Snail Mail Vs. Online Registration

It is so true -- a PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS. In this picture, you can see the a small fraction of the tens of thousands of printed tickets.



I am receiving a lot of questions about whether it is to your advantage to register online or try to jump the gun by sending in a snail mail registration. I am going to tell you everything I know -- and then you can decide for yourself.

First of all -- snail mail registrations receive no advantage over online registrations. Because we have set aside a certain percentage of tickets for snail mail orders. For example -- if 30% of our registrations came last year via snail mail -- then 30% of the available tickets have been set aside.   (Believe me -- this is a diminishing number...as more and more of you use the ONLINE system.)So, a three-needle class that can accommodate 30 students -- 10 would be snail mail and 20 would be from online registrations. This is the only fair way to do it -- and, as you know -- many of those classes SELL OUT ON THE FIRST DAY.

Here's what happens when your registration comes in:

• The snail mail orders are put into a pile, AS THEY ARE RECEIVED. Each order must be keyed into the online registration software so that we can keep an accurate count of available tickets. These orders do serve as an early test of the system -- but when the percentage of "snail mail" tickets are gone -- they're gone. (The remaining tickets go to online registrants.)

• The online registrations are printed out.  Although you know the minute you register whether or not you "got" every class you wanted -- we still have to pull tickets for every seminar and/or special event you purchased.

Whether you register via snail mail or by using the online system -- each ticket order is handled by a real person who will call or send an email if they have questions. They pull your tickets, check it twice, and process every order envelope as quickly and correctly as possible.








So -- the decision is yours. There are pros and cons to both systems. The online handling fee is $8 per order. We do allow you to pool your orders -- and that's a small price to pay if you want to know immediately whether or not you got the classes you signed up for.

Also, the "percentage" of tickets for snail mail registrants is a diminishing number. The first year, only about 40% of you used the online system. Last year, that number was closer to 70%. This year, it could be 80% or more.

We work hard to be as fair as we can possibly be -- and we wish every single person could get every class they wanted. But it's not a perfect world -- and some classes sell out very quickly because they are HOT, HOT, HOT....
Whatever method you choose to register is FINE WITH US.
We have the best speakers in the industry coming to Puyallup and they want you to take their seminars and learn something new -- to go home inspired to SEW...