Today I received an unrequested duplicate Discon III souvenir book,
sent by Discon via priority one-day mail. I had of course already
picked one up while attending the con. I never requested a duplicate,
and have no use for it. Why would they send such a thing, and why wait
eight months after the con, then spend extra to send it overnight?

Has anyone else received one?
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

In article <tdhj1m$8kj$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
Lynch) wrote:

> Has anyone else received one?

Interesting. I joined Discon at Dublin but didn't attend. I have not
received a souvenir book yet. I wonder it they've just started sending
them out.

Aren't souvenir books usually post-convention publications?

On Tuesday, August 16, 2022 at 10:16:24 PM UTC-4, Keith F. Lynch wrote:
> Today I received an unrequested duplicate Discon III souvenir book,
> sent by Discon via priority one-day mail. I had of course already
> picked one up while attending the con. I never requested a duplicate,
> and have no use for it. Why would they send such a thing, and why wait
> eight months after the con, then spend extra to send it overnight?
>
> Has anyone else received one?
> --
My wife got one in the mail yesterday. I didn't (yet...)

Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> Interesting. I joined Discon at Dublin but didn't attend. I have
> not received a souvenir book yet. I wonder it they've just started
> sending them out.

If they were sent to everyone on the 15th, they may just be taking
longer to reach the UK. It was mailed from Annapolis Junction,
Maryland, and reached me the next day. It's possible to *walk*
from Annapolis Junction to my home in under 24 hours.

(If I recall correctly, all of the '95 Glasgow publications, even
those to UK fans, were mailed from Maryland. Maybe because the UK's
privacy laws made it too much of a hassle to run mailing lists from
the UK? I don't know.)

> Aren't souvenir books usually post-convention publications?

There are (at least) two different meanings for "souvenir book."
Nearly all conventions give out a glossy stapled "book" at the con,
called the souvenir book, and separately give out a non-glossy stapled
pocket program.

Some cons give out a completely different souvenir book a year later,
but this is rare.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

On Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 5:52:02 AM UTC-4, Paul Dormer wrote:
> In article <tdhj1m$8kj$1...@reader2.panix.com>, k...@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
> Lynch) wrote:
>
> > Has anyone else received one?
> Interesting. I joined Discon at Dublin but didn't attend. I have not
> received a souvenir book yet. I wonder it they've just started sending
> them out.
>
> Aren't souvenir books usually post-convention publications?

My understanding is that only the US Souvenir Books have been sent so far. DisCon III is working on getting the International SBs sent out but it will take some time.

Rick Kovalcik <rick.kovalcik@gmail.com> wrote:
> My understanding is that only the US Souvenir Books have been sent
> so far. DisCon III is working on getting the International SBs sent
> out but it will take some time.

Thanks. But why send them to people who attended the con and
presumably picked one up then? And why wait until eight months after
the con to send them? And why, after having waited that long, spend
extra money to send them as priority mail?
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

In article <tdk7qk$nak$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
Lynch) wrote:

>
> (If I recall correctly, all of the '95 Glasgow publications, even
> those to UK fans, were mailed from Maryland. Maybe because the UK's
> privacy laws made it too much of a hassle to run mailing lists from
> the UK? I don't know.)

Might well have been cheaper to send a batch as bulk mailing and then get
US agents to mail locally. Certainly the SF Foundation has no problem
sending to US (and EU and Australian) members.

DisCon III has started mailing out souvenir books to those supporting and attending members who requested paper publications. Unfortunately, we discovered that our records for which of our attending members picked up their souvenir books at con were not entirely reliable. We attempted to remedy that by sending out multiple email messages to our members listed as requesting paper publications urging them to complete a Google form to let us know whether or not they wanted us to mail them a copy of the souvenir book (and giving them a chance to confirm or update their mailing address). We got very few responses from people telling us not to send them a book. Given the number of people with attending memberships who chose not to attend the convention in person due to the ongoing pandemic and other reasons and due to the relatively small number of Worldcon members who request paper publications, we decided to send souvenir books to all others who had requested paper publications.

As Rick as said on this thread, US books were mailed out this week (and almost all have been delivered by now). They were NOT mailed out via overnight delivery (as the original rec.arts.sf.fandom poster stated) but rather were mailed out priority mail cubic via a discount mailing service (the least expensive possible rate).

As for members outside the United States, in light of the significantly higher costs of mailing those books we made one last effort to ascertain which of those members really wanted a paper copy of the book. Quite a few told us not to mail them a copy and others offered to pick up a copy from us in person at Chicon. (Thanks!) The remainder of the books to members outside the U.S. are going out soon. In some countries where it is more economical for a DisCon volunteer in that country to receive the books in bulk to remail domestically, we are doing that (either by shipping the volunteer the books and or by handing them a small pile of books to bring home with them from Chicon). Other international books will be mailed out directly early next week.

John Pomeranz
DisCon III
john.pomeranz@discon3.org

In article <8a730449-9b91-4155-aa64-cbb9ef02ff9dn@googlegroups.com>,
johnpomeranzlawyer@gmail.com (John Pomeranz) wrote:

>
> As for members outside the United States, in light of the
> significantly higher costs of mailing those books we made one last
> effort to ascertain which of those members really wanted a paper copy
> of the book.

I have no memory of what option I chose, and at the time I didn't think I
wouldn't be going to the con. Until Keith's post, it hadn't even
occurred to me whether or not I'd be receiving a book. Can't even
remember getting any e-mails about this in the past year, but as I wasn't
attending, I probably ignored them.

On Friday, August 19, 2022 at 12:31:23 PM UTC-4, Paul Dormer wrote:
> In article <8a730449-9b91-4155...@googlegroups.com>,
> johnpomer...@gmail.com (John Pomeranz) wrote:
>
> >
> > As for members outside the United States, in light of the
> > significantly higher costs of mailing those books we made one last
> > effort to ascertain which of those members really wanted a paper copy
> > of the book.
> I have no memory of what option I chose, and at the time I didn't think I
> wouldn't be going to the con. Until Keith's post, it hadn't even
> occurred to me whether or not I'd be receiving a book. Can't even
> remember getting any e-mails about this in the past year, but as I wasn't
> attending, I probably ignored them.

You do not appear to have requested paper publications. (But if you want a souvenir book, we'll have extras to give away at Chicon. Come by the DisCon III Thank You party on Friday night, or have a friend pick one up for you.)

John

In article <12515e3e-ee80-4474-a6d3-dd9f87fd08c6n@googlegroups.com>,
johnpomeranzlawyer@gmail.com (John Pomeranz) wrote:

>
> You do not appear to have requested paper publications. (But if you
> want a souvenir book, we'll have extras to give away at Chicon. Come
> by the DisCon III Thank You party on Friday night, or have a friend
> pick one up for you.)

Alas, what with the pandemic and then a serious operation last year, I
have not joined Chicon and not planning a transatlantic trip just yet.

Last month I did do a train trip to Berlin, but train travel is so much
more relaxing than air travel.

Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> Alas, what with the pandemic and then a serious operation last year,
> I have not joined Chicon and not planning a transatlantic trip just
> yet.

> Last month I did do a train trip to Berlin, but train travel is so
> much more relaxing than air travel.

If only there were a Transatlantic Tunnel (Hurrah!).

Alternatively, given that it was possible to dig a rail tunnel under
the English Channel, it ought to be also possible to build one under
the Bering Strait. Then you could ride from Britain through Europe,
Asia, Alaska, and Canada to get to Chicago. I wonder how long it would
take? You probably should have started your trip a few weeks ago.

I told a young friend about my taking the train to ConJose in 2002.
He was obviously skeptical. I asked him why he doubted me. He said
that he had learned in school about a transcontinental railroad being
built in the 1860s, but he didn't believe it. He didn't believe it
because today it takes a billion dollars and ten years go build one
mile of track, and the track wears out and must be rebuilt after
another ten years. So it was obviously impossible with the much more
primitive technology and less wealth of the 1800s to build a railroad
thousands of miles long. Sigh.

I do plan to take a train to Chicon and back. I see that it takes 18
hours each way, which is only a little slower than it took a century ago.

As an aside, note that Chicago has hosted the 10th, 20th, 40th, and
now the 80th Worldcon. (And a few others.) I wonder if they'll also
host the 160th and 320th.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

John Pomeranz <johnpomeranzlawyer@gmail.com> wrote:
> We attempted to remedy that by sending out multiple email messages
> to our members listed as requesting paper publications urging them
> to complete a Google form to let us know whether or not they wanted
> us to mail them a copy of the souvenir book (and giving them a
> chance to confirm or update their mailing address). We got very
> few responses from people telling us not to send them a book.

Thanks. But I never got any such emails. Can you tell me when they
were sent, from what address, and with what subject line? Thanks.
I ask because I want to make sure my spam filters aren't blocking
legitimate emails.

Also, if few people responded, maybe the emails were blocked as spam
by almost everyone. I'm reminded that you once mentioned using
Constant Contact, a notorious spam site, to communicate with your
clients.

Anyone who *received* such emails, please also answer. Thanks.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

In article <tdqi0l$41o$1@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
Lynch) wrote:

>
> I told a young friend about my taking the train to ConJose in 2002.
> He was obviously skeptical. I asked him why he doubted me. He said
> that he had learned in school about a transcontinental railroad being
> built in the 1860s, but he didn't believe it. He didn't believe it
> because today it takes a billion dollars and ten years go build one
> mile of track, and the track wears out and must be rebuilt after
> another ten years. So it was obviously impossible with the much more
> primitive technology and less wealth of the 1800s to build a railroad
> thousands of miles long. Sigh.

I went to the 1984 Worldcon in Los Angeles by train from New York.

I also went to the last two Denver Worldcons by train, in 1981 from New
York and in 2008 from San Francisco. I went to Spokane from Seattle.

For that matter, I went to Helsinki and Dublin by train and boat.

Earlier this year, I read The Great Railway Revolution by Christian
Wolmar, a history of the railway in America. Fascinating.

For the record, the trip from London to Berlin was due to last nine hours,
changing at Brussels and Cologne. What actually happened was that there
was a delay leaving Cologne and the train I was on was terminated in Hamm
but a replacement was put on and I arrived in Berlin two hours late,
about 23:00. Fortunately, my hotel was just across the road from the
Hauptbahnhof.

In article <tdqifn$41o$2@reader2.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
Lynch) wrote:

>
> Also, if few people responded, maybe the emails were blocked as spam
> by almost everyone. I'm reminded that you once mentioned using
> Constant Contact, a notorious spam site, to communicate with your
> clients.

I've recently noticed that a number of legitimate e-mails to me have been
going to spam. Thinks such as mailing lists I'm on such as the Royal
Opera House. Had to whitelist a lot.

Paul Dormer <prd@pauldormer.cix.co.uk> wrote:
> I've recently noticed that a number of legitimate e-mails to me have
> been going to spam. Thinks such as mailing lists I'm on such as the
> Royal Opera House. Had to whitelist a lot.

I have complete control over my filters, via procmail. But I long
since had to replace my blacklist with whitelists. They're very large
whitelists, containing 19497 names, domain names, and email addresses
(including those of all rasff regulars), 928 subject lines, and 65
organization lines. But I also have blacklists that override the
whitelists. For instance any email from Nigeria goes straight to
the trash, regardless of who it claims to be from.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.