In the beginning, there were printers. Then as technologies and economies transformed, we emerged into a digital world as … printers. The point is that no matter how you describe your business today—a marketing service provider, packaging solutions firm, display graphics enterprise, etc.—we are all still printers, but how we got here brings us to sharing this transformation story… The 2015 Print Leadership Summit is the event for printers, by printers. In this blog series we will explore transformation stories of some of our most notable speakers, so you can discover fresh ways to reinvigorate your business. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to leave the strain of daily operations and get a fresh perspective, you’ll want to ready this story. Over the course of nearly four decades, Heritage Printing & Graphics, led by President and Co-Owner Joe Gass, has seen plenty of transition. Along the way Heritage has identified itself as a quick printer, then a commercial printer, and today with the addition of wide- and grand-format capabilities, a visual communication company. During this time Heritage has grown geographically from Leonardtown, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC, south to add a production facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here Joe tells his story of transformation. 1.   When did you decide you needed to make a change? I took the reins of the family business in 1988 after serving for six years in the United States Navy following high school. Heritage was pretty successful through the 90s, transitioning from a multi-location quick printer into a single location commercial printing and mailing company. We invested heavily in the late 90s in direct-to-plate technology and larger, faster 28-inch offset presses to focus our business more on process color publications, marketing materials, and direct mail. Then we, like many other printing businesses, were greatly impacted by the devastating economy that followed the tragic events of 9-11. Around 2003, as I was approaching the age of forty, I began to realize that being a leader with endless amounts of energy and determination was no longer good enough to sustain a profitable business. By that time our company had struggled with the poor economy and shrinking margins for a number of years, ultimately leading to a Chapter 11 reorganization and my own personal bankruptcy.  2.   What impact did this have on you? They were tough years—for our business and family–but ended up being the beginning of a great renewal that transformed me and totally changed the trajectory of my family and our business.  The financial challenges we faced during that time made me totally reconsider what was most important in life.  After seventeen years leading the business, I decided to...

There are some amazing companies that have won Bennys at the Premier Print Awards! This post is part of a blog series profiling 2014 Premier Print Award Benny winners from small print shops to large corporations as well as universities. Check out how a company in your demographic used their 2014 Benny win to leverage more business. As a small, full-service print company in central Wisconsin, Fey Printing has become well known not only for their impeccable printed works but for their creative marketing expertise as well. In the 2014 Premier Print Award competition, they took home two Bennys, one for “Neenah Paper Menu Promo” in the Booklets (4 or more colors, printers with 51–100 employees) category and another for “D/City Newsletter” in the Newsletters (4 or more colors) category. When they’re not creating award-winning marketing pieces for their clients, Fey Printing is doing some serious marketing for themselves. Here Kristopher Gasch, Director of Marketing, talks about how they tell their brand story and discusses their keys to success. Q: Can you please describe how your small business used its 2014 Premier Print Award Benny win to leverage your company? A: We have found tremendous value in the Premier Print Awards. It is encouraging to see our work on a “world stage” alongside projects from across the globe and, as such, the Premier Print Award name carries a lot of weight. It’s one thing for us to tell our story and talk about how proud we are of our work, but it is quite another to tell that story through the lens of an international competition.  Q: What is one key piece of advice you would give to your peers who struggle to find success?  A: Integrity, transparency, and a team approach to the entire print process are three important keys to success.  Ready to leverage your brand on a Premier Print Award like Fey Printing? First you need to enter! Just submit your pieces via our online entry system. The early-bird discount ends April 17, and the final deadline to enter is May 15, 2015. Learn more at...

There are some amazing companies that have won Bennys at the Premier Print Awards! This post is part of a blog series profiling 2014 Premier Print Award Benny winners from small print shops to large corporations as well as universities. Check out how a company in your demographic used their 2014 Benny win to leverage more business. As a small, full-service print company in central Wisconsin, Fey Printing has become well known not only for their impeccable printed works but for their creative marketing expertise as well. In the 2014 Premier Print Award competition, they took home two Bennys, one for “Neenah Paper Menu Promo” in the Booklets (4 or more colors, printers with 51–100 employees) category and another for “D/City Newsletter” in the Newsletters (4 or more colors) category. When they’re not creating award-winning marketing pieces for their clients, Fey Printing is doing some serious marketing for themselves. Here Kristopher Gasch, Director of Marketing, talks about how they tell their brand story and discusses their keys to success. Q: Can you please describe how your small business used its 2014 Premier Print Award Benny win to leverage your company? A: We have found tremendous value in the Premier Print Awards. It is encouraging to see our work on a “world stage” alongside projects from across the globe and, as such, the Premier Print Award name carries a lot of weight. It’s one thing for us to tell our story and talk about how proud we are of our work, but it is quite another to tell that story through the lens of an international competition.  Q: What is one key piece of advice you would give to your peers who struggle to find success?  A: Integrity, transparency, and a team approach to the entire print process are three important keys to success.  Ready to leverage your brand on a Premier Print Award like Fey Printing? First you need to enter! Just submit your pieces via our online entry system. The early-bird discount ends April 17, and the final deadline to enter is May 15, 2015. Learn more at...

This post was contributed by Ricardo Roman, VP of Strategic Alliances and Caliper Sports, Caliper. For more information about the National Buying Program with Caliper, visit www.printing.org/caliper. Managers and leaders share many similar qualities, but the performance of a manager carries far fewer risks than the performance of a leader. In addition, there seems to be a difference in the underlying motivational characteristics of these two groups. In a recent Caliper study, more than 300 presidents and chief executive officers told us what they considered to be the most important—and the most difficult aspects—of being a leader. Among the choices we asked them to rank were: Creating the right vision Getting people to embrace that vision Maintaining momentum (motivating, influencing, and persuading others) Managing change (strategic planning, problem solving) Surrounding oneself with the right people Developing staff (coaching, managing performance, transforming teams) Delegating authority Surrounding oneself with the right people was selected 41% of the time, second only to creating the right vision, as one of the most critical parts of leadership. Surrounding oneself with the right people was also selected as one of the three most difficult aspects of being an effective leader, just behind maintaining momentum and developing staff. These chief executives said there are three main factors that keep most managers from becoming leaders: not understanding others well enough, not solving problems quickly enough, and not taking necessary risks. We also asked the perennial question, is leadership predominantly something you are born with or that you develop through experience? These same chief executives told us they felt they were born with 40 percent of their leadership ability and developed the remaining 60 percent through experience.  What are the personality qualities that account for this 40 percent of innate leadership ability? When we assessed the personality strengths of these chief executives, we found they were adept at influencing and directing others, skillful at building relationships, and masterful at solving problems and making decisions. In essence, these leaders are extremely bright, assertive, driven to persuade, empathic, and resilient. Having a need to get things accomplished, they are willing to take risks. They are also moderately sociable, demonstrating a healthy level of skepticism, and are motivated to come up with new ideas. Identifying and developing future leaders is one of the most important challenges facing chief executives today. Yet most organizations have a tendency to suffocate potential leaders. Certainly a hallmark of an effective leader is to create a vision for the company’s future. Essential to that vision is: recognizing the potential in future leaders, mentoring, coaching and developing them, giving them responsibility early, and realizing that a very different type of leader may be needed for tomorrow than...

This post was contributed by Ricardo Roman, VP of Strategic Alliances and Caliper Sports, Caliper. For more information about the National Buying Program with Caliper, visit www.printing.org/caliper. Managers and leaders share many similar qualities, but the performance of a manager carries far fewer risks than the performance of a leader. In addition, there seems to be a difference in the underlying motivational characteristics of these two groups. In a recent Caliper study, more than 300 presidents and chief executive officers told us what they considered to be the most important—and the most difficult aspects—of being a leader. Among the choices we asked them to rank were: Creating the right vision Getting people to embrace that vision Maintaining momentum (motivating, influencing, and persuading others) Managing change (strategic planning, problem solving) Surrounding oneself with the right people Developing staff (coaching, managing performance, transforming teams) Delegating authority Surrounding oneself with the right people was selected 41% of the time, second only to creating the right vision, as one of the most critical parts of leadership. Surrounding oneself with the right people was also selected as one of the three most difficult aspects of being an effective leader, just behind maintaining momentum and developing staff. These chief executives said there are three main factors that keep most managers from becoming leaders: not understanding others well enough, not solving problems quickly enough, and not taking necessary risks. We also asked the perennial question, is leadership predominantly something you are born with or that you develop through experience? These same chief executives told us they felt they were born with 40 percent of their leadership ability and developed the remaining 60 percent through experience.  What are the personality qualities that account for this 40 percent of innate leadership ability? When we assessed the personality strengths of these chief executives, we found they were adept at influencing and directing others, skillful at building relationships, and masterful at solving problems and making decisions. In essence, these leaders are extremely bright, assertive, driven to persuade, empathic, and resilient. Having a need to get things accomplished, they are willing to take risks. They are also moderately sociable, demonstrating a healthy level of skepticism, and are motivated to come up with new ideas. Identifying and developing future leaders is one of the most important challenges facing chief executives today. Yet most organizations have a tendency to suffocate potential leaders. Certainly a hallmark of an effective leader is to create a vision for the company’s future. Essential to that vision is: recognizing the potential in future leaders, mentoring, coaching and developing them, giving them responsibility early, and realizing that a very different type of leader may be needed for tomorrow than...

There are some amazing companies that have won Bennys at the Premier Print Awards! This post is part of a blog series profiling 2014 Premier Print Award Benny winners from small print shops to large corporations as well as universities. Check out how a company in your demographic used their 2014 Benny win to leverage more business. Something catches your eye. The striking color, beauty, and elegance—images flawlessly flowing together throughout each calendar, poster, book, and other printed pieces. The work produced by the illustrious Australian company Body of Work is a culmination of sharp talent in print, design, and photography. But the the team at Body of Work has gained exciting market success thanks to Bob Armstrong. No stranger to awards, Armstrong ascended the stage at the 2014 Premier Print Awards Gala last September to accept 17 total Bennys as well as the Best of Show first-place title on behalf of his comapny. Though they do their own promotions, Armstrong also credits their success to the unparalleled endorsement of their peers through the Premier Print Awards. Here he explains how they get some valuable exposure for their Body of Work and how you can “work it” for your brand as well. Q: First can you share what these awards mean to your company? A: Ours is a bespoke product to a small elite group. The success of all bespoke products, from Rolls Royce down, is totally reliant on brand reputation pedigree and above all brand endorsement. There is no [greater] credibility than endorsement from your peers, and in our industry there is no higher international endorsement than the Premier Print Awards Our focus is totally craft driven, and our driving ambition is to be the best in the world at what we do. To achieve this, everything we do is without compromise. [This means that our company] bans the word “cost” because that is the first step of compromise. If we create the perfect product, the financial rewards will follow—and they have thanks to the committed team of craftsmen that make up Body of Work. Q: How have you been able to leverage your Premier Print Award wins to further build your brand? A: We have been extremely successful in leveraging these awards because, in addition to being a designer and photographer, I am an advertising man of long standing. We totally understand who we are trying to impress, what reaction we are seeking, and how to get it. If it becomes an exercise in self-glorification to your peers, it may satisfy your ego but won’t work commercially, and we are too pragmatic to go down that path. We are skilled in creation of all media and use...