Last week, we sent the first edition of our “Paperless Please” newsletter to all registered Zumboxes. The content is included below. However, this blog post doesn’t do it justice because the Zumbox environment is much more rich than a blog or e-mail can support. Indeed, the Zumbox platform has nothing whatsoever to do with e-mail. It’s an entirely new, Web-based platform and communications channel based on your verified geographic location. This enables much more freedom and design when it comes to online publishing and delivery of content. If you’re a publisher and would like to explore the Zumbox channel, please drop us an email to pr@zumbox.com.
This is our first Paperless Please Newsletter. It is an exclusive way for us to communicate with the people of Zumbox using the exciting new medium we’ve created—a secure, online communication channel based on your verified street address.
ZUMBOX CITIES
Zumbox officially launched its public beta in February. We recently exited beta and launched our national rollout in the Cities of San Francisco, CA; Newark, NJ; and New York City, NY with support from Mayors Newsom, Booker, and Bloomberg respectively. If you know people in these cities, please let them know to claim their Zumbox in order to view that mail and much more.
Our national rollout will continue with the addition of other major cities and regions and will include mail from municipalities, non-profit organizations, local businesses, media companies, utilities, and national billers. This mail will be focused in the launch cities; however, several of our partners will be mailing on a national scale. Indeed, the paperless revolution has begun.
ZUMBOX FEATURES
In addition to mail, we will be adding new features and applications that will enhance the Zumbox experience and make it more useful on a day-to-day basis. As you can imagine, the possibilities for building on the Zumbox platform are quite limitless, and we look forward to having you involved as these become available.
PAPERLESS PLEASE
In September, we launched the beta version of PaperlessPlease.org, the campaign for paperless mail. This is based on the Zumbox feature and button of the same name, where you can (politely) request exclusive paperless mail delivery…which is to say, please stop sending the paper. Many of you have asked how you can get more involved with Zumbox and how you can let companies know that you’d like to have your mail delivered in parallel via Zumbox.
The answer is to join Paperless Please and the campaign for paperless mail by entering your e-mail address at PaperlessPlease.org.
You can recruit all of your like-minded friends using this simple e-mail invitation tool. Be sure to also support the campaign at Facebook and Twitter if you participate there. Next, add the Paperless Please badge to your networking pages or blog. Finally, you can send official Paperless Please request letters to companies like Verizon, DIRECTV, and Pottery Barn via Zumbox and then notify them via Twitter that the request was sent.
This is just the start for Paperless Please. There is much more to come for the campaign for paperless mail, and we’ll be certain to keep you posted.
ZUMBOX IN THE NEWS
We’ll keep you posted about how Zumbox is being covered in the news. Our San Francisco launch was covered by a range of local media:
NYC’s Zumbox Paperless Mailing System
San Francisco Examiner“Newsom is promoting the idea. He hopes residents will voluntarily ask that certain government mail be sent only via the online service. That would save on some of the massive amounts of paper The City uses daily for mailing, which is good for the environment and the budget.” Read more…
San Francisco Chronicle“If the experiment catches on with even a fraction of the population, San Francisco could save a chunk of the $3 million it spent last fiscal year on postage and associated labor costs. The other selling point is the environmental benefit: no paper to recycle. Last year, the city sent about 7.5 million pieces of mail, according to its mail department.” Read more…
Mother Nature Network“Kudos to Zumbox for moving so quickly into the public sector. While their work in transitioning people onto paperless mail is only just beginning, this is a major step in the creation of what could be the USPS of the 21st century.”
