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...

Can you believe GRAPH EXPO is less than a week away? Look, they’re already setting up the show floor.As we ramp up for the conference, I’ll do my best to highlight some of what Printing Industries of America is bringing to the show.  In this Audioboo, Mark Bohan talks with me about the seminars our staff is putting on at the show as well at the InterTech Gala. Enjoy!    Talking with @markbohan about his @Graph_Expo plans....

Dillon Mooney, Technical Consultant at Printing Industries of America, answers some of the frequently asked questions he receives through the technical hotline. In this episode, he answers the question, “Are you aware of any resources that outline the tolerance for quality in the printing industry?”  We’re very excited to be able to present these bite-sized chunks of information for your viewing pleasure. We have more in the works and, if these are are well received, will consider doing more of these in the future....

Peter Muir wrote this piece on our Integrated Print Forum Blog. Peter, along with many other leaders in the social media field, will be presenting at the Integrated Print Forum this October at Printing Industries of America’s head quarters in Pittsburgh, PA.  1. Something gets posted you don’t want others to see. Is it a corporate secret, comments of a disgruntled employee or an upset customer because of a lack of customer service? If you don’t already have one, a brief internal social media policy should cover what can and can’t be said along with how it could be said by those inside the organization. It should be flexible enough to encourage passion for customers and the brand but should also make sure the brand remains an asset. If the comments are from outside the organization they should be quickly judged to determine constructive criticism or inappropriate behavior and appropriate steps should be taken to deal with them in a timely manner. 2. You create a social presence but no one is participating. Social media should start with a strategy and part of the strategy should include audience, content and appropriate channel(s). It takes time to grow a community. You may think you’re talking to yourself but really you can be honing your message to your customer while you also spend time listening to what is important to them and include it in your community content. The time you take working at establishing your social media standing can also be used as an ongoing case study to discuss what you’ve learned with your customers. 3. You’re trying to be social but the topic gets sidetracked or even hijacked. Simply ask, “Why?” Perhaps there is something else more important you could or should be covering. One of the first rules of social media is that it’s not about you. Or perhaps you can suggest covering the new topic in next week’s discussions where you can research it further and get more input on it. The point of social media is that you don’t have direct control of the message but the more involved you are in social media and are aware of your business and customers, your ability to influence the message increases. 4. Some people don’t tolerate change. As your social media community grows and expands its reach there is a possibility of alienating your core followers. You need to consider your core first before diluting your approach to please the masses you’re not currently connected to. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, but if you include the core in your growth and choices for growth it’s often easier for them to deal with change. Also remember, there are some people who...

In this video, Brad Evans shows three different ways to test UV adhesions problems. Find it informative? Enjoyable? Want to see more videos like this? Let us know in the comments. Also, visit http://www.printing.org/labservices for more information on what we can help you with.  We just finished filming a series of videos with Dillon Mooney, our technical consultant, so look for those in the coming...