A recent blog covered the surprise effectiveness of simple orange colored copy paper to market an women’s tennis event. Princeton athletics had spent money on billboards, radio ads, and commercials, but really had no analytic methods in place to measure the performance of that marketing efforts.

Earlier this week, the Princeton Athletic marketing department saw something a little different. It was a small piece of orange copy paper, with simple printing on it. The orange color copy paper was an invitation to come see the Princeton women’s tennis team play in its two matches, and it included a reference to free bagels and coffee. Princeton University Women’s tennis coach Megan Bradley had put one in each of the boxes in the mailroom.

So when you are debating the options for marketing your next event,  do not overlook the obvious. As the blog mentioned, in this era of the highest speed, highest sophistication, multiple platform ways of communicating (think twitter, facebook, and even sms texting), there is a place for something  simple, like an invitation on a small piece of orange copier paper.

As the parade of people watching the tennis balls get pounded at the tennis match that morning proved, sometimes simple marketing sells best of all.

Not surprising from the state made famous for crooked politics, the Illinois Department of Public Health launched an Electronic Death Registration System, which helps prevent fraudulent certificates from being made.  It required that all death certificates be printed on a standard secure green paper. The Rockford Register Star reported that the city of Belvidere pays $800 for a six-month supply of about 1,000 sheets.

At the Belvidere City Council Committee of the Whole meeting Dec. 28, The committee considered upping the prices because of the new state-mandated paper requirements versus printing on standard white copy paper. Letters explaining the increase were mailed to funeral homes in Winnebago and Boone counties in February 2010.  The real question was how widespread was the death certificate fraud in Illinois?