Thankster Automates “Handwritten” Thank You Cards
For many of your clients, the days leading up to an event can be an exhilarating swirl of fun, high emotion and unforgettable moments. But most likely, underneath the excitement they may dreading the dreary stuff that comes after the event—such as writing thank you cards.
Despite the proliferation of texting and emails these days, for many social events such as weddings and mitzvahs it’s still considered necessary to handwrite each thank you individually, address the envelope, purchase stamps and mail it within a few weeks of the event. And from experience, we can tell you that it often doesn’t happen within this time frame.
Now, there may be a new, easier way to fulfill the obligation. A new website recently launched a beta version of a service that allows people and businesses a simple way to send thank you notes and personalized greetings to friends, clients, wedding guests or anyone else. It uses proprietary technology to simulate real handwriting.
Thankster (www.thankster.com) allows you to build or import your contact list, choose a card design from hundreds of templates organized by event category, and type in your personal message. (They also offer samples of letters if the writer is truly lacking words.) You can choose from a limited number of handwriting styles, which you can then modify more to your own style by adjusting font size, letter spacing and line spacing. Or, you can send them a sample of your actual handwriting and they will create a font for you—a feature not offered by other companies.
The nice thing about the program is that it handles all the details. Envelopes are automatically addressed, the card is stamped by Thankster and then mailed without the writer ever having to touch it.
The Event Solutions staff took a test run on Thankster, and found it easy to use and navigate—almost goof-proof. However, we found the handwriting styles a bit wanting—the printed fonts were primitive and child-like (although one may argue that many young people write this way these days). The calligraphy fonts were formal and elaborate, on the other hand, and nobody could mistake them for real handwriting. If we were to use this service on an ongoing basis, we’d find the time to send them our own handwriting so that it would look more authentic.
All in all, Thankster is worth taking a look at. Your clients may find it a helpful tool, if they are willing to compromise on strict rules of etiquette. Or you may even decide to try it out yourself. After all, at about $2 a card, including postage, it’s a small price to pay for that extra time we all seem to need these days.