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Kevin Keane's Blog
Keane: July 2011 and the Play (Button's) the Thing
Keane: July 2011 and the Play (Button's) the Thing
A tale of two or 3 (video) tapes
Entries to the 37th International Gallery of Excellence continue to stream in and YES at the request of many entrants 'round the globe, the deadline has been extended to allow all interested graphic arts firms to take advantage of the business building bonanza that the cachet of the imprimatur "International Award Winning" can provide for your firm and perhaps more important - for the firm of your valued client(s).
We wrote to a large number of entrants on Friday 15 July as follows:
"I'm sure I am a horrible pest, it's just that I fervently believe that any firm putting ink on paper, or on any kind of substrate has a huge opportunity to leverage an award won in the International Gallery. There is no great value in getting a news release about the win into our trade industry press (at least I don't think one's competitors are likely to become clients anytime soon!)
That video was posted to You Tube on 7 January 2011.
Jeffrey Hayzlett, former Chief Marketing Officer and VP for Eastman Kodak Co and great friend to so many of us in the global graphic arts wrote a best selling book last year called "The Mirror Test" in which he espoused the power of the 118 -- Jeff posits that you have about 8 seconds to hook someone's attention and then another 110 second to sell them on your unique capability. Less than 2 minutes to market You!. Very hard to do well.
Can printers market themselves in a quick video? Here from New Zealand is one affirmative answer:
That video was posted to You Tube on 30 March 2011.
Like the earlier effort, we think 'putting a face on the firm' is one more arrow in the quiver of marketing direct hits via video.
As you watch this nearly perfect video, consider this - it was the customer who approached the Stevens' brothers in Portland, Oregon about the possibility of featuring their printing firm, Stevens Printing, in a professionally shot video sponsored by the customer. How could Rich and Dave Stevens say no?
That video was posted to You Tube on 28 March 2011
And now consider this -- if you helped a valued client shoot a very short video that saluted a particular project your firm printed for that client, and the video featured the proud and smiling face of the client, and some lovely graphical images of the piece that won and the Gorgeous International Gallery award plaque, and closed with contact details for both the client and your printing/graphics/marketing service firm .... Well who could resist posting that video on their website, on You Tube, on Linked In, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Google+ and otherwise sharing it with their customers and networks and thereby dramatically increasing the possible exposure of your firm's name as an award winning provider well worth contacting?
Leveraged Marketing indeed! Business Building Bonanza indeed!
Now perhaps you are objecting -- my shop has no video production skills! Maybe so, and while a long term strategy review might suggest that this will be essential in your future, for right now you can partner with a local firm with video competency. IAPHC member John Foley, CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially has written a must read book for anyone in the global graphic arts. It is titled: "Business Transformation * A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry" on pages 26-28 John describes how Westamerica Graphics has broaded its services portfolio by partnering with other firms. You can do this, it's called leverage.
OK then. "Say no more, Say no more," sayeth you, emulating Eric Idle in the famous Monty Python skit, "How do I enter some projects for some of my best customers in the 37th International Gallery?" Why you clik this link right HERE.
Here is a photo of his eminence gris, the great guru of the Graphic Arts, Prof. Frank Romano taken during his tour of Concord Litho in Concord New Hampshire last month. The video was run on WhatTheyThink.com (on 8 June 2011) and one notable sequence shows Frank in front of a wall at Concord Litho which is choc-a-bloc full of printing awards won by that firm. Conveniently, Frank just happens to be standing in front of a raft of International Gallery awards won by Concord. Frank is heard to say in the video that Concord Litho is one of the best firms he has visited in a long while. Testimonials of Excellence as evidenced by International Gallery Awards won by Concord Litho (or won by your firm for your CLIENTS) matter more than ever. So just do it, and then video tape it too!

The screen capture image above (those are International Gallery awards over both of Frank's shoulders,) was kindly provided by our friend and fantastic IAPHC member Ali Westcott who is the very effective Communications Director for Concord Litho.
Remember, the cachet of the imprimatur "International Award Winning" tells a new client they can trust you with their project. And for those all important current clients? Well surely you'll agree that client delight is the best emotion of all!
There is still one more facet to your International Gallery participation -- it can result in wholly unexpected new business opportunities for you because we carefully scrutinize every single entry to learn about that entrants unique skill sets. Here is an example of this form of networking in action:
-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Keane
To: jlamb@egp.com; jdreisbach@egp.com; cpinto@egp.com
Sent: Sat, Jul 16, 2011 11:59 am Subject: Possible web printing oppty for Evergreen Printing?
I can think of 4 or 5 web printers in New Jersey. Firms that are award winning caliber firms having won in the annual International Gallery produced by the IAPHC. They include: Sandy Alexander in Clifton NJ (Joe Shanahan); Evergreen Printing and Publishing in Bellmawr NJ (Jim Lamb) Unimac Graphics in Carlstadt NJ (Rob Sternau) AFL Web Printing in Vorhees NJ ( Jim Hager) and Command Web Offset in Secaucus NJ (Pamela Conover) If you would like, I can connect you directly with each of the firms and the contact names supplied.
Kevin Keane

Linkin In with the loopy leprechaun lawyer dude
Linkin In with the loopy leprechaun lawyer dude
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Mr. Keane, that was the best example of an invitation I have ever had. It is so good to know that gracious people are still a part of our industry. Thank you for that lovely message. Have a wonderful rest of the year and hopefully spring is on the way - even though we are suppose to get snow tonight! Of course, I am talking to someone who knows something about snow! Take care and have a healthy, prosperous 2011!
Regards,
Lori Paravano
We are open to connection, and trust, if we are not already part of each other's network, we will remedy that error quickly! Oh, and by the way, while writing this little blog piece our network grew to 1,505 wonderful folks like thee!
You see, kimosabe? Connection matters! Capiche?
Gallery's Good 4 Pride N Print
Gallery's Good 4 Pride N Print
Been a Good few months for seeing the many ways in which winners in the IAPHC's International Gallery take pride in their achievements won on behalf of their clients.

Manufacturing Manager
725 Hampstead Close,
Joanne Pettigrew is the wonderfully talented lady who looks after the submission of Transcontinental Vancouver's entries to each successive International Gallery. Last week, she placed an order for 15 duplicate awards which the Transcon sales team will be presenting to clients. Here is a picture of the display Dean mentions:

Meanwhile, Tom Newland, who owns the Allegra Print & Imaging centre that graciously assented to be our depot for delivery of International Gallery entry submissions generated some positive energy for his own GOLD award winning submission to the 36th International Gallery. Tom's project was recognized for its innovative use of introducing a new wide format printer by means of piggybacking on the excitement of a new baseball stadium (Target Field) opening in Minneapolis.

In this page capture from Allegra magazine, we see that the IAPHC was recognized as the 'client' for purposes of Tom's entry into the International Gallery.
www.iaphc.org/images/iaphc/Documents/allegramagazine.pdf
The Allegra owners magazine also included this additional info about Tom and the project:
www.iaphc.org/images/iaphc/Documents/article.pdf
We loved the poster, because we are rabid baseball fans and because we were thrilled to see the IAPHC logo in lights.
Later this week, we stopped by the Vintage 99 company Facebook page and were just as thrilled to see that the fine folks at Vintage 99 in Livermore California are saluting their award wins for their excellent labels by including pictures of the awards on their company Facebook page:
We have a robust, diverse and growing group of firms who have contacted us to say they will be entering the International Gallery in 2011 -- they include, The Flesh Company, A&M Label, 3i Graphics, Specialty Print Communications, Graphics West, McCormick & Armstrong, AJ Images, and The RB Dwyer Group. Only Graphics West and AJ Images have ever entered previously, so that certainly bodes well for the competition.
On March 31, 2011, the Central Minnesota Printing Professionals, a chapter of the IAPHC, held their annual awards banquet. Winners included Nahan Printing, Quad/Graphics St. Cloud, Sentinel Printing, Wolters Kluwer, Sunray Printing, Kenning Outsource Group, Lakeside Press, Corporate Graphics International (a unit of Taylor Corporation) and Merrill Communications LLC - part of Merrill Corporation.
Natalie Rein of Merrill Communications sent along this comment and the picture that accompanies her e-mail:
"It is always exciting to bring the results of the show back to the production floor and see the pride in every one's face. They work very hard all year and this is probably one of the biggest ways to give positive feedback to a well deserved team.

On April 20, 2011 the IAPHC-Detroit chapter held its annual Gallery awards banquet, and one of the winning firms -- A&M Label of Wixom Michigan has done a fine job of celebrating their success on the company Blog administered by IAPHC member, and technology savant for A&M - David Platz.:
http://amlabel.wordpress.com/2011/04/20/annual-dcphc-awards-dinner/#comments
On May 10, 2011, IAPHC member, and frequent Gold award winner in the International Gallery, Charlie Clark, proprietor of Charlie Clark Books llc sent us a PDF file announcing that he will again serve as a judge of the Sinar Mas Printing Awards in China. We salute our good friend Charlie (few know more about the book printing process than Charlie!!) and especially commend him for the excellent and attractive use of logo art in his news release:
www.iaphc.org/images/iaphc/Documents/member_news_sinar_mas.pdf
If your company wants to participate in this great opportunity to celebrate your clients, you can download an easy to work with MS Word version of the 2011 Call for Entries right HERE. We look forward to helping you fully leveage and market your successes!

Look, Boss, it's de Book, de Book!
Look, Boss, it's de Book, de Book!
Apologies to the late Hervé Villechaize, but if the line works, wear it.
We read the following blog on 21 February 2011 about a particular speaker at Dscoop6, the fabulous conference sponsored by HP. If you've been reading our posts on either our IAPHC Facebook Group page or our IAPHC Linked In Group page, you know we think the world of Jennifer Matt, blog-meister on WhatTheyThink with her aptly named Web and Print Blog who is fearlessly cajoling the print and graphics industry to move their businesses online - in a phrase she coined, to provide: "print e-commerce."
http://thewebandprint.com/web-to-print/hanging-out-on-the-solution-side-dscoop6/
We hadn't heard of Mr. Slap and filed Jennifer's rousing endorsement away 'til our next trip to one of Barnes & Noble's bricks and mortar stores, which happened yesterday. We plopped down in the store and read the first 10 pages or so and then made for the registers to buy the printed book.
Jennifer is right -- awesome book:

You should buy a copy or three for the managers at your place. The book will rock their world.
Keep in mind it is a slippery read, by which I mean you need to have some quiet contemplative time to absorb it and maybe delve back a page or two earlier that you have already bent the page over to find it more easily (not so easy on the ole e-book reader) and make sure you grasp what some call his subversive message.
The basic premise is so counter-intuitive to the management bromides we have all been ladled ad nauseum for so many years, that the idea is slippery like an eel. And if you grasp it, you will be crazy like a fox.
Maybe you recollect hearing about a small greeting cards printer in Kansas City:
Buy a copy or three and dog ear pages 38 - 42 about a tiny little firm you may have heard of called Quad/Graphics. Priceless war stories about the late great Harry V Quadracci of course, but also some insight into Quad -- (admittedly before they went public after the Worldcolor deal which will inevitably change some cherished cultural traditions to satisfy the Wall Street anal-ists.)
How about this exchange between Pamela Lopez of Quad and Stan Slap on Page 41:
"Anything else missing?" I ask her.
"Budgets for one thing," she says. "There's really only a loose budget, which means you teach people to do what's right because it's right, not because it costs a lot or it's going to cost too much."
"A manager at Quad does not have an operating budget? I confirm, checking to see that the backup recorder is working.
"Correct," she says.......
I loved the book. The print industry has become so hide-bound conservative, understandable given the last few years, but still way too starched to take risks. This book says you have to take a flyer once in awhile, trust your managers, let their emotional commitment to the idea and the company carry the day.
Management by numbers is a successful strategy, but it rarely spurs true innovation because innovation requires risk and risk doesn't add up if numbers are all one considers.
Get the book. Support the printing industry, change the printing industry, and go get the book.
From page 62:
"Listen up: As a manager, your most important responsibility is to your company. As a leader, your most important responsibility is to yourself. You must fulfill your personal responsibility first; far from being subversive, this is the single most supportive corporate action you can take.
Your company really has to work for you before you'll really work for your company."
As the global graphics industry continues to grapple with the major structural changes occuring at warp speed, the power of a human being's testimonial remains unmatched for being real and offering the aura of trust. We think using video to supplement written testimonials or to put a human 'face' on a firm is still a huge opportunity for most of the industry. We close with a video we ran across from AGFA Graphics in Europe. It features 4 blokes in the UK offering their viewpoints and also shows off a bit of the technology referred to by the gents. It's maybe a little too Star-Warsy in its effects, and probably could have lost a minute or two on the cutting room floor, but it's real, human and notable as a result. From a You Tube post of 10 November 2010:
Keane and the Digital Natives
Hi !
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LinkedIn
Date: 2/14/2011
Subject: RE: Membership
On 02/14/11 11:07 AM, David Platz wrote: -------------------- Hi Kevin, I just opened your letter regarding membership for 2011. I just wanted to let you know that I will for sure be joining this year and thank you for sending me the letter. I look forward to all the doors that will be opened with joining the group! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The youngest of my sons turned 21 in January, meaning he was born in 1990, meaning he is a digital native, meaning he has no memory of a world without the Internet. David Platz is a young man, who is extremely adept at using social networking tools for the benefit of his employer; he is, effectively, a digital native.
The prolific blogger Jane Friedman, guest lectures at the University of Cincinnati and wrote about her impressions of Digital Natives on her blog There Are No Rules - What Digital Natives Can Teach Us About Publishing on 10 February:
"So here is what writers/authors might like to know about so-called "digital native" mindset.
Ms. Friedman is very bright, and I think her observations are intriguing, especially since the IAPHC is all about Connection - "we exist to educate/promote/inform and connect all our members and the global graphic community."
Perhaps you have contact with students, digital natives all, and certainly you agree with the life-long learning requirement our digital age demands.
At the IAPHC we are learning and changing as the Social Network phenomenon alters the landscape on a daily basis.
We are encouraged by the number of folks who are reaching out to us, via social networks like Linked In and Facebook, to say they are joining the IAPHC -- thereby improving our network as Metcalfe's Law reminds.
We hope you will join them too. If you can't wait for a snail mail invoice, here is a link to a very simple enrollment form on our contact page on our website. (six lines below our logo, an MS Word form)
We close with a video we posted to our IAPHC Facebook Group on Monday 14 February.
We think this ought to be required viewing for every graphic arts professional. It comes from McLoughlin in Toronto, was posted to You Tube on 25 January 2011, and is full of many fascinating and perhaps unsettling data points.
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