Walk the Walk

Walk the Walk

Have you ever tried to cancel something that comes to you for free?  It seems to me that the less effort it takes for something to show up to your door step, the harder it is to get rid of it.  Whether it be leaflets left on your car, unwanted solicitation telephone calls or junk mail, it is darn near as impossible to stop these things as it is the rain.

This article has nothing to do with the building industry, except that it has a lot to do with it.  I recently decided I should stop my subscription to the Architectural Record, a magazine that comes to my doorstep every month accompanied by a lot of other junk mail tied to the fact that my name is on their mailing list, I presume.  This magazine comes to me as benefit due to my membership in the AIA.  The office always has at least one copy of this magazine in the library, and 9 times out of 10, I look through it in the office rather than at my home.  My magazine at home goes unread and is thrown out, so it makes perfect sense to try and stop the waste.

I called the publisher to cancel my subscription, and they referred me back to the AIA, as they “handle” these issues with AIA members.  The nice lady at the AIA informed me that I could not, by any means, stop my subscription.  I was dumbfounded.  I had the sense at the last second to ask for someone’s contact information to complain about this situation.  The woman I spoke to on the phone indicated that in her twelve years, she has received this request too many times to count. 

My email to the AIA membership director was responded to within three hours.  The explanation I received was unacceptable to me.  As I guessed, she told me that there was a contractual obligation between the AIA and the publisher for us to receive this magazine.  Even though there is a digital version of the magazine, it was noted that to receive this, there would be an “added expense to AIA members”.  With that, the email ended, except that in her digital signature and title, was an AIA logo that included the words “Walk the walk, architects leading the sustainable evolution” with a green boot print next to it.

I was furious at the duplicity, and yet extremely amused by the irony.  I responded to the woman, and thanked her very much for her response, although I did not agree with her that the AIA was  working hard to help the environment based on this agreement founded on ad revenues and inflated circulation numbers for the publisher.  I copied the logo with the green footprint and pasted it into the body of my text and threw the question back to her – “How about walking the walk?”, I suggested.  I then asked her if it was possible for me to change my subscription delivery address to 1735 New York Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. – the national office of the AIA.  Strangely, I haven't heard back from her.  I wonder if anyone has since changed their mailing address.

I am half afraid, as soon as this post goes public, that Wilfred Brimley will show up and give me a talking to like he did to Kramer in Seinfeld.  I swear, I am not trying to stop all the mail!