Postcrossing Blog

Dear postcrossers,

This is Ana, your community manager speaking. I’m usually the writer behind the posts that you read on this blog… but today I’m writing this one as myself, to personally ask for your assistance.

You see, in about a month, I will be in Portugal, standing in front of an audience of several hundred people from various backgrounds, to tell them about Postcrossing and the simple pleasures of receiving mail. The problem is… I’m willing to bet that 99% of them have probably never received a postcard, or don’t remember the last time that they did. How can you empathize with something you’ve never experienced? While brainstorming a plan for making this work, I reached the inevitable conclusion: I have to show them!

So, inspired by Oprah, my idea is to surprise many of the conference attendees with an unexpected postcard written just for them, which they would receive during the talk!

I could write all the postcards myself… but I think it would be much more interesting if the postcards came from different people all around the world, with their own stories and details.
So I wanted to ask… would you mind writing a postcard, and giving me a hand? I would be really grateful, and you’d be helping all these people re-discover the magic of postcards! :)

Interested? Got a neat card that you don’t mind sharing? Then mail it to:

We’ve received sooooo many cards in just a week, that I’ve decided to remove the address, as I think they’ll be more than enough. Thank you so much! :)

What should you write on it? Whatever you like, really, but here are some ideas to get you started:

• How do you feel when you find a postcard on your mailbox at the end of the day?
• What does Postcrossing mean to you?
• What have you learnt or discovered through postcards? What would you teach this person?
• What was the most inspirational talk you’ve ever attended or listened to?
• What is special about your city or country?

Or you could just describe what you did today and what the weather is like where you are… anything goes, really! :)

That’s it! Those who know me, know that I’m a bit shy and not particularly comfortable with the spotlight… I’d like to think that, by carrying your postcards with me, I’ll have a little bit of your support on that stage.

Thank you so much in advance! :)

PS:

I thought I’d add a couple notes to clear up some of the questions that have come up in the comments:
- Please don’t put my name on the postcard – the cards are not for me, they’ll all be delivered to the attendees. The address is a PO box, it works fine without a name.
- If you want to write a salutation on the message, keep it simple and flexible with an “Hello” or “Dear attendee”
- The event takes place on March 8th… so please send your cards soon! :)

Hurray! The Belarusian Postcrossing stamp was officially launched and is now out and about! While we haven’t set our eyes on a real specimen yet, postcrossers of all ages met at Minsk’s post office yesterday to use the first stamps and maxicards. Victor sent us some photos of the event:

Brilliant! Victor tells us hundreds of cards were signed and sent, and lots of mailboxes all around the world will be happy soon! :)

Happy Postcrossing!

PS – If you’re curious, you can see many more photos here.

Over the years, we’ve sometimes felt the need for a set of guidelines that clearly explained what Postcrossing is about. Something that would help set up the expectations for the new members of the project, as well as define some basic ground rules: a sort of dos and don’ts of Postcrossing.

So a few months ago we’ve sharpened our pencils and started collecting all of Postcrossing’s guiding principles in one place, carefully discussing each item. We’ve asked for input from some longtime members of the community and incorporated their feedback. And today, we’re happy to publish them. You can read them on the new Postcrossing Community Guidelines page.

Postcrossing’s guidelines are not new, and include basic things like “Always send a postcard to the addresses you request” or “Register postcards on arrival”. Most of them were implicit and already written on different pages of the website… but because they were spread out, it was hard for members to find them and be aware of them.

We believe that these guidelines will help bring the community closer together, and make the Postcrossing experience a more enjoyable one.

Have fun and happy Postcrossing!

Thirteen months ago, we published a ranking of how popular Postcrossing was in a given country, based on the number of postcrossers for every 100,000 inhabitants.

It’s been a while since then, so we thought it was time to compile some fresh statistics, and check if there were any noticeable differences. Here is the updated ranking:

What do you know? Finland is still leading the ranking by a mile! :) New-comers to the table include the Åland Islands, Guam, South Korea and Israel. Please note that in the case of the Åland Islands, the ranking is skewed, as their population is about 26,000 inhabitants.

On the fast-climbers side, Hong Kong jumped 10 places (from 19th to 9th) but the most surprising climb comes from Ukraine, which rose from 35th place to 16th! Well done!

Are there other statistics you would be curious to see here? Let us know!

PS: Like the last time, to calculate the data above we took into account only countries with more than 10 members and excluded countries which were too small or of which we did not have any relevant population data.

Although quite small, the space on the back of a postcard can often seem intimidating, and some postcrossers struggle with what to write there… To help with this, here are 20 different ideas to fill your postcards! :)

1. Express what daily life is like where you’re sending the card from by describing what you did today, your routine, etc.
2. Write 5 curious facts about the place where the card is from.
3. Give local travelling tips from your area! What are the must-sees around you?
4. Include your favourite quote, perhaps in its original language (with translation!)
5. What was the last thing you cooked or ate? Include a recipe!
6. What do you have in common with the recipient of your card?
7. Recount a childhood memory, or something you’ve learned from your grandparents.
8. What makes you happy? If it makes you smile, there’s a good chance others will like to hear about it.
9. Share a local idiom or saying, in its original language, with translation of course!
10. Did you ever travel to the place where your card is going? Recall your best memory of that place.
11. What’s the weather like as you are writing your postcard? Draw the weather forecast in detail!

12. Share an interesting fact that you’ve learned, and which most people are not aware of.
13. Got an unusual hobby or collection? Do tell!
14. Did anything important happen in your country lately? Share an interesting news bit!
15. Tell the recipient about your favourite book, movie or band!
16. Draw a picture of your surroundings, or your favourite object in that room!
17. Write your favorite poem or…
18. …make up your own poem – acrostic poems or haikus are short and enjoyable to write!
19. What are the local festivals or traditions from your area?
20. If you’re a student, what are you studying? What was the last thing you learned in school?

We hope that helps inspire some of you! Got some other tips? Please share them below!

Photo by Dancing Lemur, on Flickr.