As the Vision 3 Summit approaches, we asked a few of the speakers to share their thoughts on the industry in blog form. This blog is from Kevin Keane, President, International Association of Printing Craftsmen. Mr. Keane will be speaking at the Vision 3 Summit about how to keep print relevant in a digital world. I did a speech for a group of small commercial printers circa 1989 forecasting the digital deluge and all its permutations. Frank and Larry, two printer pals, were in the audience. At the conclusion, Frank turned to Larry and said, “What do we do now?” Larry paused not a moment and said, “Sell!” A decade later I was asked to pinch-hit as the luncheon speaker at The Executive Outlook conference that precedes each GRAPH EXPO. In my remarks, I suggested that manroland, KBA, Heidelberg, and Komori would no longer be the only name plates in the pressroom and offered Canon, Ricoh, HP, Kodak, and Xerox. The then-CEO of one of the heavy iron press manufacturers, a very suave gentleman, approached me and begged to differ. He was elegant in his defense of conventional offset, but his firm never did develop a digital partner and eventually sought protection against creditors. The digital die is cast. This morning, 15 December 2011, Cheryl McClorey, who is in training as Marketing & Social Media Manager at Xic.com {Express Image} in Aberdeen/Edinburgh, Scotland sent me a note on our IAPHC Facebook Group page: “Right back at you Kevin, and Merry Christmas to everyone on your end 🙂 I don’t see why we have to choose one or the other. I think there are huge benefits in blending both traditional and digital. You just have to be clever about it. I made the point to the person who posted the article that in actual fact, I am more likely to look through the pile of catalogs that comes through the post than I am all the spam that comes through my email. I love the tangible effect print has, and I feel many others are the same. Cheryl is spot-on; it is not an either/or choice. Print, radio, and TV no longer have hegemony over marketing spends, but do not mistake the landscape has changed. Print is merely one of many arrows in the marketer’s quiver. If we want print to be a partner in the media mixology, then we need to pay attention to the wicked ways technology is changing our fortunes. Take a moment and note Cheryl’s job title. Does your firm have such a person, and if not, why not? In the speech I will give at the Vision 3 Summit, we will take an A–Z survey. Much...

GRAPH EXPO may be over, but that doesn’t have to stop you from reliving the show through the eyes of Printing Industries of America! I’m very pleased to present our “GRAPH EXPO Recap Video.” We’ve somehow crammed four days of GRAPH EXPO into a video that spans a mere one minute and thirty-three seconds. Highlights of the video include the Premier Print Awards & InterTech Awards Gala, backstage with Michael Makin, and so much more. Enjoy the video and stay tuned for more GRAPH EXPO content in the...

Rick Gardiner will be presenting, Digital Acument: How to Hire the Staff of Tomorrow, Today!, at the Integrated Print Forum in Pittsburgh this October 24-25. Rick took the time to talk with me about how Brunner has adapted to change and how this all relates to the printing industry.  How has Brunner evolved to be who they are today? Our agency was founded over 20 years ago and our focus initially was print design and production.  In the early 90’s, as the company started to become known for other services, like creative, some thought the ownership was crazy for getting into services like database marketing.  Decisions like that went completely against the grain from what other agencies were doing. Then we acquired an early iteration of an Internet marketing company. So, I don’t know if, at the time, they knew how visionary it was. But they always believed in having technology at the core. There are pundits that believe it’s not about technology, but printers love technology and the iterations they make revolve around technology. What do you have to say about that? It’s the marriage of both. If you make decisions only about technology and not about ideas or creativity, then that’s not going to cut it. But if you can successfully combine both, you’ll find some success. That’s what worked for us. There are some downsides, too—having to invest earlier than your clients or customers are ready in order to stay ahead of the curve. Obviously, there’s a cost implication of staying the course. I remember I was here during the dotcom bust in 1999 and 2000 and we at Brunner were talking about how committed we should stay to this “Internet” thing. Michael Brunner said, “You know what? It’s not going away and it’s a blip. We’re going to stay the course.” Turned out to be a great decision. That’s great, that’s visionary stuff. That was a weird time for printers since we were just hearing about Web-to-print. Printers hated the business model of only taking a percentage of the sale because no one was self-hosting. The printers that stayed the course then were Vista Print and Mimeo.com, the ones that are big and strong now. I think now there’s a similar message to those guys. Even though we started out as a print focused business (print-design and print-production) we were always positioned as an agency, but there are a lot of parallels. There are a lot of agencies going out of business who can’t keep up with the times, which results in consolidation in the industry. While there are some agencies that have turned the corner and are successful and thriving, there are just as many...

I sat down with Julie Shaffer the other day to talk a bit about augmented reality’s role in print. Before this conversation I can’t say I imagined there was a bright future, but Julie was quick to bring up a few good examples. We recorded that conversation and you can listen to that below. Let us know what you think!  Discussing augmented reality and print. #integratedprint...

Today, more than ever, marketers are building campaigns using a mix of traditional and new media, and for good reason. Recent studies, like The 2x Cross Media Multiplier Effect, by Outsell, Inc., show that combining print, events and digital media makes for a far more effective marketing message than using any one type of media on its own. As an industry, printers have always served the advertising, publishing and marketing communities, so now we have to follow this trend and provide a wider mix of solutions to them. Many printing companies have already taken the initiative to change their brand and add a wider range of services to their portfolio of offerings — things like mailing services, promotional products, customized e-commerce sites services or personalized marketing campaigns that mix print with web or mobile destination pages. Others are just taking their first steps down this path and could use some guidance as they move forward. Regardless of where a company might be on this transitional path, there is always more to learn and room to grow. That’s where the Integrated Print Forum comes in. The Integrated Print Forum is for anyone who wants to learn everything there is to know about integrating print with other media to enhance their company’s product offering and build new revenue streams. We’re holding the inaugural Integrated Print Forum at Printing Industries of America headquarters near Pittsburgh, PA — if you’ve never visited, we have a fabulous facility. The entire program is dedicated to offering real strategies around all the hot new business options, with a focus on providing tactics to take back home and implement immediately. Topics on the agenda include mobile marketing best practices, integrated marketing program management, real options for augmented reality, marketing automation, social media for business, personalization and maximizing a database, staffing for the future, e-commerce and doing business in the cloud. The marching orders for all of our presenters is that by participating in any session, an attendee will discover a new idea or technology, consider a fresh strategic direction and learn realistic tactics for business growth. We have some great speakers on the lineup, including Lon Safko, author of The Social Media Bible, Michael Schneider, CEO of Mobile Roadie, and Ethan Boldt, Chief Content Manager at DirectMarketingIQ. Check out the session descriptions to learn more. Since everyone learns differently, the sessions will be presented in different ways, including interview-style conversations, roundtable discussions, and real hands-on labs for folks who learn by doing. And for anyone that wants an in-depth look at what some of the vendors in the digital print/integrated marketing arena have to offer, they can jump into a sponsor’s how-to lab. The opportunity to network will extend into the evening, as the group...

I’ve been dabbling in a new way to bring our community new and interesting content via Audioboo. Audioboo is a neat little application for the iPhone that lets me record up to five minutes of audio to share across our social networks. It’s fun, easy, and automatic. Not only does this make my life easier, but we can provide a whole new type of content to you with minimal hassle! Here is our debut audiboo. In it I talk to Julie Shaffer about the Integrated Print Forum 2011. Talking to Julie Shaffer about the Integrated Print Forum 2011 #integratedprint (mp3) Did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments. If you have any suggestions or ideas on what type of content you’d like to hear, let us...