
That depends entirely upon the advertiser whose number you circled.
Radio Electronics compiles all of the cards, then each advertiser
gets a computer printout of the names and addresses of all of the readers
who circled their number. Some magazines also provide the data on
self-adhesive labels, and the really big magazines provide the
data on computer disk.

The advertiser decides what to do with the data they get. You will
notice that the Radio Electronics information card (commonly called
a "bingo card" in the industry) includes lines for a company name
and a business phone number. My guess would be that the big, national
advertisers make a distinction between hobbiests and professionals as
best they can. For example, if you include Motorola as your company
and include a business phone (and a mail stop), Tektronics will probably
send you a copy of their hard-bound catalog and have a sales engineer
call you about a week later. If you leave it blank, odds are they
will send you a slick brochure and direct you to a local retail
outlet. Medium and small companies are more likely to send you th
e whole catalog. And then some companies, like Digikey or Jameco, have
nothing to mail out accept the catalog.

A couple of other interesting points about bingo cards: Free, industry
magazines like EDN and such also log your card to their computer. They
use the information at least three ways. They note that you really do read
the magazine and are more likely to continue your subscription or push
you, through repeated mailings, to re-subscribe. They also compile
how many people requested which data for their marketing demographics.
This way thay can tell a prospective advertiser that "23% of readers
requesting data were interested in capacitors." And finally, some
magazines rent lists of readers who request certain information. For
example, Tektronics can rent a list of everyone who requested information
about test equipment OTHER THAN TEKTRONIC's, in the past 6 months.

The other point, in the data the advertiser receives, many magazines
include how many items you circled on the card. If they want, the
advertiser can attempt to cull out the "literature collectors" from
the serious potential customers.

"Can you say qualified sales leads? I thought you could."

What's the BEST way for a hobbiest to deal with bingo cards?

  Never circle more than 8 number on the card. If you want more
  than 8 items, use the second card and mail it a couple of
  weeks later.

  If you are really, really serious and you really, really want
  the information, CALL THE ADVERTISER AND ASK! This will also
  cut about 15 days off the the response time. Virtually
  everyone takes a voice on the phone more seriously than data
  on a computer printout.

  To help insure you keep getting a trade magazine that you're
  not really "qualified" for, send in a bingo card at least every
  other month and circle two or three numbers.

  Include a business name and phone number, even if it's your house.
  Advertisers almost never call. 