Phonecards On-Line is written and distributed by Alan Cohen

News and Views

Chicago Show

"Well, the end of another phone card convention. As is the case with all the shows that I have gone to since 1995 where Laurette Veres and the InteleCard News staff exhibits, it was a first class affair from the layout of the show to the excellent lunch that was complimentary. Congratulations to her and the staff.

From the collector standpoint, there was still far too few choices for the collector to travel to the show to make it worthwhile, but there were dealers here, which makes it much better than the Orlando show where there were none. Stored value cards were on display at a few of the dealers, but other than U.S. West's cards, there was nothing really new. The only real major introduction at this show was the first showing of the new Jumbo Easter Egg cards by USA Cards. With a mintage of only 250, this should be even harder to get than the 3 card set. Many new show cards were introduced, with most of them for sale, instead of being given out. Surprisingly there were only 14 cards (by my count), which is even less than Orlando, even though this was a much larger show.

As always, the people you meet that now have a face is one of the best reasons for attending. Some of the regulars were there and a special hello to the International Phonecard Collectors (IPC) members who attended and were able to get into the show for one day at no charge, instead of having to pay the $30 entrance fee. This represents quite a value to the members of the IPC, which has a yearly membership fee of only $15 and includes a free phone card with rechargeable time at $.16 per minute, This is the third show where discounts were available for the members, and we were able to increase membership by almost 10% at this show alone."

More reports should be available next week. Shows that are upcoming: New York in September, and Miami in November of this year.

IPC Update

1. More IPC members attended this show than any other show so far. A little more than 10% of the membership attended and got a FREE one day pass. As it turned out that one day pass was worth a whopping $30! I was under the assumption that it was $30 for 2 days but the reality turned out to be $30 per day! I won't get into my feelings on the high admission price but am very grateful to Laurette for giving our members a FREE pass for a day. You can also expect basically the same deal at all of her shows.
2. More NEW members joined IPC at this show than any other. Approximately 10 new members were signed up at the show with lots of newsletters being passed out and hopefully memberships will continue to roll in.
3. A lot of folks who are IPC members as well as customers of mine from here, the internet etc. just seemed to come out of the woodwork at this show and it was truly a lot of fun meeting them face to face for the first time.
4. Thanks to IPC Board member Steve Lowenstein from Mercury Marketing, Howard Segermark approached me about doing a joint venture between IPC and ITA which will involve a limited edition card and some type of cross membership between the 2 organizations. As you'd expect, I jumped at the opportunity as I really believe both organizations can benefit by it.
5. I sat down with one of the Telecard World show people and was told that they will welcome IPC folks with open arms once again at the Sept. show in NY. More FREE admission for IPC members.
6. I'm hoping to have a MAJOR IPC presence at a certain show later this year. Details still need to be ironed out but a preliminary discussion with someone in Chicago was extremely positive. More details as they are worked out so as they say....watch this space for more information.
7. I expect the second IPC newsletter to start coming together much sooner than I had expected with some very SPECIAL offers *Exclusively* for members and I know members will be very excited when they find out what the offers are. Look for the next newsletter within the next month or so.
8. Look for a good size story on IPC and what we've done and where we're going in an upcoming issue of both PCM Report and Premier Telecard Magazines. So.....as you can see People are noticing IPC and judging from the response from a lot of folks in Chicago it really made me feel good that what everyone in IPC is doing is not going unnoticed. A BIG thanks to Klaus Deglar and Paul Peeders of USA Card for aggressively signing people up at their booth and dragging me inside to help sign some folks up as well. A special thanks also goes out to Lenny Rapp for not only spreading the word about IPC but contributing a lot of editorial content that you'll be seeing in the months ahead. Thanks to Steve "how come I don't get credit" Lowenstein for bringing the idea of a joint venture between IPC and ITA to Howard Segermark. Finally, thanks to everyone in IPC who is mailing out copies of the newsletter to all of their customers and friends as well. Lets keep spreading the word as we're just beginning to shift into gear.

   HT Technologies Update

   Collector Kathy Ward reported that the HT Technologies still does have a web site, located at http://www.cyberdevinc.com/~telecard/. Kurt Kemmling reports receiving the following message from HT: "Dear Web-Surfer, unfortunately our free phone card raffle has expired. Thank you for your interest in HT Technologies, Inc. The web page is going to be changed the next days. Sincerely, HT Technologies, Inc." - There is still no definitive news as to the status of the company though.

   Nederlands Congresgebouw

   Rob van Voorst reports that there is a show in the vicinity of The Hague (Netherlands) the 18 and/or 19th of may: in what is known as 'Nederlands Congresgebouw' the '97 International Telephone cards Manifestation will be held. Opening hours from 10.00 - 17.00, admission 7.50 guilders. The Dutch PTT Telecom issues a special card that will be only available there. Furthermore they offer a demonstration 'phonecards on the Internet', a free visit to the PTT museum (also located in The Hague) and much more.

   Texaco Gas Card

   Reader Tim Van Tongeren reports "I saw a phonecard at the Texaco gas station the other day that has Missing Kids' pictures and stats on the car. The proceeds go to the Missing Kids foundation. Pretty cool. Know anything more about it?"

   Clickin Contest

   For those who submitted a Clickin survey to win a free phonecard, here’s something else to do - Design a card for them to be given away! Details of this contest are available at http://www.clickin.com/faq/faq1.html#q01 - The winner will win a nice prize, including quite a few of the cards they designed.

   Braile Phonecard

   CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 1997--Legendary musician Ray Charles Thursday introduced the world's first Braille prepaid phone card. The creation of Destiny Telecomm International, Inc., the "Ray Charles" phone card allows sight-impaired individuals to enjoy the convenience of prepaid phone card use.

   "It's the first of its kind and it's a very wonderful thing to do," said Charles. "It makes it totally accessible." Charles was in Chicago Thursday to promote the card's introduction, and received an enthusiastic reception at the "Intele-CardNews Spring Expo '97," trade show held at the Hyatt-Regency.

   The "Ray Charles" phone card features a signed full-color double image, with Braille instructions on the front. The back also contains written instructions. Charles was presented with the phone card by Destiny Telecomm President Randy Jeffers. "By teaming up with Ray Charles, Destiny Telecomm is providing a way for the visually impaired community to utilize today's technological advances," said Jeffers. "As a company, Destiny is committed to bettering the lives of our customers, our employees and society. This is another step in that direction."

   Marcal Napkins

   Purchase 3 specially-marked packages of Marcal Napkins (250 count) and receive a free 10-minute phonecard. You have to send-in the following:
   • Dated cash register receipt(s) with Marcal prices circled.
   • 3 phone card symbols from Marcal Napkins packages.
   • Name and address on a 3x5" card.

   Offer expires 12/31/97

   From: Anthony Janakas

   Walt Disney

   From Sunday's newspaper's Walgreen's flyer/insert:

   FREE Collectible Phone Card with 4-Pack Kodak Film! If you buy a 4-pack of Kodak Gold film (100-, 200- or 400- speed --each priced accordingly 9.99, 11.49 and 11.99) you get a 10-Minute Walgreen's Phonecard PLUS Rechargeable Phonecard featuring a picture of Disney's Cinderellas's Castle Cake. The card also has the Walt Disney World 25th Anniversary logo on it. It is packaged inside the 4-pack of film.

   From: Seth Marlowe (And others who reported this to me - Thank You!)

   Free Phonecard

   "Free $10 phone card no cost what-so-ever use for US National long distance (USA only). Send Large SASE to:

   Free Phone Card Offer
   Box 745
   Bloominton, IL 61702-0745

   From: Ginnie Katchur

   Win a Free AT&T Card

   Visit http://www.dogs-of-soho.com/contrules.html to win a 60 minute Dogs of Soho Calling Card

   From: Linda Abdula

   Until Next Week,

   Alan

   Distribution

   Phonecards On-Line is written and distributed by Alan Cohen. It is a weekly newsletter devoted to phonecards - Current news, viewpoints, and reviews of new issues. It is distributed free of charge, and available two ways.

   1) On-Line on the World Wide Web. The address is: http://www.cardmall.com - All back issues are archived at the web site!

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