Mail Art Etiquette

[Caly DePalma]

Had a couple of questions regarding the sending and receiving of Mail Art.

1. Are you suppose to acknowledge it when you get a piece in the Mail?

I have only had about half the mail I have sent so far be acknowledged that it did arrive and its just frustrating to not know whether it ever did.

2. When I acknowledge mail should I post on the main page or comment on that person's page, or post in the group if its a group swap? (all the different things being posted on the main page are confusing the hell out of me LOL )

3. Do I or can I post photos of the mail art I send? Or should I let the person that receives it post a photo? And to that end, if I do post a shot do I do it after I send it or after I receive it?

I am trying to keep track of all my mail's comings and goings and just trying to figure out the best way or the correct way to do it.

Thanks!

[Mim Golub Scalin]

Dear Caly,

I, too, at times feel frustrated because I don't know if my mail arrived. Then I just let go of my expectations.

1. There's no "supposed to" but it's really nice to get acknowledgement.

2. You can post on the mail page and the person's page. I've been trying to remember to do both. If I post only on my own page (which goes to the main page) I'm not sure the sender will see it. Lately, I've been remembering to post on the sender's page.

3. I don't post an image of what I send to the IUOMA blog. I post my daily Mail Art on the MailArt365 blog. The person who receives it can post an image or not. I sometimes will catch up with myself and post a bunch of photos of work I've sent. I used to scan and post received mail when I had a lovely scanner next to my computer in my studio. That scanner died and so it's not so convenient to do lots of scanning on another machine that isn't so convenient for me to use. Some times I do a batch of received that I place on the scanner in some scattered randomness.

I keep a little notebook for each of my 365 projects (365.2 & 365.3) I put the date and the card number, and when I send it, I put the name of the recipient and the date sent. I sometimes put a mark next to the card IF the recipient acknowledges it.

What I do is, try to send more mail to people who mention getting it. And usually not more than twice to people who don't send back or mention getting my mail.

I hope this is clear and helpful, Caly.

best to you, mim (July-August 2013 Mentor)

[Caly DePalma]

Thanks Mim,

That helps some but I am still a little confused about blogs and posting on my own page. If I post photos of my stuff on My Page it seems to show up in the discussion feed on the main page. Is there a way to not do that? And what is the IUOMA blog and the MailArt365 blog? What happens if I blog something?

I have to be honest, I love this group but there is so much going on sometimes, I am begining to get overwhelmed by it all.

Thanks for taking the time to help,  Caly

[Caly DePalma]

Thanks A&S  I guess there a lot of options which is great. I will just have to sort out how to make it work for me. I agree that main page is very confusing and overwhelming. So far I post on a person page when I get something and will continue to do that.

Is there a way to keep your photos from showing up on the main page when I add something to my folders? I would like to be able to keep a record of what I send there, but not necessarily share it all the time, or just share with friends if possible.

Thanks for your help!

Caly

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Bonjour!

1. I try to acknowledge what I get, as long as it's clear who it has come from.

Thinking about it, I only get about a 50% acknowledgement rate too. But many unacknowledged pieces go to 'old and trusty' Friends, and I know they have received what I sent them when they send me something back. I usually don't do 'blind' mailings: if you send me something, then I will send you something back, but I will not send you something if we haven't had some sort of previous contact.

2. I don't know. I usually send a personal message to whoever sends me something. I don't blog or photograph it, as I haven't got the time to do that. Instead, I hope, that a simple 'Dear Caly, thanks for sending me...' will suffice. After all it's an exchange between 2 people, not all of IUOMA.

3. You can do whatever you like, as there are very few 'rules' in this Mail Art business. I hate it when someone posts a photo of something they have sent me before they receive it (sometimes before they have even posted it!). That takes away a lot of the fun from opening my mail box and finding what's there -- and that's what's exciting about Mail Art. (It also strikes me that if you're going to post a photo of a piece before it's been received, why bother sending it? Just send the photo to someone, and save the cost of a stamp. 'Don't be cynical, Val!'; 'Sorry')

I hope this helps. Val

[Caly DePalma]

Thank you all.

I appreciate all the advice and I certainly don't mind sharing what I do with the 'world', that is why I do my Art in the first place, I just wanted to make sure it was okay to have everything I do show up on the main page, though I do no how to do private messages if I need to.

Val I totally agree that I don't want to post something before the person receives it because it does defeat the purpose. On the other hand that is why I was hoping that people would acknowledge when they get something so that AFTER that if they don't post a photo, I can. 8-) As I said Sharing my work is what this is all about for me and hopefully getting some feedback or reaction to what I do, which is why I want to post photos, so I guess I am just trying to figure out the timing of when to do that.  Guess I will start keeping a journal of what I send and the date and if after a month no one acknowledges it, I will go ahead and put it in my album and not worry about it.

Thanks again for you all help and Val there is a piece coming your way 8-)

Caly

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Caly, you can always 'provoke' a response: "Hey John/janeDoe! I went to all that trouble to send you a nice piece of Mail Art -- a collage card, remember? -- two weeks ago, and you never even acknowledged it. And I spent some of my limited money on a postage stamp, and my kids didn't get enough to eat that day. Did you get it or not? Are you a miserable receiving-only-but-not-sending-Mail-Art cheapskate or not? If not, then let me know you got my card, and send me something back NOW! Your failure to react to this in a prompt and positive manner will result in the Mail Art Police coming to get you, the Gods of Mail Art punishing you, and me removing you from my list of Mail Art Friends and Wannabe-Friends. You have been warned!"

Or something a bit more moderate. Underlined. In bold. And in italics. As necessary

Val

[Caly DePalma]

LOL Val,

You make me smile. Thank you!  I guess because I am so new at this I have no idea how long it takes for snail mail to get to Europe and such places. Those are the ones I have not heard from yet (except Rebecca *grin Thank you Rebecca G.)

Like everything else in my life this is a learning curve and I certainly wont be sending anything else to anyone I don't hear back from. With 3000+ members I am sure there are those who want to swap with me right?

Have an awesome weekend!

Caly

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Bonjour again Caly!

Post from the US to Europe usually takes about 5 working days -- that is 5 consecutive working days, but in many countries that sequence doesn't happen because of public holidays, strikes, Saint's Days, bad weather, more strikes, flu epidemics, good weather, etc -- and in the summer when things slow down and people are on holiday, it takes 2-3 days more. On behalf of the European Syndicate of Post-workers and Related Assorted Miscreants (ESPRAM), Val

[Caly DePalma]

That helps.  It means the one I sent to you and several others should be there by the 1 of August at the latest. Thanks!

[Terri Jones]

Old thread but here's my response:

Re #2: Sometimes I get mail from people who either don't put their name on the piece OR I can't figure out what their username is.

Re: #3 -- When I started I assumed the receiver should post the mail art they received from me, but I think some people don't post pics of incoming mail art. So from now on, just in case, I'll have to document my mail art before sending out... because I'd like to make a gallery of it on my art blog.

Another reason is, if you post the image before you send it, the element of surprise isn't there.