Details for joining the World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange are below. Anyone affected by diabetes is welcome to join, including people with diabetes, their children, parents, siblings, spouses, or other relation. Please read through the instructions before you register. If you plan to participate in 2012, you are encouraged to make your postcard(s) anytime between now and November. Set your card aside, and when you receive the email with your Postcard Buddy’s name and address, you will be ready to address and send it.
Important: If you register, but find you will NOT be able to participate, as a courtesy to the person who is expecting a postcard from you, PLEASE send an email to Lee Ann stating you need to withdraw so they can be matched with someone who is able to send them a postcard. The success of this initiative depends on the active participation of ALL who register. Please help me make sure everyone who sends a card also receives one.
1. Complete the online registration form: 2012 Registration
There is an option on the registration form to indicate how many postcard buddies you would like to have. You will need to make a postcard for each postcard buddy. Last year, there were instances of postcards getting lost in the mail, so signing up to exchange multiple postcards helps ensure you will receive a postcard even if a postcard sent to you does not arrive.
IMPORTANT: Please make sure the information is correctly spelled, and the mailing address is formatted line for line, exactly as it should be written on a postcard. You can search online to see how addresses from your country should be formatted to meet international postal standards.
2. Expect to receive an email with the name(s) and address(es) of your postcard recipient(s) in October or early November. Care is taken to match people according to such factors as age, gender, type of diabetes, relationship to diabetes, etc., according to the information provided at registration.
3. Create a postcard, incorporating the World Diabetes Day Blue Circle into your design. It can be completely homemade, or you can creatively alter a purchased postcard. Your postcard should be a unique creation, displaying your creative energy and ideas, unlike any postcard you can buy. If you are looking for inspiration and ideas, please check the 2011 Gallery and World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange on Facebook. Remember that you do not need artistic skill to create your postcard. Have fun, express what is in your heart, and the beauty will emerge!
4. Complete the following information on the back of the postcard to introduce yourself to your postcard buddy. If you would like to share anything else about yourself and your life with diabetes, you are only limited by the space on the back of the postcard.
2012 Postcard Message:
1) Name
2) Where you live
3) Your connection to diabetes
4) Type of diabetes
5) Year of diagnosis
6) One action you will take to raise awareness this year
7) One Good Thing (something good about having diabetes or something good that has happened to you because of diabetes)
5. Mail your postcard as soon as you are able to do so once you receive the mailing address information of your postcard matches.
6. Expect a postcard to arrive in your mailbox.
7. Post a photo of the postcard you receive in the online World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange Gallery and on the World Diabetes Day Postcard Exchange Facebook page. You are also encouraged to share it on your personal Facebook page, twitter, and other social media platforms, as well as offline.
