BIG’s Blog: Two U.S. Earthquakes in Two Days!

A lot of our blog readers live on the East Coast. And, of course, since most of the major news outlets are located in the New York City area with major news offices in Washington D.C., yesterday's (Tuesday's) 5.9 magnitude earthquake near DC was major news.

Did any of you hear about the 5.3 magnitude earthquake that hit southern Colorado this past Monday? Not so much?

When these earthquakes hit, broadcast news people scramble to get a geologist on the air live to add expertise and background to what is otherwise a conversation of “Did you feel it?” or “How much stuff fell off the shelves of nearby stores?”

When the geologist comes on, invariably we learn that though the exact day can’t be predicted; those that study and follow geologic fault lines were not surprised. I don’t know about you, but hearing this kind of information gives me a sense of security that there are actually people out there watching this kind of stuff. And presumably, they are alerting public officials about the probabilities so that “we collectively” are not caught off guard.

Speaking of the East Coast, a friend and client of ours was in New York City last week at the DMA Nonprofit Federation’s 2011 New York Nonprofit Conference. With all the news hitting last week about the Postal Service's critical financial situation, and Postal Reform legislation in the Congress that includes stripping nonprofit mailers of their postal discount; I asked him if it soured the mood of the conference. After all, these are the leaders of fund raising organizations that will feel the effects if the postal discount goes away.

My friend said he heard “nobody talking about it.” I said, “You’re kidding, right?” He said, “Nobody.”

Wow.

You know that the geologists and public officials in the Oakland and San Francisco Bay area know that they are overdue for a major earthquake. Since the last major earthquake that famously happened during the 1987 World Series in San Francisco and heavily damaged the Oakland Bay Bridge, public officials have been working at a fever pitch to complete the new earthquake proof Oakland Bay Bridge. They know a big one is coming and they are preparing for it.

You’ve got to wonder what is going through the minds of those direct mail fund raising leaders as they see this postal crisis unfolding right at the time they are meeting with their peers.

And nobody talks about it???

-Mike

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