The high-stakes debt ceiling debate and votes may have stolen all of the media attention this week, but another very critical piece of legislation: a revision of the burdensome, flawed Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which called for costly environmental testing and safety certification of children’s books and other printed materials. On Monday, August 1st the U.S. House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation (H.R. 2715) by an overwhelming vote of 421-2 to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). (The two recorded “Nay” votes were Reps. Bobby Rush (D-IL) and Dennis Kucinich (D-OH; 9 Reps were recorded as “Not Voting.”) The bill not only provides much needed added flexibility and discretion to the Consumer Product Safety Commission to implement this law, it also excludes children’s books and paper-based printed materials from onerous third-party testing and certification requirements now in place for any and all products marketed to children under 12 years of age. The Senate followed suit that night and passed the House bill by voice vote, clearing the way for President Obama’s signature. The President is expected to sign H.R. 2715 into law in short order. This is a big win for the industry! While all children’s manufactured products received a measure of general relief from CPSIA, “ordinary books” (see legislative definition below) and “paper-based printed materials” were only one of two product categories to gain a FULL exclusion from the environmental and consumer regulation. (Youth ATV/bicycles was the other category.) We’ve spent two years before the Consumer Product Safety Commission and in the halls of Congress providing environmental data, explaining print manufacturing processes, and urging lawmakers to take action to exempt what we considered an unintentional consequence of the original law passed in 2008. Prior to the votes, Printing Industries issued a Key Vote Alert to all lawmakers. Even if your company does not print books or paper-based materials for the “12 years of age & under” market, the fact that books and paper-based printed materials were being regulated by yet another entity and had its environmental stewardship once again called into question – this time regarding the use of heavy metals. Achieving a total exclusion for books and paper-based printed materials from this massive environmental and consumer regulation goes a long way to reminding lawmakers that the printing & graphic communications industry’s products are sustainable, safe and leading edge when it comes to environmentally-sound manufacturing. Printing Industries of America extends a thank you to member companies who worked tirelessly alongside our Washington, DC team to advocate the industry’s position on Capitol Hill. We also extend a special thank you to our Congressional champions, bill sponsors Reps. Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC) and Senator MarkPryor (D-AR) and leadership and...

BIG news! BIG victory! A bipartisan, expedited compromise bill to amend the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (H.R. 2715) has passed the House of Representatives this afternoon. This legislation EXCLUDES ORDINARY BOOKS & PAPER-BASED PRINTED MATERIALS from third-party testing and certification under CPSIA (books w/ “inherent play value” like plastic parts or stuffed animals would still be regulated). The vote passed by a vote of 421-2. We are now onward to the Senate! Prior to the vote, the limited debate included supportive-only floor speeches from Subcommittee Chairman Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), Subcommittee Ranking Member Butterfield (NC) (who also spoke on behalf of Rep. Ed Towns’ (D-NY) championing of the books exclusion provision), Representative Rehberg (R-MT – who spoke only to his pet issue of ATVs), and E&C Cmte Ranking Member Waxman (D-CA), who noted that it had been a “long, hard road” but did support this compromise legislation. The only other industry receiving an exclusion was the ATV/bikes industry, which had been the other signature industry lobbying for exclusion from this regulation. All other manufacturers and products received some relief from the general expansion of authority and discretion provided to CPSC to implement the law. The bill, which had originally been set for action following August recess, was expedited to address a recent controversial 3-2CPSC ruling that would have left current merchandise on shelves to be removed or discarded by August 14th. This legislation would make the lead levels prospective rather than retroactive as to not disrupt products currently in the stream of commerce. This is a BIG WIN! We now move onward to the Senate, where the bill up for a vote tonight does NOT have the exclusion for books but only for ATVs/bikes. We do not expect a conference committee to hammer out differences between the House and Senate on these bills. Instead, it’s our understanding that once the Senate passes its bill, the House may offer a substitute amendment and send back to the Senate to accept. The goal would be to keep the book exclusion intact. Given the strong bipartisan vote that just occurred we stand a good chance of it remaining in the final version. We will continue to lobby to the conclusion of this...

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...

Last week we announced more information about the Integrated Print Forum. In particular, we were excited to reveal that Lon Safko will be keynoting the Integrated Print Forum 2011! Lon Safko is the author of The Social Media Bible and, as you would expect, is a digital marketing expert.  He’ll help attendees understand interesting terms and techniques such as, “the fundamental shift in power,” “link love,” “Google Juice,” and SEO advantages to blogging. I wonder if we’ll find out if  “Google Juice” is full of the electrolytes and vitamines a printer needs to integrate new technology? Lon Safko will be a great keynoter, no doubt, but there will also be a number of sessions on the following topics: Mobile Takeover: The Future, Apps and You Digital Acumen: How to Hire the Staff of Tomorrow, Today! Mobile Website Essentials           How to Become a LinkedIn Power User Preparing the PSP for 2020 Direct Marketing Trends 2011: Who’s Mailing What? Build Your Own Augmented Reality Scene    Marketing: The Secret Ingredient Risky Business: Entrepreneurial Adventures in Today’s Marketplace Everyone’s in Sales Personalization Power:  Mastering Relational Databases Practical Integrated Marketing: Winning Your First Campaign Portal Power: Managing Integrated Marketing Campaigns Super Scripts for Dynamic Direct Mail Straight Talk: Sales in 2012 and Beyond  There’s a wealth of cutting-edge talks and information that we’re proud to be hosting at Printing Industries of America this Fall. You can find more information about Integrated Print Forum 2011at http://www.integratedprintforum.org. The forum is open to a limited amount of registrants so it’s recommended that you register early.  For questions about the conference please email, Sam Shea at sshea@printing.org or ask on www.formspring.me/integratedprint.  ...