ITG Treasurer David C. Jones

Web-only readers of this article may not realize that one of the key benefits of ITG membership is the ITG Journal, a solid (and indeed weighty) publication which we keenly look forward to receiving four times a year. Up to quite recently there was a very marked difference in price for non-US members between waiting for surface mail delivery and paying up for airmail. As a non-US member I can tell you that this was quite an irritant and that, for those who couldn't or didn't want to find the extra money, it was extremely annoying to see friends in international forums like TPIN and Trumpet Herald discussing journal articles that we were yet some weeks, or more, from seeing.

So when I heard of the ITG's decision to abolish the difference in membership rates and send all non-US journals out by airmail, I was delighted. It seemed to me that it was a major commitment to the "I" in ITG, and sends an excellent message to members and potential members in lots of countries round the world. Anyone who can read a list and count knows, of course, that there's a significant US majority in the membership and this can sometimes lead to all sorts of silly beliefs and accusations: however from the inside and knowing some of the people, you can really start to appreciate just how far wide of the mark these are. But to have another tangible mark of ITG's commitment to internationalism like this is a real plus and one which I think could have far-reaching consequences. (If you don't know what you're missing with the ITG Journal, have a look at some back issues and the current tables of contents by following the "Journal Hub" link at the page bottom: and, if you like what you see, you may well be needing the "Join ITG" link just below it.)

In addition, I should admit that I couldn't see how the Guild could afford it, since it seemed bound to involve a lot of extra expenditure. I also thought that ITG had been remarkably modest about this improvement, whereas I felt it was worth a fanfare or two - from where I am sitting it really is a most significant change, not just for the narrow financial reason but also for what it seems to say about ITG's attitude towards its non-US membership.

Intrigued by all this, I decided to find out a bit more about how ITG came to make this change and what its financial consequences might be. A talk with ITG Treasurer Dave Jones seemed the only way to nail this whole thing down so I set off on an all-expenses paid trip upstairs to my nearest Ethernet port to interview the guru of ITG finance.

Neville Young (NY): Why did the ITG make this decision?

Money don't get everything it's true...

Dave Jones (DJ): This could be a long story because it began in a very strange way! It was late spring and my wife was playing the pipe organ for a 50th wedding anniversary reaffirmation of vows. As part of the "thank you for playing" we were invited to join the couple and other guests on a "dinner on the river" cruise. During dinner the guests at our table began talking about our outside interests and I just happened to mention my involvement with ITG. When I told our table-mates the number of members both in the US and internationally that ITG has, Scott, one of our table-mates and a part-time route driver for DHL, suggested I look into a DHL service called WorldMail because he thought it had the potential to save ITG some money. I had known of DHL from my days working for Eastern Airlines and thought they were only an airfreight forwarder, but I figured that his comment was worth checking. I called DHL, met with a sales rep, explained ITG's publications program, and gave her a package of Journals and other material that ITG mails in the course of a membership year. Although the weights of the shipments could be calculated, DHL also needed to know what countries were involved. It took me a couple of days to put together a list of countries and the number of members in each for our DHL rep. About a week after providing this information I met with our rep and she presented me with a proposal for using DHL's WorldMail service. The numbers looked very intriguing! Saving money for ITG is a priority so the decision was made to try the service. The first use was that summer's membership renewal mailing. I checked the times for renewal forms to reach Europe and other countries - they were at least as fast as the delivery times using the US Postal Service. I checked with several of the officers and we made the decision to try the DHL WorldMail service for the Journals and other ITG materials for the 2002-2003 membership year. The decision was made because it looked like it would benefit our international membership.

NY: Isn't it going to cost ITG a fortune?

DHL aircraft laden with ITGJs!

DJ: The short answer is no, but let me give you a bit more background on why I say that. At the Board of Directors meeting in Manchester, UK I mentioned that there was a possible alternative to the US Postal Service (USPS) for sending Journals to our International members. President DiMartino and I were given the task of compiling a mailing cost study for the January 2003 Winter Officers' meeting and presenting the results at the May 2003 Board of Directors meeting. I used the October 2002 Journal mailing for the cost study. I looked at the data behind the 571 Journal and Recent Programs packages that were mailed internationally for October 2002, counted the number of members for each country, then calculated the cost of mailing through the USPS using surface mail, the least cost and slowest service available from the Post Office. The mailing cost study showed that we saved over $600 by using DHL for the October 2002 Journal. And as the number of international members increases during the year the savings also increases. The great thing about the DHL WorldMail service is that it is a flat rate rather than being a variable rate like we were paying through the USPS. The result is that we are able to provide every international member with airmail service without increasing the cost of membership and without some members paying an extra $18-$22 to get airmail delivery. When this information was presented to the Officers they were excited and the decisions were made to continue using the DHL service on a trial basis and to bring a proposal to the Board meeting recommending that ITG send all journals to our international members using DHL's WorldMail service. At the Board meeting there was great enthusiasm for the idea of giving all our international members this improved level of service at no additional cost.

NY: Was it a difficult decision to make?

ITG Journal page

DJ: Given the cost savings the decision was a "no brainer," - provide members with the improved level of service!

NY: What do you think it will mean to non-US members?

DJ: The Board of Directors is hoping that utilizing the DHL service will help our international membership receive their journals in a more timely manner than was previously possible. Hopefully members in Europe and other countries will realize that we are really working for them, trying to find ways to increase the value of their membership in ITG without increasing the cost. It has been very painful to watch the numbers of international members decline partially because we were not able to provide a good level of service - particularly getting journals to them quickly. Hopefully some of them will want to rejoin ITG.

NY: In terms of how my membership functions, what difference is there, now, between being a US-based member and being somewhere else in the world?

DJ: No difference, now ... except, wait a minute. It just struck me that with airmail delivery ITG's international members may receive their journals faster than some of the members in the US receive their journals!! Journals mailed in the United States are sent at a special rate for non-profit organizations that is inexpensive, but slow. It often requires 4-6 weeks for members in California and other states in the western and southwestern sections of the country to receive their Journals. So this is VERY positive for our international members. Other than that there is no difference in any of the memberships.

NY: Thank you very much.

So there you have it - everyone gains. Non-US members don't feel like the poor relations any more, the Guild actually saves money doing it, and everyone's happy. Now you will have to excuse me: you see, I have an argument scheduled with an American friend about this ITGJ Science Desk article.

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