How AAEP trusts ePost Global to get veterinary publications into the hands of equine practitioners worldwide.
The American Association of Equine Practitioners is the professional home for equine veterinarians. Founded in 1954, AAEP represents thousands of members across more than 60 countries, providing continuing education, advocacy, and clinical resources that shape the standard of care in equine medicine. Among the most valued member benefits: physical publications, including the monthly journal Equine Veterinary Education and the annual Convention Proceedings, a comprehensive reference compiled from AAEP's flagship December convention.
A partnership that started with a referral
AAEP began working with ePost Global in 2011, after a referral from another Lexington-based organization. Before that, international distribution was a persistent pain point.
Members in Central and South America weren't receiving their publications at all. Mail theft and delivery failures meant that veterinarians who relied on these materials for continuing education were simply going without. FedEx was a fallback, but the cost made it unsustainable for routine distribution across a global membership.
The shift was immediate. ePost Global brought carrier knowledge and routing flexibility that matched the problem. Argentina, one of the most difficult destinations, now gets special handling: priority service with tracking and hand delivery through a private carrier network. Publications arrive. Members know it.
"I don't lose sleep over international shipping anymore. That's Doug's department," says Nick Altwies, Director of Membership, AAEP.
Publication expansion across borders
AAEP ships two distinct publication types through ePost Global. Equine Veterinary Education goes out monthly to approximately 6,500 US members and roughly 700 international members spread across 60 countries. The annual Convention Proceedings, compiled from AAEP's December convention, ships once a year to the membership, timed against a peak holiday mailing season and the logistics of a convention that draws 7,000 total participants.
These aren't subscription products. They're membership benefits, included as part of AAEP's commitment to professional development. That distinction matters operationally. There's no renewal revenue tied to a single missed issue. But there is something harder to quantify: the trust a professional association holds with its members. When a veterinarian in rural New Zealand or suburban Buenos Aires opens their mailbox and finds the proceedings from a convention they attended, that's the association delivering on its promise.
The workflow is built around simplicity. AAEP submits pickup requests through ePost Global's portal, exchanges mail files directly, and hands off from there. ePost coordinates with AAEP's printer for pickup, manages the bill of lading, and handles routing. When mailings can be combined, they are, reducing cost without adding complexity for the AAEP team.
For associations, the stakes are different
Publishers selling subscriptions measure success in renewals. Associations measure it in member satisfaction and retention. A missed delivery doesn't just cost a sale. It erodes the perceived value of membership itself.
That's why the operational details matter more than they might appear to. ePost Global's Canada file cleanup service improved AAEP's Canadian address accuracy from roughly 50 to 60 percent to 95 percent. For a period, ePost even provided temporary tracking numbers for Canadian members so AAEP could confirm delivery and respond to inquiries with specifics rather than estimates. For an association managing member communications at scale, that visibility changed the conversation from "we'll look into it" to "here's where your package is."
Timing is another layer. The annual proceedings ship in December, which means navigating peak-season carrier congestion alongside convention logistics. ePost Global provides strategic guidance on country-specific mailing windows, advising on which destinations need early dispatch and which can move later in the cycle. That kind of routing intelligence isn't something most associations have in-house, and it's the difference between a smooth December and a January full of member service tickets.
International shipping during disruption
When a production issue required fast intervention mid-mailing, ePost's team responded immediately. That kind of operational backup doesn't show up in a rate card, but it shows up in the outcome.
Through COVID disruptions and repeated Canada Post labor actions, AAEP's distribution held. ePost communicated proactively, flagging risks before they became delivery failures, and AAEP's members understood delays as external events rather than association shortcomings. That framing matters. When members trust that the organization is doing everything it can, patience follows. When they don't, complaints follow.
The relationship runs on access, not escalation. Doug Smith, ePost Global's National Account Manager, gives his direct cell number to clients. Nick has it. When something needs attention, the answer is a phone call, not a support ticket. The broader ePost team responds the same way.
"This isn't a vendor relationship where I'm managing a contract. Doug knows our members, he knows our calendar, and he knows what we need before we ask," says Nick Altwies.
Pricing discussions happen transparently, annually, without surprises. It's a model that prioritizes the relationship over the transaction, and for an association that plans its publishing calendar a year out, that predictability is essential.
Growing a professional community
AAEP exists to advance equine veterinary medicine. The publications it ships are how practicing veterinarians stay current, access peer-reviewed research, and maintain the continuing education that their profession demands. The logistics behind that distribution should be invisible to members. For more than a decade, ePost Global has made sure they are.
