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I was approached about building a very similar postcard service last year. They biggest issue I saw was this. We don't keep track of people's mailing addresses
by jonah 16y ago
I was approached about building a very similar postcard service last year. They biggest issue I saw was this. We don't keep track of people's mailing addresses any more. Do a thought experiment - how many of your friends or family's addresses can you remember? How many do you have in your computer address book? How many on Facebook? Very very few.
The first approach we came up with was exactly this - email the person explaining we have a postcard for them and requesting their address. It's probably the best solution.
One drawback is it kills the delight in a surprise postcard, though that is offset somewhat by anticipation.
- famousactress 16y agoTotally, but there's a hidden win here. You'd only have to do this the first time.. I'd let them keep my email-address-to-physical-address relationship if it meant being surprised next time I get a post card. If it works out, suddenly they're the source of truth on physical addresses.. or something close to it. Seems like a service and dataset that has leverage. You know, but don't do anything evil with it!
- jonah 16y agoTrue. There could also be some kind of Xobni/Plaxo/etc. tie-in here to connect email addresses or phone numbers to mailing addresses.