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  • Greenwashing
    By Bob Hall - Tuesday April 21, 2009
    Lately, everybody’s going green. I’ve been awash in green news about FSC/SFI certification, wind powered paper mills, carbon setoffs, and sustainable printing. From what I can tell, the printing industry has been pretty good about greenwashing. Most green claims seem to have at least some merit. That can’t be said for other industries. I live in a state with an economy largely dependent on coal. My home state bears the ugly scars of so-called mountaintop removal mining, but coal is still king despite the ravaged landscape. Adding insult to injury, billboards and ad campaigns are promoting “Clean, carbon neutral coal.†As ABC’s John Stossel says: “Give me a break!†Despite the fact that I...

  • Wrong Audience?
    By Bob Hall - Monday April 13, 2009
    A couple of years ago, FedEx Kinko’s showed up at the On Demand show touting its printing capabilities. Evidently this was not a viable venue for them because their appearance was a one-shot deal. I guess they finally figured out that show attendees were printers who saw them as competition and who were not the least interested in how whiz-bang their operations were. Well, the Kinko’s name has been buried under the FedEx Office brand, and FedEx has said precious little about how the former “most recognized brand in the printing industry†is faring these days. So who should show up at this year’s On Demand show? None other than the UPS Store and its sister franchise Mail Boxes, Etc. (MBE). They were there...

  • Pleasantly Surprised at On Demand
    By Bob Hall - Monday April 6, 2009
    A while back there was a recurring bit on Mad TV called “Lowered Expectations.†That came to mind just before we departed for the On Demand show. After all, the economy sucks, credit is clogged, and the general mood is dark. Why exhibit or attend a trade show when nobody is in a buying mood? Or so I thought. I’m not saying that the show hearkened back to the glory days of yesteryear when hardware and software were being snapped up by ravenous printers. However, the show was much better than I had expected. Attendance was steady, vendors were busy, and people were selling things to people. Presstek sold a 52 DI off the show floor. Xanté sold several Ilumina Digital Envelope Presses. All in all, a pretty active...

  • Trade Show Future
    By Bob Hall - Monday March 30, 2009
    The On Demand show is running this week in Philadelphia. Considering the state of the economy, I doubt any attendance records will be broken. That said, I can't go along with those folks who are predicting the demise of printing trade shows as viable enterprises. Right now we have three major shows in our industry — Graph Expo/Print, Graphics of the Americas, and On Demand. I've heard some say that GOA is more of a show for South America, but that's another story for another time. In the franchise arena, the bigger trade shows are bundled with franchisees' conferences. Franchise Services (PIP, Sir Speedy, Signal Graphics), AlphaGraphics, Allegra, and Minuteman are the main ones. Granted, there used to be a lot more. NAQP...

  • HP Challenged on MarketSplash
    By Bob Hall - Monday March 23, 2009
    The heads of three major printing franchise systems and PIA have been in discussions with HP about MarketSplash, the Web-to-print offering that is seen as competing with printers. Thus far there hasn't been any resolution, but meetings are scheduled at On Demand and at HP headquarters. "The intent of this dialog with HP is to request they reconsider the positioning of MarketSplash before more damage is done to the HP name as they attempt to make further penetration into the print-for-pay market," according to a letter sent by Allegra CEO Carl Gerhardt, AlphaGraphics CEO Kevin Cushing, and Franchise Services president Rich Lowe. It remains to be seen if this effort will force HP to make any changes to MarketSplash. Back in 2007, Kodak...

  • MarketSplash Makes Waves
    By Bob Hall - Monday March 16, 2009
    What's MarketSplash? It's Hewlett Packard's Web-to-print service aimed at end users; in other words, aimed at those small businesses who are potential customers for quick printers. Their website notes: "MarketSplash by HP provides all the small business marketing materials, products, and design services you need in a single, easy-to-use interface. Our brand marketing solution includes award-winning design templates, professional business cards, standout websites, traffic-driven direct mail postcards, and many more marketing products." So here we have another case of a printing industry vendor selling directly to potential customers of that industry. Adding insult to injury, some print jobs are routed to Staples for output. Thus far...

  • Good Eats at On Demand
    By Bob Hall - Thursday March 12, 2009
    I have to say I was very pleased when the On Demand show moved back to Philadelphia from Boston. Don't get me wrong, I like Boston just fine, but I prefer Philadelphia for one reason—the Reading Terminal Market is right across the street from the convention center. While trade shows offer great opportunities to learn about the latest printing technologies, they seldom offer much in the way of decent food. Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds are not my idea of good eats. Neither are gummy pretzels and overpriced pasta. However, good eats can be found at the Reading Terminal Market which houses some 80 merchants who offer lots of food choices, not to mention specialty groceries, baked goods, and produce. If you're planning to attend On...

  • QP is Mobile
    By Karen Hall - Monday March 9, 2009
    Do you own an iPhone? If so, there's a cool feature on the Quick Printing website that can keep you connected to all the latest information no matter where you are. On the QP homepage, scroll all the way down to the bottom and you'll find three buttons. The first one lets you sign up for QP's RSS news feeds. The second one is +My Yahoo, which lets you add QP to your Yahoo homepage. And the third one is +Add to Google, which adds QP to your Google homepage. When you land on the QP website, there's so much to see that you can easily get distracted before you make it all the way to the bottom of the page, so I just thought I'd let you know. Cool, huh?

  • Can the Scam!
    By Karen Hall - Thursday February 26, 2009
    I've heard several printers talk about a scam that's been making the rounds lately. It has also been a frequent topic of discussion on a couple of print related listservs and chat sites. The thing about scammers is they don't bother to research the companies they target. I guess that's how the email wound up in my mailbox. The email, which also included a PDF attachment titled "20571 LIVING BREAD MINISTRIES," read: Good day, Please i need an estimate on this print work. Fliers:QTY: 69,000 pieces of 11X17, printed on 70lb Gloss Text printed one side only in 3 colors on ink with the attached artwork, no bindery/folding.Exclude shipping/delivery charges. Please let me know the quote or any questions, look forward to working with you on this...

  • Talking to Myself
    By Karen Hall - Wednesday February 18, 2009
    I seem to have the same conversation over and over. Someone — usually an outsider or a person who isn't familiar with our market — will make some dismissive statement about quick printers being too small for their interests. This is my cue to launch into a litany about the wide ranging capabilities and sophisticated services offered by QP's readers. I explain that our readers may call themselves quick printers, small commercial printers, digital printers, or even marketing specialists. All the labels are self applied anyway, and what they choose to call themselves in no way limits their business. From the magazine's standpoint, we figure anyone who signs up for a magazine called Quick Printing is probably operating the type of...