Copies&Ink

Much is made of recycling and sustainable practices, and for good reason. Thankfully, many of our foods and commodities (including paper) are to some extent renewable resources. On the other hand, few people are aware that perhaps our planet’s most important resource is being systematically destroyed, with the full support of governments around the world, including our own.

In a talk entitled Fishing the Sea to Death, anthropologist and scientist Joshua Reichert explains that “People don’t mourn the loss of something they never knew existed, nor do they tend to mourn the disappearance of something they never experienced directly. They may regret its absence intellectually, but they don’t feel the loss emotionally.”

Download this talk originally broadcast on the New Dimensions radio series, and I guarantee you’ll be shocked and terrified. The sea is being devastated by commercial as well as personal interests to an extent that may never be reversible. Yes, using recycled paper and other renewable resources is a great idea, but let’s remember that even larger issues may loom outside our direct view.

It’s confirmed! The event you won’t want to miss, will be right here at Copies&Ink on October 16.

Well known speaker and InDesign© expert Kelly McCathran from Adobe Systems©, will be presenting a program entitled: InDesign CS3 for PowerUsers - What you didn’t know you didn’t know. The program is suitable for both beginning and advanced InDesign users. A valuable raffle prize will be awarded during the event.

For more information and a registration link, visit our events page.

On Thursday Oct. 16, Copies&Ink will be hosting a special event of great interest to all users of Adobe software. Kelly McCathran of Adobe Systems will be presenting a special 3 hour workshop in our meeting facility.

Please save the date. The session will tentatively run from 9 a.m. to noon. Topic information and a link to reserve seat(s) will be available shortly. Here’s a brief bio of our speaker:

Kelly McCathran is the Service Provider Evangelist for Adobe. Her mission is to maintain relationships with the top print shops in North America. To fulfill that roll, she is the primary contact for printers to get the support, training and information they need to successfully work with Adobe’s line of products. In addition Kelly is a Certified Technical Trainer and an Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, GoLive and PageMaker. Kelly has traveled North America and abroad teaching applications to the largest print shops in the world.

I have no clue as to all the things you can do with FinderPop for the Macintosh. But if you just use it to sort your way through a messy desktop or to switch between applications, you should get it. Best of all, it’s free. Donations will be accepted by the publisher.

How can just a few words and bring fortune to your company? How can saving a few pennies end up costing you hundreds or thousands of dollars?

I’m in Chicago on an extended business trip, and decided to try a new (to me) hotel chain: Extended Stay Hotels. Upon checking in (a marginal experience) I found my room to be adequate, but missing a couple of things I’ve come to expect at any hotel: shampoo and a hair dryer. One would think those necessities are provided in a place that by definition caters to business travelers.

I can put up with a room that isn’t quite clean, and even one that smells a little funny, as this one does. But to the front desk manager (well dressed lady in her 40s): please don’t admonish me to return your low end hair dryer, as if I intend to steal it. And when I ask for shampoo, (I’m here for 3 days) perhaps you could afford to give me more than one tiny 1 oz bottle?

Contrast that to my experience at optical chain Lenscrafters. I’m a long time customer of that company. Just before boarding my Chicago plane a day ago, my eyeglass frame broke. Upon arriving at my hotel, I noticed a problem with my backup glasses too. Panic began to set in!

I was the first customer to visit a Skokie, Illinois Lenscrafter store on Tuesday morning. The young clerk behind the counter quickly assessed the situation used her creativity to improvise a temporary repair for my frame, while another technician replaced a missing part in my other pair. “No charge,” I was told. “We just did what I’d expect if I were traveling and broke my glasses,” declared the 20-something employee. What a star!

Wow. That simple act cemented my customer loyalty for years to come. By the same token, my experiences at Extended Stay were equally memorable, but for different reasons. It’s not about mission statements and corporate edicts. It’s not about fancy signage alongside the interstate. It *is* about being friendly, professional and attentive when the rubber meets the road.

According to Fortune Magazine, the top five (revenue) private firms accounted or something like $343 billion in sales. This group includes Koch Industries, Cargill, Chrysler, Kaiser Permanente and the US Postal Service, which is technically not part of the US Government.

It’s interesting to note that of these firms, the Postal Service accounted for 21% of the revenue generated, but required 62% of the 1.253 million employees to generate that combined pool of $343B in revenue. Looking at it that way, maybe a 1 cent increase in postage isn’t all that bad after all!

Even in a tough economy, not all sectors will be suffering. According to graphic arts industry expert Vince Mallardi, there are still some blossoming branches in the economic tree, with fruit ripe for the picking. While this research focused on print purchases, the outlook for these categories is likely to be positive across a wide variety of purchases.

Packaged foods $777B, up 11%, Beverages $366B up 4%, and Food Service $691B up 5%.

Travel & Hospitality especially close to home “stay-cations” $760B up 1%, Gambling/Wagering $797B up 7%, and Fall Fashion $567B up 12%.

Freight/Logistics $624B up 9%, Computer Software $434B up 23% and Telecommunications $1.02T up 9%. And if that’s not enough, here’s an old standby: Banking/Insurance $3.2T up 7%.

So before we all go hang ourselves, let’s not forget how dynamic and resilient our US economy can be. If you have something of value to sell, get out there and scare up some business!

A plug to the author, who is a long time, well respected expert: you can buy the full report at the PBBA website.

This morning I ran across a display ad in Sunset Magazine; it was a tourism piece for the City of Portland, Oregon. Regardless of the ad’s merit, it does make a point that resonates well today: that most cities across the country lack much individual personality. Everything looks so mind-numbingly bland. The same strip malls, fast food restaurants and franchised national retail outfits. Our own Rancho Cucamonga is no exception. What was once a fascinating and quirky agricultural center has embraced that same blandness that now extends a full 50 miles to downtown LA.

I’m guilty of falling into that trap too. A few years ago I gave up our family business’ name for a moniker that sounds more like a national chain. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.

Thinking back a few years and remembering some my earliest Alpert’s Printing customers, there are a few that still stand out in my mind, some 29 years later. They had personality. They didn’t need a six paragraph mission statement. Clarity and character is so lacking in today’s world of sameness. I’d be willing to bet a month’s phone bill that the descriptive name General Telephone is still easier to remember than the cryptic Verizon.

I doubt the corporate spin masters will be dropping their LGs, Altrias and Cingulars any time soon, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us need to buy into the blanding of America. If you want to get your marketing noticed today, perhaps try something that comes naturally: be yourself!