2022 Special Announcement from Entry Express

March 10, 2022

​The purpose of this communication is to let you know that we were notified last week by our printing vendor that, due to “equipment problems”, they would not be able to print our catalogs now, or in the foreseeable future. So, out of necessity, we were forced to come up with an alternative to our traditional printed catalog.

In addition to the equipment problem, we’ve seen our costs for catalogs increase as the cost of both paper and ink have risen and we’ve had to pass those costs along to the clubs just as our printer has passed them along to us. We expect a future where these costs will only continue to rise. Also, shipping reliability is non-existent, and with $5 + dollar per gallon fuel, the surcharges are back and higher than ever. These higher costs have caused many clubs to request a reduction in the number of catalogs ordered. We accommodate as best we can, but the printer has a minimum run of 100 catalogs, or rather they charge for 100 even if producing 20.

For these reasons, we have decided to go to electronic catalogs (eCatalogs). These catalogs can be saved to your smart device and do not require internet connectivity after they have been saved. We’ve been contemplating this for some time now and had already received AKC guidance on how secretaries should mark up the eCatalog, and where to send when complete. Some secretaries will be happy to know that triplicate is no longer needed, as the completed eCatalog can be sent to as many email addresses as required.

You will be receiving the catalog for the upcoming event you are entered in via email in the next couple of days. The email will contain a few details and helpful tips on pulling the catalog up on your mobile device. We’ve tested two applications and recommend using one of these unless you are already familiar with other applications. Secretaries,  you will receive a separate email which will include the marshal sheets and a short tutorial on signing the books on your mobile device along with a few other details.

For iPhone and iPad users we recommend Books (Apple Books), and for Android users, we recommend Adobe Acrobat Reader: edit. Both apps are available free from your app store and offer capability to swipe pages like a paper book. In addition, you can mark up the catalogs with pen, marker, highlighter, and text tools, bookmark pages for quick reference, and to view single page, multi-page, or book-marked pages only. 

You can also check our Frequently Asked Questions in the next few days for additional information.

Moving forward, we will work with an application developer to make a custom app which will offer more interactive features for users.

We understand this is a big change, but we sincerely believe users will find the eCatalog a far more cost-effective solution for clubs and great user experience.

Sincerely,
Entry Express