This page doesn’t usually contain news, but it does this month. It’s that PROMO has a new editor in chief: Larry Jaffee.

For those who don’t know him, he’s a veteran editor with long experience covering the media and marketing beats.

What’s more, Patricia Odell has been named executive editor.

These appointments will strengthen our team as we move ahead with many exciting projects, including redesigns of both our magazine and Web site (www.promomagazine.com).

In his most recent role, Larry was editor of Medialine, a publication covering CD and DVD manufacturing and packaging. Earlier, he was editor of Media Central, a Web site devoted to marketing and media. And he has worked on CableVision, Multichannel News and DM News and has written for papers like the New York Times.

One more thing: In the little spare time he has, Larry edits a quarterly newspaper called the Walford Gazette, for fans of the British TV show EastEnders.

Patty, of course, is a familiar face to many in the ad field. As manager editor of PROMO for four years, she expanded PromoXtra, our daily e-mail newsletter. She is taking on new responsibilities on PROMO and will serve as news editor of our sister product, Chief Marketer.

What’s our big story this month? What else could it be but the guerrilla marketing stunt that paralyzed Boston?

Our art director, Jed Davis, started e-mailing Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, the two guys who helped execute the campaign, to persuade them to pose for us. He succeeded, and on the night of Feb. 20, he drove to Boston with photographer Dirk Eusterbrock for the shoot, arriving home at 7 the next morning. The results are in this issue, along with some brilliant reporting on the flap by staffer Amy Johannes.

There’s one more person to mention while we’re handing out kudos. He’s John Herr, group design director of our company’s financial services and marketing magazines. John, whose resume includes stints at Rodale and AdWeek, is now redesigning PROMO and is the driving force behind many of our improvements to date.

The trait we value in John the most, right up there with his ability to conceptualize a cover in seconds, is that he is patient with editors.

Each year, members of our industry head off to the Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference with a different set of expectations.

In the late 1990s and 2000, many DMers were riding high on a healthy economy and the dot-com craze. Their goals for the show were likely pretty high

RISING CUSTOMER DEMANDS and ebbing budgetary resources

I LIKE TO BE proven wrong.

I enjoy nothing more than expecting the worst and being pleasantly surprised. Several customer service representatives have done just that recently, turning me from a potentially disgruntled-and possibly soon-to-be-former-customer into a happy puppy.

Up, Up and Away Like many business travelers, I flew on American Airlines at the height of the midwinter “sick out.” I braced myself for the worst, watching the news reports with dread and frequently checking with my travel agent and the airline (when I could get through to its 800 number) on the status of my flight.

As luck would have it, the flight was not only not cancelled, it left on time and arrived at my destination 10 minutes early.

But what impressed me even more was the courtesy, efficiency and good humor of the American personnel at every step-from the flight attendants to the phone reps manning the AAdvantage lines. Yup, I was redeeming frequent flyer rewards for a future trip in the midst of all the delays and chaos. I’m an optimist.

A Good Read I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist about book clubs. I’d never joined one, mainly because I feared getting sent the wrong books or stuck with-and billed for-a lot of monthly selections I didn’t want because the notification postcard got lost in the mail (or, the more likely scenario, I simply forgot to send it back).

But I’m exactly the kind of person who should be in a book club, because I love books. I’ll wander through Barnes & Noble like a drunken sailor on Bourbon Street, buying books I want but don’t really need with a zealous abandon.

So I was intrigued when I received the flier for Book-of-the-Month Club’s BookSpan program, which offered all the benefits of a club with the promise of no commitment: no automatic shipments, no cards to return, etc. I quickly went to the Web site (www. bookspan.com) and signed up for my two introductory selections immediately.

Then my first order arrived-with the wrong book.

It’s starting, I thought. I knew this would happen. Rotten book clubs.

Since there was no customer service number on the invoice (bad move, folks), I went back to the site (the original scene of the crime) and fired off an e-mail. Four days later-too long a lag time to take to answer a customer’s e-mail, I think-BookSpan replied, saying it would send a return label and the correct book.

A few weeks later, a friend recommended a book she had read over the holidays. Wondering if the club offered it (and wanting to give ordering from BookSpan another shot), I visited the Web site and did a quick search. Not only did they have it, but it was on sale. I immediately purchased it and was thrilled-until the invoice arrived. I was billed for the full club price.

That’s it. I was right after all. Book clubs are no good. They’re not getting me on this scam.

I called the customer service 800 number (which I had to go to the Web site to find-people, please, there’s plenty of room on your invoice for this information; remember, not everyone has Web and/or e-mail access yet) and explained my plight, just fixin’ for a fight.

The representative explained to me matter-of-factly that I was in error, as it was the club’s policy that customers had to purchase one title at full club price before getting one on sale. Maybe so, I said, but the Web site didn’t inform me of this when I placed the single sale title in my order basket. It let me proceed right to checkout thinking I was getting a bargain.

I waited and mentally punched the air, thinking I’d soon get to spar. Alas, no such luck. The representative sympathized with my situation, and offered to give me the sale price this one time only, as she gently reminded me to keep the club policy in mind for future orders.

She did her job-obeying club policies by making sure I knew the rules-and smoothed my ruffled feathers. Truly the sign of a good customer service representative.

One for the Road One example of great customer relations recently happened close to home, only two blocks away from our humble New York offices.

As working at DIRECT doesn’t make me feel jittery and nervous enough in the afternoon, I often wander over to Starbucks for a caffeine infusion.

One afternoon I placed my order and waited patiently by the counter. After a few minutes I noticed customers who’d arrived after me getting their coffees.

I asked the cashier if my latte had gotten lost in the shuffle. She apologized and quickly produced my drink-and a coupon good for a free beverage on my next visit to make up for my troubles.

Now that’s a damn fine cup of coffee.