Big hitters look up at Bowral

David Campbell, NSW Minister for Small Business, Regional Development and Illawarra (pictured with Conference Chair Scott Telfer of Pongrass Communications) was the keynote speaker at the conference.

Campbell reminded the conference that the printing industry, being comprisd mainly of small businesses was part of the vital engine of the economy. He made the point that NSW has 2,100 printing businesses employing 40,000 people, mostly in workplaces of twelve or fewer staff. He noted the conference was taking place during NSW Small Business Month.

The batting order

Themed Sales-Success-Synergies, the opening night dinner session, saw a few googlies hurled down by visiting CEO of a UK print company - Sir Nigel Pemberton. His presentation on British print philosophy set the realistic tone for the conference. There would be no funny stuff here; this conference was to be a serious working event.

“In business deals there are four accepted scenarios,” growled Sir Nigel, “win-win; win-lose; lose-win and no deal. What’s wrong with plain old winning?”

With the ice well and truly broken, the next morning heralded some serious play. In welcoming all delegates, Printing IndustriesNational President Chris Segaert noted that things are finally looking up for the industry. “Our latest quarterly survey indicates that margin pressure is decreasing, sales are increasing, profitability should also increase and raw material prices such as paper may be stable or falling.”

Marketing the buzz

Keynoter Michael Keily, editor of Marketing Magazine and an experienced direct marketer, swung the willow with great effect. Keily’s Buzz Marketing – the Power of Word of Mouth was packed with well researched statistics, tips and strategies that emphasized the ‘one customer at a time’ philosophy that is evident in personalized, variable digital print.

Citing figures that most individuals know between 650 and 1750 people; 10-15 intimately, about 150 socially and 500-1500 as acquaintances; he demonstrated that it is from this group that people get their most trusted information about products and services. “People don’t trust companies, they don’t trust governments but they trust family and friends. Tapping into this dynamic market of ‘recommenders’ has resulted in some spectacular marketing successes,” he noted.

Using the launch of Windows 95 as an example, where 400,000 review copies were given away, Keily advocated seed marketing to what he calls ‘networked hubs’ of people. The popular game, Trivial Pursuit, sold 20 million copies without advertising, all by word of mouth. Print marketers could to well to use Keily’s advice to ‘develop contagious products; cultivate network hubs and seed these networks with ideas.’

Benchwork and Big Science

Next up it was benchmarking time with a three-way presentation from Printing Industries executives, CEO Gary Donnison, Economist Hagop Tchamkertenian and Policy Director Philip Andersen. Printing Industries Benchmarking has come a long way in a short space of time and is now available online.

“Benchmarking is a method for companies to compare their processes, practices and performance with others,” explained Donnison. Volume Two of Benchmarking is due out shortly and identifies best practices for the industry. The online demonstration by association economist Hagop Tchamkertenian clearly showed what a powerful tool is now at the disposal of Printing Industries members. By logging on to the secure site, printers can enter their own data and view easy-to-understand charts that compare their performance with the benchmarked industry averages. 120 KPIs (key performance indicators) are covered, each a vital measuring rod for a business. Try it yourself on www.printnet.com.au .

Big science came on stage next as John McConnell from the National Print Laboratory explained just what those boffins are doing at Monash University, Victoria. Outlining an impressive array of testing and measuring instruments including spectrophotometers, tensile testers, surface analysers, viscometers, absorption testers, dyne measurers and the delightfully named ‘Thwing Albert Inkometer,’ McConnell related in detail the NPL’s research on plate/substrate interaction, rheology, ink-water-fount balance and the environment.

Not too much on toner and digital printing at this stage but Australia can boast a world-class research centre for offset that uses a supercomputer to process data and create 3D, 360° rotating models of, say, an electron microscope slice of paper fibre.

At NPL, the smarts have taken a leaf out of NASA’s book in calling common objects by fancy names, (e.g. Vertical Environmental Control Structure for a wall). We suspect that a Functional Communication Surface, possibly might be just plain paper to you and me.

Creating winning teams was the theme for Colin Howe of Colin Howe Consulting. Sales, success and synergies cannot be achieved without teamwork and, unlike a certain media magnate (OK, it’s supposed to be Kerry Packer) who claimed ‘Teamwork is all about a group of people doing what I say!’ Howe maintained that 10 per cent of staff are drivers, 80 per cent are regular workers and 10 per cent are challengers, (the kind that right now are saying ‘the only reason the boss is at this conference is because downsizing is in the wind!’)

Howe’s positive style emphasized that motivation and a common, well-articulated, goal are essentials for success and enjoyment of work. The morning session was wrapped up by Fuji-Xerox’s Brett Maishman with a run through the whole range of F-X digital printing solutions right up to the 1 million copies-per-month iGen3. He also had the best videos of the conference, a marvellous 1950s Xerox advertisement, and one about a huge linebacker employed to motivate people in a company – you would do what that man says.

And then there was tea

Workcover’s Craig McBride opened the batting after lunch with some timely tips on compliance to the workcover legislation.

The afternoon’s gold sponsor was the new firm with old heads, Graphic Systems Australia, Fuji distributors since April following CPI’s switch from Fuji to Agfa. Not-so- old warrior Peter Carrigan brought delegates up to date on the first six months of this IPP-owned distributor. GSA has found good success with its thermal CTP solutions and looks set to go forward strongly now the worst of the transition is out of the way.

The conference then split into four elective workshops; Risk Management by Kim and Harold Schekeloff; Succession Planning by Peter Longhurst; Sales Success Strategies by Neil Brown and Graphic Design with David Whitbread.

Aussie secure file delivery whiz kids Quickcut were the gold sponsors for the final session with Daniel Daly giving the run down on the latest software from this Brookvale, NSW based tech firm.

Then it was industry commentator and raconteur extraordinaire, Andy McCourt' turn at the crease. His job was to polish the crystal ball in order to take a look at the Future Print – Emerging Markets of Profitability. He laid out the landscape of the digital printing revolution in a clear, engaging manner, taking as his starting point the arrival of the Canon colour copier in the 1980s.

He hit a couple of sixes by challenging those present to take a good hard look at themselves an their operations, and recognize if they were part of the solution or the problem. He emphasized the perils of traversing the Technology Chasm between the early adopters and the mainstream followers. Move too early and you can become a technology casualty; leave it too late and you’re getting out of the industry.

His provocative style and well-researched facts set the seal on the professional and useful information style of the conference.

Later at the official dinner, even the execrable routine by comedian Anthony Achroyd could not dampen the enthusiasm of the members in applauding the long service members who stepped up to receive their awards.

The festivities continued long into the night and it was well into the morning before stumps were finally drawn.