation.  Other remarks included:
•	Thanked Theresa and Tony for conducting the Postal Customer Cafes held in May 2012.  Valuable feedback was provided and it is important to follow up what was shared.
•	PCCs are invaluable at the local level as a means to communicating with local business mailers.  USPS is stepping up its effort to provide “real time” communications with the use of Industry Alerts, PCC Insider, email blasts, Area focus group meetings and webinars.
•	PCC feedback is important to the Postal Service (USPS).
•	Local USPS personnel must get engaged to better understand the needs of local mailers and answer their questions.  At the national level, the PCC Support Program has been established to reach out to PCCs on a more frequent basis to better understand the needs of the mailing industry, as well as offer ways to improve the performance of all PCCs
•	National PCC Day has become National PCC Week this year.  This should offer greater flexibility in scheduling PCC events, reduce costs, and provide a higher quality of images through the use of a DVD (online link) to view the Postmaster General’s (PMG) message versus the previous live satellite broadcast approach.
•	The PMG will participate at the Greater Atlanta PCC event and Megan Brennan will attend the Vermont PCC event.  The Greater Atlanta PCC was the winner of the 2011 PCC of the Year – Large Market Award and is the host site for National PCC Week.  The Vermont PCC received the 2011 PCC of the Year – Small Market Award.

Action Items for National Postal Forum (NPF) PCC Advisory Committee (PCCAC) Meeting 
Current Status:
•	Endorsement letter 
•	The “Thank You” from the PMG to the current PCC industry co-chairs is expected to be mailed the week of June 25, 2012.
•	How to share best practices? 
•	Best practices are required to submit Gold Level Award nominations and they will be posted on the National PCC Website and sent to PCCs via an e-blast.
•	How to reach new small businesses? 
•	Contact political / election campaign organizations to educate them on the use Every Door Direct Mail.
•	Make use of the USPS sales team to promote the value of PCC and provide PCC collateral materials.
•	Solicit successful small business membership initiatives from PCCs and share as best practices with other PCCs.
•	Develop grass-roots initiatives to have local small business PCC members reach out to other local mailers.  This is likely to have a greater response rate.
•	Submit more ideas to the National PCC Team.

•	How to ensure postal support? 
•	Established the PCC Support Program at the PCC headquarters level to reach out to all PCCs to better understand their needs and provide assistance on a monthly basis.  This program was also needed because of the reduction in customer relations coordinators nationwide.

•	Comprehensive messaging around postal changes
•	Again, USPS is stepping up its effort to provide “real time” communications with the use of Industry Alerts, PCC Insider, email blasts, Area focus group meetings and webinars.

2012 National PCC Week Discussion
•	New Format – PCC Week (September 18 – September 20, 2012)
•	Host Site – Greater Atlanta PCC (Atlanta, GA)
•	PMG’s Message – DVD – Made available to PCCs by September 3, 2012 in hardcopy and a link will be established on the PCC Blue Share website to download the DVD.
•	Speaker Assignments – Assigned by the National PCC Team
•	Professional Certificate Program – A certificate template is posted on the PCC Blue Share website so that PCCs can create and print their own certificates, including those certificates earned during National PCC Week 2012. 
•	The weekly telecons between the PCC area coordinators and the National PCC Week Planning Team started on June 12 and will end September 12.

PCC Awards
•	Leadership Awards evaluation process – Process was explained.  This included the award binders that will be mailed to each rater, rating instructions, and how the ratings will be tabulated to determine the award winners.  Nominations are due July 1.
•	Premier PCC Awards – PCCs submit nominations to district managers for review and approval, and the district managers send their approval forms to the National PCC Team by July 16.
•	Announcement – At least one week prior to National PCC Week.  
Status of Education
•	PCCs prefer a mix of postal related and professional development workshops-in-a-box.
•	Having some shorter workshops-in-a-box would allow for more educational presentations at PCC Lunch and Learn sessions.
•	A link will be established on the PCC Blue Share website to allow PCCs access to the latest National Postal Forum (NPF) workshop presentations.  An e-blast should be sent to PCCs to announce this arrangement.  

PCC Customer Café Feedback
•	The May 2012 cafes were the best ever. 
•	One hundred thirty – three (133) PCCs participated, representing 92 industry and 73 postal members. 
•	The top two concerns for each question have been identified.  The list of questions and concerns was sent to all members prior to the June 20 teleconference. 
•	The questions and concerns should be e-blasted to PCC as soon as possible. 
•	The use of PCC business cards that include key USPS contact information was received as a great idea (best practice).  This currently exists and can be ordered locally.
•	At PCC events / meetings, the current split between USPS and industry participation is 20% - 80%, respectively.  A better balance should be 40% - 60%.  Postmasters’ participation is very important and lends credibility to events / meetings.
•	Other USPS personnel who should participate at PCC events / meetings include district managers, plant managers, Business Mail Entry Unit, Business Service Network, Sales, and mailing requirements representatives. 
•	Information about Area Focus Group meetings that is posted on RIBBS should be e-blasted to PCCs.
•	The format and objective of the Cafés should be revisited, including hosting them on a smaller scale (i.e., district level) and not to exceed 25 per teleconference.  Currently, they are conducted at the area level.
•	To obtain / share information and feedback about National PCC Week 2012, it was recommended that the next Cafés be hosted between mid to late October.

Action Items:
1.	Solicit success small business membership / outreach initiatives from PCCs and share as best practices with other PCCs.
2.	Explore the development of shorter workshops-in-a-box to be used a PCC Lunch & Learn sessions.
3.	Information about Area Focus Group meetings that is posted on RIBBS, as well as other appropriate information should be emailed to PCCs.
4.	Explore sending to / developing the following presentations / webinars for PCCs:
a.	Webinar presentation by Marc McCrery relating to current USPS Shipping Services opportunities.
b.	Network Rationalization Implementation Update Webinar (Mail Move Plans, CustomerFirst! System & BSN e-Service) given on June 22, now available on RIBBS.  
c.	Transitioning to the Intelligent Mail Barcode Webinar Series listed on RIBBS.
d.	Area Focus Group meetings information on RIBBS.
e.	Appropriate MTAC information on RIBBS.
5.	Revisit the format and objective of the Cafés, including hosting them on a smaller scale (i.e., district level) and not to exceed 25 per teleconference.  Currently, they are conducted at the area level.
6.	Determine the dates for the next PCC Cafés (mid to late October was suggested).
7.	Continue to explore the use of Social Media by PCCs.  
8.	Determine if PCCs can use Picture Permit for their mailing using the G-10 Permit, including the PCC logo.  
9.	Determine when the letters will be mailed.  
10.	Send an e-blast to all PCCs that includes the summary notes from the May 2012 Cafes. Completed: June 25, 2012
11.	Establish a link between the PCC Blue Share and NPF website to give PCCs access to workshop presentations given at the latest NPF.  Completed

Next PCCAC Teleconference:  July 25, 2012 (Wednesday) – 10:00am – 12:00pm EDT 

Prepared by:  Lewis Johnson					Approved by:  Pete Allen