Hopefully this past summer represents more than great vacations, and marks an inflection point for our industry from the hunkering-down strategies during the recession to optimism and planning for future opportunities.

The timing is perfect to explore these opportunities as the conference and trade show season starts to heat up. While webinars are a great way to take an intensive look into specific topics, the trade shows allow you to take a deep dive and learn best practices from your peers, explore new technologies and new and exciting business models. Some events are more invested in conference sessions while others focus on the show floor – some do a pretty good job of balancing both.

For example, print providers and application owners alike may consider attending the Document Strategy Forum in Chicago (September 13th – 15^th). This show will help you understand the changing requirements for mission critical business communication – mostly oriented to transaction printing with some multi-channel communications sessions. This event is more conference and less tradeshow and is a good place to network without being overwhelmed.

The favorite in the printing industry is Graph Expo, which is being held October 3^rd through 6^th at the McCormick Place in Chicago. Most of our industry segments are represented at this show, including graphic arts, books, newspapers, direct mail, transaction, display graphics, and labels and packaging. The event has a big conference and a big tradeshow – there is a lot to see and learn across all of these segments.

For a deeper dive into the specialty market, SGIA 10 in Las Vegas might be the right show for you (October 12^th through 15^th). If you want to learn how to produce images that end up on retail floors, vehicles, textiles, ceramics, and bathroom sinks, then this is definitely a must attend show.  If you want to take an even deeper dive into the textile market, perhaps you should attend the IFAI Expo Americas 2010 show in Orlando.

Or, the photography market might be beckoning you. PhotoPlus Expo will be held in NYC (October 28^th – 30^th). This is a perennial favorite for the professional photography industry.

Many of our industry associations also have niche conferences and I suspect that attendance at these events will be much higher than prior years. Often attending these conferences enables discounts on membership and future events and webinars. Supporting these industry associations also tends to pay dividends for our industry. That’s one of the many reasons that Oce supports them. For example, Oce is sponsoring the Pacific Printing and Imaging Association’s fall conference (www.pacprinting.org), and the PINE (www.pine.org) Print Management Conference in Newport, RI (October 16^th – 19^th). Printing Industries of America (PIA) will be hosting their Converge conference (November 6^th – 9^th). This is a good show to explore the latest in new technologies and cross-media trends.

These are just some of the industry events that I’m considering attending. If you haven’t been to any of these events before, I highly encourage you to look into them. For those of you who are regulars, I look forward to reconnecting. I’d also be interested in hearing feedback on these shows and recommendations of others that do a particularly good job on either the educational or tradeshow aspects of the event.

By Pete Basiliere

What do you do when a family member is stricken with cancer?

You offer support in any way you can. Encouragement. Prayer. Help with the chores, pay a couple of bills. Whatever it takes to help him or her focus on the fight at hand.

The same holds true for your extended family, doesn’t it?

You offer support in any way you can. Whether a lifelong friend, a neighbor, a colleague at work, you naturally want to help.

As part of Team Centurion, I’ve joined with colleagues from around the globe to raise money for LIVESTRONG, the cancer foundation started by cyclist Lance Armstrong, on behalf of our good friend and fellow printing industry analyst, Steve Reynolds.

Steve selflessly raised money on behalf of other cancer victims by riding in three LIVESTRONG “Century” (100 mile) events over the last three years. This year’s ride would have been Steve’s fourth ride except for his June diagnosis of Stage 4 Colon Cancer. Despite the advanced stage and extreme seriousness of his situation, Steve is rising to the challenge and has begun his fight.

My colleagues are normally competitors with each other and Steve, but we’re united by something much more powerful than commerce – hope, courage and a determination to crush cancer. I will be joining colleagues and friends the afternoon and evening before Graph Expo opens in Chicago on October 2nd to show our support for Steve.

People who have been Steve’s customers and competitors will take a spirited 1.5 mile walk to show our support of his personal fight against cancer. We will gather at 4:30 at The House of Blues in downtown Chicago during which we’ll stop to toast Steve at two pubs.

Then, at 7:00 PM, we’ll arrive at the D4 Irish Pub & Cafe for a reception and dinner buffet sponsored by AR Advisors, Oce, Ricoh and Xerox. Everyone, whether a walker or not, is welcome to join us at the dinner. A $25 minimum contribution to LIVESTRONG is requested. Join us any time during the evening that’s convenient for you, but please confirm your attendance in advance if at all possible.

Coincidentally, October 2nd is “Livestrong Day,” so named because on that date in 1996 Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer. Or, as he put it: “The day I was diagnosed with cancer was the day I started to live.” Lance realized he had to grab hold of his life and take nothing for granted. He made a decision to face his illness with courage, strength and dignity. On October 2, Lance Armstrong became a survivor.

The money raised in Steve’s honor by Team Centurion will go to support LIVESTRONG’s programs and services, which inspire and empower people affected by cancer. If you or someone you know is diagnosed, these resources will help them to face the challenges of cancer, head on, and live life on your own terms.
Please support Steve and help make a difference in the cancer fight.

Come to the events in Chicago to demonstrate your support. If you cannot make it, no problem. Simply visit the Livestrong website to make a contribution

Thank you!

By Nancy Harhut, Chief Creative Officer, Wilde Agency

You want a window into the human mind? Look at some direct mail pieces. How people respond to them — or don’t — can tell you plenty. That’s because direct mail is all about psychology. It’s understanding what makes people behave the way they do.

Take outer envelopes. What will make someone open one? The smallest of details can tip the balance. Is there a return address? Is it accompanied by someone’s name? Is that name pre-printed? Or was it “added on” just before going out? Then there’s your color choice. Paper stock. Postage type. Type font. All this before the headline and visual (if you even have them) register.

When you think about it, the odds are hugely against us. Everyday, people are bombarded with more and more advertising messages. Then they come home from a long day’s work, stand over the wastepaper basket, and sort their mail. We have mere seconds to deploy enough knowledge about human nature to get our packages opened.

And yet, everyday great new direct mail pieces emerge. Some of the best work in the industry is being done today. Our targeting methods are more efficient. Our options are greater. And our creative people are more talented. But the big difference, in my opinion, is that we know more about what makes people tick today than we ever have. And that’s key. Because in order to capture your prey, you first have to think like them.

Social scientists and behavioral economists have shown that human beings have developed certain automatic or reflexive behaviors. They’ve identified:

1. Compliance triggers
2. Loss aversion
3. The principle of reciprocity
4. Social proof
5. The pull of the magnetic middle

And numerous other influencers to human behavior. Take what they’ve learned and apply it, where appropriate, to your programs and communications—which helps make your customers and prospects more likely to do what you’re asking them to. Want to learn more? Register for my August 4 webinar (Why people do what they do - an how marketers can use it to their advantage) and find out how to harness human behavior triggers in your direct marketing efforts.

I’ve been told that I enjoy the process of reengineering communications way too much to be normal, but I’ve met my match in Trish Witkowski. Trish has taken her passion for a single aspect of communications – the fold – to a nearly obsessive level. She established a communinity of folding aficionados at www.FoldFactory.com where she posts a series of videos titled “The 60-second Super-cool Fold of the week” (soon to be seen here on The Digital Nirvana. )

But first, you have the opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation for Trish’s expertise and to learn why you should care about the art and science of the fold by viewing her recent webinar (with Sabine Lenz of PaperSpecs.com) on “Direct Mail Dynamics.”

View Direct Mail Dynamics Webinar

Happy Folding.

The PODi AppForum is this week (January 25th-27th). WhatTheyThink is there shooting interviews:

PODi President Rab Govil on the AppForum Conference in Las Vegas

Dave Erlandson of Caslon on Day 1 of PODi

On June 8 the Governor of California announced that the state would no longer purchase K -12 textbooks. On June 10, Adam Dewitz started a thread at Print Ceo Blog that has attracted 21 responses as of Sunday morning, June 14 . Clearly this is an interesting topic in our print centric world.

While many reactions will be more End of Print blabla, I would like to share a path that allows printers to benefit from the deep troubles in the textbook industry.

On the most theoretical level, the idea is to connect Print to Video to create a possibly new communication media. As a robust global distribute and print network becomes operational, there will be the scale to make this media channel interesting to global marketers.

When I was teaching at design school, they always told me it was better to show than to tell. So in that spirit, I ask you to consider the following clickable postcard. The same principle works for clickable A4s, printed in MFPs in school districts and clickable posters, signage and packaging, which are already being used extensively in Asia.

The Front of the Postcard

GOP Activist Makes Controversial Remarks:
Written by Robin Hinson
Saturday, 13 June 2009 22:48

Friday’s gorilla escape at Riverbanks Zoo prompted a prominent Republican to make some controversial remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama.

In an article posted on the website, www.fitsnews.com, Rusty Depass, a former chair of the State Election Commission, commented on the gorilla escape on www.facebook.com.

The post says quote, “I’m sure it (referring to the ape), is just one of Michelle’s ancestors…probably harmless.”

ABC Columbia News attempted to contact Depass, but he did not return our phone calls.

The Back of the Postcard

http://tinyurl.com/qgfwe

created at QR code generator

The video

There are more examples of how this could work at my blog at Clickable Print + Printernet Publishing.

The 2009 edition of InfoTrends’ popular TransPromo Summit is right around the corner: August 13-14 at the Hyatt Regency Boston. The Summit is the place to be to beyond the hype and buzz of TransPromo and see real world applications and discuss TransPromo applications with print service providers, marketers, and vendors.

InfoTrends Road Map 2009: TransPromo Service concluded: “The year 2009 will be an exciting one for TransPromo and will likely include everything from implementation discussions to sales force education to potential mergers and acquisitions. The continued delivery of new inkjet production color devices will certainly have an impact on the TransPromo opportunity, as well as its appeal to marketers. Reductions in overall customer print spend will encourage service providers to get creative with higher-value applications. Effective applications can deliver the return on investment of which customers are becoming ever more conscious.”

According to InfoTrends the market for TransPromo communications printed in full color will reach 12.8 billion impressions by 2012. Their market research found 95% of statements are open and read with an average of 2 to 3 minutes reviewing their statements, with 20% spending more than 5 minutes.

More information about the TransPromo Summit is available at http://www.transpromosummit.com

If would be foolish to dismiss the doubt leading up to the ON DEMAND show. Chalk this up to declining advertising spend, economic uncertainty, or a shrinking manufacturing sector. Many industry suppliers commented that the show attendance was better then expected and that a majority of the attendees were closer to making purchase decisions (the show management has not released attendance numbers yet).

Jim Hamilton, Group Director at InfoTrends has a roundup of what technology was and wasn’t seen at On Demand 2009: What If People Actually Showed Up? A Report from ON DEMAND 2009.

As Jim points out in his blog post the finishing vendors brought a lot of hardware, while the print engine vendors that did attend slimmed back on hardware and concentrated their software offerings.

So the question is: was On Demand 2009 the tipping point in terms of workflow playing a more important role in on demand print production. Or was there simply less printing hardware on the show floor because our current economic environment? I think it a matter of both.

We are seeing incremental upgrades among the current digital printing systems on the market. Complex software systems are now needed to control the flow of information from the customer to the printed sheet. And while we have seen workflow the focus of previous shows, a level of maturity in these information systems has finally arrived that allows the printer to do amazing things with a data feed and a printing system.

That’s where I see On Demand. A place were best practices in new information-rich print applications can be discussed and demonstrated.

An upcoming WhatTheyThink educational webinar, sponsored by Océ and The Digital Nirvana, reveals keys to success in designing TransPromo communications

“TransPromo communications, or the blending of promotional messages into transactional documents, has received a lot of trade press attention,” said WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne.. “It is clearly a growth opportunity for commercial printers, direct mailers and transactional service bureaus. What often is not discussed are the unique design considerations required to make TransPromo successful. InfoTrends has generously agreed to share recent research on this subject with our audience. This session will provide thought starters and advice from experts that should be considered when getting into the TransPromo game.”

Sherburne will be joined by Michael O’Leary, Director of InfoTrends’ Document Outsourcing Consulting Services, document and technology services veteran with over 24 years of leadership experience in the areas of document management, enterprise print, and information technology services. O’Leary is responsible for providing marketing, technical, and consulting services to outsourcing providers, technology service providers, commercial printers, quick printers, and in-plant operations.

The free event will be held Wednesday, March 11th, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm EST (-5 GMT). Register here.

Based on a recent press release from the Graphic Arts Show Company, I estimate that the average printing company attending Graph Expo 2008 brought 1.9 people, compared with the 2.3 people they sent last year. (You can read how I arrived at this number here.) The total number of those left at home this year was about 3,000. So who were the 3,000 who didn’t come this year, even though others from their company did?

I don’t know the answer, but here are some possible explanations for who the missing people were:

1. They were top managers who went to Drupa in May/June and figured they wouldn’t see anything new at Graph Expo
2. They were employees who, in previous years, would have gone as a “reward” for a job well done (but with no specific job-related purpose in attending)
3. They were people whose trip was vendor-subsidized in previous years, but who didn’t get that kind of support this year
4. They were people from the finance department whose services were not needed this year because there was no intention of buying anything
5. They were local “tire-kickers” from the Chicago region who usually come to Graph Expo in order to see what is new and because it is convenient to do so, but who decided to pass up the opportunity this year
6. They were employees who would have come again this year if they had not been among the “downsized” in our shrinking industry

There are probably other possibilities I haven’t thought of. It would be interesting to know what really happened, because that might tell us something about where the industry is headed.

Did your company send fewer people this year? Were you perhaps one of those who missed the trip? Who didn’t go, and why not? Please let the rest of us know.

Headed to Graph Expo later this month? If so, Océ is offering free passes to the event. All you have to do is register for Graph Expo using this form.

Mark you calenders for this event:

Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that their 2009 Xplor Global Conference and Exhibition will take place March 4-7, 2009 in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. The conference and exhibition will be held at the Trade Winds Island Grand Hotel and Convention Center, a 4-Star, 585 room beach front resort destination.

The 2009 event, themed Trends in Customer Communications, will provide attendees with the latest in industry and technology trends; new and emerging technologies, application developments, operations; and print, mail and web. In addition, the 2009 event will feature several scheduled networking events and receptions as well as a large pipe and drape exhibition. Xplor’s Global Conference will also offer a number of flexible registration packages including a Platinum Passport (all courses, all days and all events) as well as a choice of day passes. Platinum Passport conference registration will range from $695 to $1095 based on register timing and Xplor membership.

“For the last two years our members and longtime attendees have indicated a strong desire to return to a standalone conference event rather than part of a larger event. With attendees staying at multiple hotels they felt the opportunity to network with peers was significantly limited compared to previous years,” says Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor. “The hotel and convention center combination will provide a backdrop for the strong conference programming Xplor is famous for and give our attendees the maximum opportunity to share information, network and get to know each other over the course of the conference.”

Designed for senior level management, marketing, sales, designers, recommenders, consultants, influencers, technical staff, implementers, and operations personnel, the conferences courses are targeted for any company who sends statements, bills, direct mail and customer communications and who are looking for new ideas, solutions and the latest the digital document industry has to offer.

In addition to the conference and exhibition, attendees can enjoy a variety of Xplor-only networking events including region and chapter meetings, attendee receptions and the Xplor Document University spring break evening party.

The DOCUMENT Strategy Forum will take place next week in Chicago September 10–12. The Forum is the place where all departments involved in the creation, production, delivery of the transactional document come together to discuss best practices all phases of the transactional document life cycle.

For more information about the DOCUMENT Strategy Forum visit http://documentstrategyforum.com

WhatTheyThink.com Senior Editor Cary Sherburne has posted some notes from the first day of InfoTrends’ second annual TransPromo Summit. Sherburne reports that attendance is up 30% with about 400 people in attendance.

A theme set by Barb Pellow at the event is that of simplexity:

Industry veteran and InfoTrends Group Director Barb Pellow kicked off the session by introducing to the audience the concept of Simplexity – the title of a new book that talks about how complex things can be simple and simple things complex. This is the perfect concept to help kick TransPromo to the next level. The technology infrastructure for TransPromo is now the simple part. The complex part is more human-related—organizational issues, and even a lack of creativity and vision on the part of implementers.

Simplexity: The consumer sees a simple, elegant interface, and the complex inner workings make it all happen. This is the mantra for the future of TransPromo.

TransPromo Summit the 2-day event focused on helping marketing executives and print service providers develop stratgies for using transpromo in advertising and marketing campaigns begins tomorrow in New York City.

Here is a look at some of the news announced in conjunction with the event.

Rochester Software Associates will be demonstrating its Enterprise Workflow System which offers a closed loop, integrated solution for transactional job transform, PDF conversion, variable data personalization, and output management.

GMC will showcase PrintNet, the companies application suite for designing and producing high impact, personalized print and digital communications. Dr. René Müller, CEO of GMC Software Technology will participate in a keynote panel titled: “Software, A Critical Enabler.”

Crawford Technologies will exhibit its Document Enhancer, Electronic Envelope, and Dynamic Document Archive products.

Solimar Systems will demonstrate suite of enterprise output management solutions including Rubika, the companies application designed to automate and enhance processes associated with legacy and pre-composed applications.

Kodak experts will offer insight on trends and advances in TransPromo. Ron Gilboa, Director, Current Marketing & Operations, Kodak’s Graphic Communications Group (GCG), will join other industry executives for the keynote panel “Recent Hardware Announcements and Their Impact on Your Business.” Pat McGrew, EDP, Transaction & Data Center Segment Evangelist, Kodak’s GCG, will share her expertise on how to successfully develop and implement a TransPromo campaign.

Pitney Bowes experts will take part in a number of Summit sessions including Innovative Software Tools, Software – A Critical Enabler for TransPromo, Advances in Finishing & Mailing Equipment, and White Space Marketing…Generating Revenue with Statements.

Printable Technologies is launching a new Transpromo On-Demand module for the companies FusionPro Web 6.5 Web-to-print solution. The module enables print and marketing professionals to design templates that can be map promotional information into ordinary transactional statements.

Océ is launching a suite of TransPromo Solutions and Services including the Océ TransPromo Application Development Services which will help customers design or redesign TransPromo applications for maximum impact. Océ TransPromo Support Services takes a consultative approach to helping customers develop a TransPromo strategy, implement a new infrastructure or upgrade existing workflows, streamline processes and keep operations running at peak productivity.