ENVELOPE PUZZLE
posted by Action Envelope at 6:45 AM
10 Envelopes
A man told his son that he would give him $1000 if he could accomplish the following task. The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do this, you will keep the $1000."
When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten envelopes?
The Answer:
The contents of the ten envelopes should be as follows: $1, $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64, $128, $256, $489. The first nine numbers are in geometrical progression, and their sum, deducted from 1,000, gives the contents of the tenth envelope.
A man told his son that he would give him $1000 if he could accomplish the following task. The father gave his son ten envelopes and a thousand dollars, all in one dollar bills. He told his son, "Place the money in the envelopes in such a manner that no matter what number of dollars I ask for, you can give me one or more of the envelopes, containing the exact amount I asked for without having to open any of the envelopes. If you can do this, you will keep the $1000."
When the father asked for a sum of money, the son was able to give him envelopes containing the exact amount of money asked for. How did the son distribute the money among the ten envelopes?
The Answer:
The contents of the ten envelopes should be as follows: $1, $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64, $128, $256, $489. The first nine numbers are in geometrical progression, and their sum, deducted from 1,000, gives the contents of the tenth envelope.
Labels: puzzle
SNAIL MAIL vs E-MAIL
posted by Action Envelope at 12:43 PM
So here we are, the leading on-line envelope retailer, distributor and printer, asking the question... e-mail or snail mail. For obvious reasons, you’d assume we espouse the tried and true postal system. We do, after all, sell envelopes. But there’s a bigger picture here that bears examining.
One of the major drawbacks to email is the spam filter. There are so many buzz words and phrases on spam lists these days, your intended recipient may never read that one essential communique. Who wants to hear the phrase, “you were in my spam folder.” When you’ve got something important to say, you don’t want to be considered junk mail and end up in a bottomless, virtual trash heap.
People are, by nature, multi-dimensional. We like to not only look at something, we like to touch it, feel it, turn it over, see what’s inside. We’re excited by colors and textures. We like to feel as if we’re taking part in something... we enjoy the act of “doing.” Who doesn’t feel that tingle of expectation when a beautiful envelope arrives in our mail box? You don’t get that from a cyber message. It’s the envelope that invites us to find the surprise inside... an invitation, an announcement, some news we’ve been waiting for. “Open it! Open it!” We’ve all said that.
And you can only do that with an envelope.
Your thoughts?
One of the major drawbacks to email is the spam filter. There are so many buzz words and phrases on spam lists these days, your intended recipient may never read that one essential communique. Who wants to hear the phrase, “you were in my spam folder.” When you’ve got something important to say, you don’t want to be considered junk mail and end up in a bottomless, virtual trash heap.
People are, by nature, multi-dimensional. We like to not only look at something, we like to touch it, feel it, turn it over, see what’s inside. We’re excited by colors and textures. We like to feel as if we’re taking part in something... we enjoy the act of “doing.” Who doesn’t feel that tingle of expectation when a beautiful envelope arrives in our mail box? You don’t get that from a cyber message. It’s the envelope that invites us to find the surprise inside... an invitation, an announcement, some news we’ve been waiting for. “Open it! Open it!” We’ve all said that.
And you can only do that with an envelope.
Your thoughts?
ENVELOPE ETIQUETTE
posted by Action Envelope at 6:40 AM
All the preparations for your event are paying off. The food’s going to be great; the music, awesome; the guest list, resolved (for the most part); the venue, amazing; your outfit, perfect. Now comes the best part -- inviting people to join you in celebrating whatever it is you’re celebrating. It could be the birth of a child, an anniversary, a special birthday, a wedding... regardless of the occasion, there are friends and family who have to receive the invitation of your dreams, and the envelope that contains it.
There are some pretty basic rules for addressing invitation envelopes, and if you follow them, you’re almost assured the right people will get them, know who they can bring and who they can’t. Although there’s always someone who’ll call and say, “Can I bring my 2, 4, 6, (fill in the number) year old to your beach luau at 11 pm on Saturday night?” You’ll have to deal with that as tactfully as you can. But if you follow the guidelines here, it will give you a leg to stand on when you say “no.”
OUTER
Depending on the formality of your event, there might be an outer as well as an inner envelope. Regardless, your outer shouldt contain some very specific information and be prepared in a certain manner. First, the writing must be straight. A good way to deal with this, is to get out a ruler and draw 4 or 5 evenly spaced straight lines, or you could do it on your computer. Cut the paper down to fit inside your outer envelope, and when the lines show through, use them as guides for writing.
If you don’t have an inner envelope, just make sure the outer says it all. It’s best not to use stickers or labels for addresses or return addresses. Have you printer put your return address on the back flap, and use a nice black pen on the front. It is becoming more acceptable these days to pick a nice font and run your envelopes through your home computer. Your choice. (Everything is actually your choice.)
If you’re event is casual, you can pretty much have at it, at least when it comes to addressing your envelopes. Keep it readable and specific as to who’s invited and you’re all good.
STUFFING
You didn’t think envelope etiquette ended with addressing, did you? There are rules for everything. And of course, we can’t stress enough that these are only guidelines. You can always do whatever you want.
You should always insert your announcement, invitation, whatever, into the envelope bottom down, print facing up. Put a stamp on RSVP card envelopes, don’t forget to put your own postage on the outer-most envelope and ta da, just get them into the mailbox with plenty of time (4-6-8 weeks before the event).
Not too terrible, huh?
Anybody have any excruciatingly painful or funny addressing tales to tell? Please share!
There are some pretty basic rules for addressing invitation envelopes, and if you follow them, you’re almost assured the right people will get them, know who they can bring and who they can’t. Although there’s always someone who’ll call and say, “Can I bring my 2, 4, 6, (fill in the number) year old to your beach luau at 11 pm on Saturday night?” You’ll have to deal with that as tactfully as you can. But if you follow the guidelines here, it will give you a leg to stand on when you say “no.”
OUTER
Depending on the formality of your event, there might be an outer as well as an inner envelope. Regardless, your outer shouldt contain some very specific information and be prepared in a certain manner. First, the writing must be straight. A good way to deal with this, is to get out a ruler and draw 4 or 5 evenly spaced straight lines, or you could do it on your computer. Cut the paper down to fit inside your outer envelope, and when the lines show through, use them as guides for writing.
On formal invitations, use full names and formal titles and don’t abbreviate or use initials. Don’t write “and family” if children are included. If the kids under eighteen, try:
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
Richard and Mary
000 Any Street
Anywhere, New York 00000
If they’re over eighteen, they get their own invitation (even if they live in the same house as their parents, and that happens a lot these days):
Mr. Richard Smith
Miss Mary Smith
more than one?
Messrs. Richard and Robert Smith
Misses Mary and Helen Smith
If you’re inviting an unknown guest:
Mrs. Jane Doe and Guest
INNER
If you’ve got an outer, you might have an inner. On these, exclude the first names of the recipients:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Unknown guest?
Mrs. Doe and Guest
You got rabbis, mayors, military personnel, etc? Use full titles:
Governor John Smith and Mrs. Mary Smith
Major Jane Doe
Father Robert Smith
Professor Mary Smith and Mr. John Smith
Two doctors?
Drs. John and Mary Smith
Mr. and Mrs. John Smith
Richard and Mary
000 Any Street
Anywhere, New York 00000
If they’re over eighteen, they get their own invitation (even if they live in the same house as their parents, and that happens a lot these days):
Mr. Richard Smith
Miss Mary Smith
more than one?
Messrs. Richard and Robert Smith
Misses Mary and Helen Smith
If you’re inviting an unknown guest:
Mrs. Jane Doe and Guest
INNER
If you’ve got an outer, you might have an inner. On these, exclude the first names of the recipients:
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Unknown guest?
Mrs. Doe and Guest
You got rabbis, mayors, military personnel, etc? Use full titles:
Governor John Smith and Mrs. Mary Smith
Major Jane Doe
Father Robert Smith
Professor Mary Smith and Mr. John Smith
Two doctors?
Drs. John and Mary Smith
If you don’t have an inner envelope, just make sure the outer says it all. It’s best not to use stickers or labels for addresses or return addresses. Have you printer put your return address on the back flap, and use a nice black pen on the front. It is becoming more acceptable these days to pick a nice font and run your envelopes through your home computer. Your choice. (Everything is actually your choice.)
If you’re event is casual, you can pretty much have at it, at least when it comes to addressing your envelopes. Keep it readable and specific as to who’s invited and you’re all good.
STUFFING
You didn’t think envelope etiquette ended with addressing, did you? There are rules for everything. And of course, we can’t stress enough that these are only guidelines. You can always do whatever you want.
You should always insert your announcement, invitation, whatever, into the envelope bottom down, print facing up. Put a stamp on RSVP card envelopes, don’t forget to put your own postage on the outer-most envelope and ta da, just get them into the mailbox with plenty of time (4-6-8 weeks before the event).
Not too terrible, huh?
Anybody have any excruciatingly painful or funny addressing tales to tell? Please share!
Labels: addressing rules, envelope, etiquette
To Print Or Not To Print
posted by Action Envelope at 6:25 AM
THAT IS THE QUESTION
There are a few schools of thoughts about whether or not to print envelopes when they’re going to be used for direct mail marketing. A discussion about what gets an envelope opened generates some serious chatter from all sides. So what are they saying? And what do you say?
The “use a blank-faced #10, without an organization’s name on it” group believes that this method is the one sure-fire way to get your envelope opened. And if it’s hand-written, all the better. The icing on the cake in this instance would be using a first class postage stamp instead of a meter or a printed indicia. These believers are confident nothing stirs one’s curiosity more than the unknown, but with a personal touch.
Then there are those who espouse the “billboard” theory. The thinking is, if you’re offering a benefit inside, talk about it on the outside. Some say that teaser copy doesn’t have to be limited to just one line of type. Nor does it have to be restricted to just one side. An envelope has two sides, and you never know which side is going to land on the table when you bring in the mail. Pizzazz is key according to these folks.
Still others believe “being the odd-man out” works better than anything else. Find an envelope that’s still considered a standard size, but not your old standby. These folks firmly believe that the one envelope that sticks out around the edges when all the mail is piled up, is the one that will get recognized.
This of course, leads by natural extension to the “colored envelope” group, who love the envelope that gets recognized just because it’s completely different from the plain white one that occupies most of the mail pile. This colored cousin is obvious just because it “is,” with or without printing, with or without size variations. Instant diversification.
What it all boils down to is that each opinion is valid and has worked for its proponent, or they wouldn’t be so excited about it. Everyone agrees however that you may have the most amazing letter in the universe, written by an incredibly talented dynamo, that once read is guaranteed to bring you earth-shattering results. But if nobody opens the envelope, it doesn’t get read.
So, what’s worked for you? Got any sure-fire recommendations? How do you make the decision? Do you mix it up, or stick to the tried and true? Let’s hear from you.
There are a few schools of thoughts about whether or not to print envelopes when they’re going to be used for direct mail marketing. A discussion about what gets an envelope opened generates some serious chatter from all sides. So what are they saying? And what do you say?
The “use a blank-faced #10, without an organization’s name on it” group believes that this method is the one sure-fire way to get your envelope opened. And if it’s hand-written, all the better. The icing on the cake in this instance would be using a first class postage stamp instead of a meter or a printed indicia. These believers are confident nothing stirs one’s curiosity more than the unknown, but with a personal touch.
Then there are those who espouse the “billboard” theory. The thinking is, if you’re offering a benefit inside, talk about it on the outside. Some say that teaser copy doesn’t have to be limited to just one line of type. Nor does it have to be restricted to just one side. An envelope has two sides, and you never know which side is going to land on the table when you bring in the mail. Pizzazz is key according to these folks.
Still others believe “being the odd-man out” works better than anything else. Find an envelope that’s still considered a standard size, but not your old standby. These folks firmly believe that the one envelope that sticks out around the edges when all the mail is piled up, is the one that will get recognized.
This of course, leads by natural extension to the “colored envelope” group, who love the envelope that gets recognized just because it’s completely different from the plain white one that occupies most of the mail pile. This colored cousin is obvious just because it “is,” with or without printing, with or without size variations. Instant diversification.
What it all boils down to is that each opinion is valid and has worked for its proponent, or they wouldn’t be so excited about it. Everyone agrees however that you may have the most amazing letter in the universe, written by an incredibly talented dynamo, that once read is guaranteed to bring you earth-shattering results. But if nobody opens the envelope, it doesn’t get read.
So, what’s worked for you? Got any sure-fire recommendations? How do you make the decision? Do you mix it up, or stick to the tried and true? Let’s hear from you.
The History of Envelopes
posted by Action Envelope at 7:11 AM
Maybe the ancient Babylonians were on the right track. They used environmentally-friendly materials for their envelopes. Before there was a “green” movement, before there was even a hint of global warming... before they knew there was a globe... envelopes were baked clay wrappers that had to be smashed to smithereens to reveal the correspondence inside. Inconvenient? Yes. Heavy? Definitely. But secure and effective. Fast forward to scrolls made of skins, leaves or papyrus. Their enclosures were rolls of thin wood... perhaps the first hint of the paper envelopes to follow sometime in the 10th century.
By the 15th century, “posts” or the seeds of our of current postal system, were considered signs of progress, and every up-and-coming kingdom had one. They were run by the royals, and operated as a monopoly. As the 16th century approached, letters were enclosed in pieces of folded paper and sealed with wax. Everyone had to create their own “envelope” as there was no standard pattern. History speculates that the first standard envelopes were developed by a paper vendor who saw an opening in the market and jumped at the chance.
It was King Charles I of Britain who established the first state postal system for mail delivery in England and Scotland, but it was in France that the first private, non-governmental system was attempted. It was in the early 1600’s and King Louis XIV granted a private citizen the right to place collection boxes on street corners to collect letters that were in pre-stamped envelopes that he sold around town. He then would deliver them. These
envelopes were more like wrappers and acted as their own receipts. Unfortunately for the enterprising businessman, there were those who were afraid of the plan succeeding, so they filled his collection boxes with vermin and trash. His clientele stopped using his service, and a government-sponsored service prevailed.The first use of rectangular, folded paper enclosures is traced to French perfumers and Japanese chemists who used the envelopes not for mailing letters, but to hold powders. Two hundred years would pass before the British granted a patent for the first envelope-making machine. Their products were flat, diamond-shaped sheets, pre-cut before being fed into a creasing machine and prepped for folding into a rectangular pocket. The overlapping flaps were closed with paste and the final securing of the envelope was left up to the user, most preferring wax. It was at the dawn of the 1900’s when pre-gummed envelopes made their way onto the scene.
Which brings us to today. We are faced with the specter of deforestation, carbon emissions and the greenhouse effect. Fortunately, there are ways to be environmentally friendly and still serve our customers’ needs for convenient, efficient and secure envelopes.
Action Envelope has undertaken an eco-friendly initiative. We now purchase enough wind po
wer to offset 100% of our electrical consumption and we are recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Green Power Partner for our efforts. ActionEnvelope is in the process of becoming Forest Stewart Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) certified. This means that we’re protecting our forests by supporting strict stewardship of our natural resources. Our Recycle Shop is a great resource for our customers to find what they need in an environmentally friendly way. There are ways to be eco-friendly without having to take a hammer and smash your envelope to oblivion. Action Envelope is proud to take the lead in this very important issue.
New Site, New Blog, Yey!
posted by Action Envelope at 3:24 PM
Welcome Folks!
It is with great joy that we welcome you to the all new Action Envelope website. All of the changes, and improvements were designed to serve you better. We hope you enjoy your browsing and shopping experience.
One major addition to our website is this blog. It is our first foray into blogging. We want it to be a place where we can have a dialogue with our customers, and introduce topics that pertain to all things related to our business, our products, and our customers.
Some of the features of this blog will be:
Designer Spotlight -We'll interview graphic designers who create great mailings, and pieces using our envelopes.
Non-Profit Spotlight - Many of our customers are not for profit organizations. We will introduce them to you here once a month. (NFP's sign up here)
Get to know ________! - We will introduce you to a member of our staff, get to know more about them, and what they do here at Action Envelope.
Envelopes in the Real World - We already know that our envelopes go to some cool places, but we want to see! Customers will send in pics of their envelopes in front of the worlds landmarks (for a $100 prize of course!) and we'll show you the winners.
Unedited Real Experiences - We love our customers, but sometimes we are amazed by some of the real life situations that we encounter. We'll talk about them openly. They'll be funny, sad, and eveything in between.
These are just a few of the ideas we have for our blog. Let us know some of the things that you'd like to see here. Just email ideas@actionenvelope.com.
It is with great joy that we welcome you to the all new Action Envelope website. All of the changes, and improvements were designed to serve you better. We hope you enjoy your browsing and shopping experience.
One major addition to our website is this blog. It is our first foray into blogging. We want it to be a place where we can have a dialogue with our customers, and introduce topics that pertain to all things related to our business, our products, and our customers.
Some of the features of this blog will be:
Designer Spotlight -We'll interview graphic designers who create great mailings, and pieces using our envelopes.
Non-Profit Spotlight - Many of our customers are not for profit organizations. We will introduce them to you here once a month. (NFP's sign up here)
Get to know ________! - We will introduce you to a member of our staff, get to know more about them, and what they do here at Action Envelope.
Envelopes in the Real World - We already know that our envelopes go to some cool places, but we want to see! Customers will send in pics of their envelopes in front of the worlds landmarks (for a $100 prize of course!) and we'll show you the winners.
Unedited Real Experiences - We love our customers, but sometimes we are amazed by some of the real life situations that we encounter. We'll talk about them openly. They'll be funny, sad, and eveything in between.
These are just a few of the ideas we have for our blog. Let us know some of the things that you'd like to see here. Just email ideas@actionenvelope.com.
Labels: Announcements, welcome
