Spanish Postal Authority Uses Smart Stamps to Promote Tourism, Business

Correos, Spain's postal authority, in conjunction with the company Macanudos, has released a QR-coded stamp that you can scan with your mobile phone.

Although it is not the first such stamp to be released by a national postal organization, it is the first is available to private companies to use for promotion.

Sponsor

Macanudos is a mobile marketing company out of Granada, Spain. They are working with the Spanish post office to extend a postal campaign begun in 2007. That campaign allows private companies to promote their brands in conjunction with the country's stamps. First out of the gate is a QR proof-of-concept, said the company's press release.

"The Spanish postal stamp consists of a QR code that, when scanned with a mobile phone and with right software will redirect the phones browser to an Internet address in which the user will be able to view a video, in this case, about the Alhambra of Granada."

"Tu Sello," or "Your Stamp" is the program that allows private companies, as well as independent governmental and non-profit organizations, to take advantage of the ubiquity of stamps to promote themselves, thereby shoring up the post office's bottom line as well. You may be able to scan future letters in and from Spain to get deals on ski equipment or information on wines from local vintners.

Read more ReadWriteWeb coverage of QR code use and the Internet of things.

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Post originale: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~3/1yKVd2NS8ko/spanish_postal_authority_uses_smart_stamps_to_prom.php

Make Your Own Stamps in Bhutan

Writer Lisa TE Sonne has reported for IT on synchronous fireflies in Malaysia, hunting for the northern Llghts, and catching herself while fly-fishing. Today, she tells us about make-your-own postage stamps in happy Bhutan.

In Bhutan, the Himalayan "Kingdom of Happiness," even going to the post office offers an opportunity for self-expression. At the post office in Bhutan's capital Thimphu (which may be the only world capital to boast no traffic signals), while a larger-than-life poster of the king looks on, you can have your own image added to a set of official stamps. Or, if you don't want your face to be postmarked in ports around the world, you can choose from an attractive array of botanical and historic stamps.

As getting my mug on a stamp cost no more than regular stamps, I chose to pose with my wonderful driver and guide from tour operator Bridges to Bhutan. The men--Karma and Tshering (whose name translates as "long life and prosperity")--were dressed in their national costumes, part of this new democracy's efforts to preserve traditions while creatively engaging in the 21st century.

Stamps made, if I wanted to write my letters in luxury, Karma and Tshering were prepared to take me to nearby Taj Tashi, part of an upscale Indian collection of global resorts and palaces. Or we could drive to Paro, where the Uma Paro Resort offers healthy pampering with soothing in-suite massages in their forest villas, and where Hotel Zhiwa Ling's artistic comforts are part of the first Bhutanese-owned high-end retreat.

My creativity surged as I scribbled "Wish you were here!" on postcards featuring beautiful Buddhist temples and waterfalls. And there was a lot to write home about--Bhutan's royal family, the enticing experiment of GNH ("Gross National Happiness") to balance the Gross National Product, seeing the "newest democracy on the planet" in action, the kindness of the people, the giant phallic symbols painted on homes, and the great aesthetics of the old Dzong monastery/fortresses posed at vantage points, inviting climbers to ascend.

If you time it right, you can also pen some superlatives about the colorful tshechus, the annual religious festivals, before affixing your newly created 5, 10, and 15 ngultums stamps on your envelope. Postcards sent, head to an outdoor hot-stone bath with blessed stones to fix the body and envelope yourself in serenity.

Want to learn more about Bhutan and its Gross National Happiness? Check out Boyd Matson's "Unbound" column
on the world's eighth happiest nation from our July/August 2010 issue.


 

Post originale: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2010/10/make-your-own-stamps-in-bhutan.html