wfn.org | NCC's Friendship Press Transfers "Peters Map" to New Distributor

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

National Council of Churches USA

June 11, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NCC's Friendship Press Transfers 'Peters Map'
To New Distributor, Envisions Expanded Market

	It's been featured on the TV series "The West Wing" and has been
discussed
in mission studies in thousands of churches across America.

	Now, the Peters Projection World Map is getting a wider distribution
channel that will expose its concept to an even larger audience.

	Friendship Press, the publishing arm of the National Council of
Churches,
first introduced this pioneering map of the world in 1983 as a teaching tool
to help church leaders in the NCC's 36 denominations visualize a more
accurate picture of the relative land mass of the world's countries and
continents.
This map technique, developed by cartographer Dr. Arno Peters in Europe,
avoids the distortions prevalent in other map projections which exaggerate
the size of some land masses, especially in the northern hemisphere, and
"shrink" other land masses.  Decisions and attitudes formed by these
distortions can thus be inaccurate.  For example, on the traditional
Mercator map, Greenland and Africa look the same size.	But in reality
Africa is 14 times larger.

	Now, 20 years after bringing the Peters Map to the United States, the
National Council of Churches has turned to ODT, Inc., of Amherst, Mass., to
become the exclusive distributor for all Peters Maps products, effective
June 1.

	Spencer Bates, NCC's chief financial officer, said the transfer to
ODT will
permit more vigorous marketing of various Peters-based products.

	ODT maintains a full-service web site (www.odt.org) and a toll-free
order
line (800-736-1293), and has distribution channels to secondary schools,
colleges and universities; wholesale supply to hundreds of stores, catalogs,
and specialty sales outlets; and well-developed merchandising support.
ODT president Howard Bronstein announced that his firm would offer
Friendship Press' remaining inventory of the Peters Maps at discounts of
50-80% off the regular retail price to non-profit groups who are past
Friendship Press customers, as long as supplies last.  Details on this
limited transition offer are available from Bob Abramms at Babramms@aol.com,
or 800-736-1293.

	Bronstein said ODT first offered the Peters Map more than a decade
ago, in
cooperation with Friendship Press, as a management consulting tool to help
clients adapt to change and diversity.	The maps ultimately became some of
ODT's "best sellers" and now form an important part of the firm's product
line, with distribution channels in the U.K., Australia, Belgium Sweden, the
Netherlands and Guatemala.

	Based on the success of the Peters concept, ODT has recently produced
another equal-area map, the Hobo Dyer Projection, displayed by President
Jimmy Carter at his Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in December 2002.

	For more information, contact Kate Larson, odtstore@aol.com or
413-549-1327.

-end-

NCC Media Contact: 212-870-2252/2227
news@ncccusa.org; www.ncccusa.org

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