Today is K2-DAY, the second day of a series of Digital Printing Solutions Innovations Days here in the demo center at La Hulpe in Belgium.



'Aux Armes' was the battle cry of the scores of French civilians during the French Revolution. In a way there were quite some similarities: we were swarmed by more than 50 French customers today all wanting to see Kodak's revolutionary and innovative DPS solutions.

The customers were welcomed by Florence Maurice, Managing Director France and Dominique Settbon, Sales Director Digital Printing France.

After an overview presentation of our DPS solutions, a detailed presentation was given on Kodak's workflow solutions.



We also got some very interesting customer presentations by Mr. Thomas Drelon, from STIPA and Mr. Jean-Paul Serneels on behalf of Speos.

In the afternoon the demo was hot and hectic. The 50+ French customers were split in 5 groups that rotated through the demo and the different Kodak solutions. Demonstrators and presenters gave it their best, not once but yes, 5 times in a row!



At the end of the day after coffee, fruit juice and some last interactive chats, the French group got on the bus to Gare du Midi in Brussels from where the TGV (High Speed Train) will bring them in +/- 1 hr safely back to Paris and beyond.

Day 2 was a busy day with an excellent turn-out.

Several French customers told us we should do this more often ... They like the content, format and interactivity of the event!

This is another tail from my post box, again related to a mailing from a government agency. This time it is the Internal Revenue Service and the notice is a review of a 2007 tax form filed by a family member. The notice in question claims to be a CP2000 notice, but I have no idea what they think that means.

I am picking on this notice for several reasons.

1. It claims to have been mailed on the same day it was received. Neat trick!
2. It provides a telephone number to call for assistance, but if you call the number (and I did) there is no way to get to a person. The assumption of the IVR system is that you don't understand something on the document, not that you have a question about how to get the correct information into their hands.
3. It doesn't provide a way to respond to what must be a common situation.

Let me say that in terms of design this document gets high marks. It is well formatted, the text is readable, and key areas have navigation hints that make the form easy to follow. Where it falls down is in information content. And, as we know, style without substance is simply not acceptable!

It starts by highlighting when the response is due. Well formatted and easy to understand.

It then tells me why I am getting the notice, and provides a box with proposed changes to the tax filing. My quarrel here is that it assumes they are right. In my case, we don't agree with their proposed changes and this is where it starts to go off the rails.

The next item tells me what steps I should take. I should review the tax filing, compare the return to what they have provided, determine if their information is correct, complete the response form, and complete and return the payment plan. Wait! What was that last item? What if I don't owe anything?

The response form is easy to read and navigate, starting with Option 1: Agree with all changes. Option 2 is that I don't agree with some of the proposed changes, and Option 3 is that I don't agree with any of the changes. I don't agree, so I mark that.

Going on to the next step I only have three options: Pay in Full, Partial Payment and Payment plan. None of these apply! There is no option for my situation, which was a missing dividend form which will cause us to submit an amended 1040.At that point they will actually owe more money back to my family member.

The moral to this story? If you are sending notices to your customers and they need to take action, be sure you give them the ability to select all appropriate options. Allow for the exceptions where a checkbox will not do. Last time I talked about ensuring that the basic "What, Why, Who, When, What to do next" information is covered and that the customer is given appropriate means to communicate. It's more important now than ever!

Need to know more? Let me know!

If you grab your post from the postbox and find a letter from a government agency, what's your first reaction? Does your stomach go into a twist? DO you rip it open immediately, or set it on the desk and hope it was a figment of your imagination?

I have to admit to being one of those people that has to take a few minutes before I open it. Just this week I found a letter from the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation in my box.

My first thought - "What did I do?" I just couldn't think of anything. Taxes are always filed on time, or early. No crimes I know of. What did they want with me?

Reluctantly, I opened the envelope. It's all black, no color at all. This cannot be good. The top right has the US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI-New York and the address and a phone number.

My first question here is once they said Federal Bureau of Investigation, why take up a line for FBI-New York, but that's just me being picky.

It identifies me as PC McGrew, which is a bit odd. For some reason the FBI doesn't actually know my first name. Maybe that's good?

My address is correct, but only the five digit zip code.

The subject line says that it is regarding a case number that identifies it as owned by the NY office. Then, it says "Dear PC McGrew:"

Clearly, they aren't sure if I am male, female or alien.

The letter follows with, "This letter is to provide you with updates to the case by which you were previously referred to the FBI's Victim Assistance Program."

Interesting, but I've never had any communication from them before!

It goes on to say they have closed the investigation and tells me I made an important contribution. Finally, there is a phone number to call if I have any questions related to this matter. Oh, and no signature. It would have been easy to decide this was some sort of hoax or phishing letter.

Well, who wouldn't have questions? This two paragraph letter from the government provides no semantic or informational content. It directs me to a phone number to tell me that the letter refers to a case where customer data went missing from a credit card provider and that I should put a fraud alert on my credit files. The recorded message also tells me that I should call all three credit bureaus and provides the phone numbers to call, as well as information about a website I might want to go check, but it doesn't tell me why.

Think about the notices you get, and the notices your company sends. How many are guilty of the three deadly sins:

1. Fails to provide the reason for the letter using basic "What, Why, Who, When, What to do next" information.
2. Directs you to a second information source when the basics could have been in the original notice.
3. Fails to demonstrate that it should be taken seriously.

As we start to see the government chime in on regulating our bills and statements, it is reasonable to expect that they would regulate the content and presentation of regulatory notices. I wonder if they will take their own advice and force their own agencies to communicate more effectively.

Need to know more? Let me know!