Print as the Launch Pad—Kismet or Ka-Boom?
As the Vision 3 Summit approaches, we asked a few of the speakers to share their thoughts on the industry in blog form. This blog is from Kevin Keane, President, International Association of Printing Craftsmen. Mr. Keane will be speaking at the Vision 3 Summit about how to keep print relevant in a digital world.
I did a speech for a group of small commercial printers circa 1989 forecasting the digital deluge and all its permutations. Frank and Larry, two printer pals, were in the audience. At the conclusion, Frank turned to Larry and said, “What do we do now?” Larry paused not a moment and said, “Sell!”
A decade later I was asked to pinch-hit as the luncheon speaker at The Executive Outlook conference that precedes each GRAPH EXPO. In my remarks, I suggested that manroland, KBA, Heidelberg, and Komori would no longer be the only name plates in the pressroom and offered Canon, Ricoh, HP, Kodak, and Xerox. The then-CEO of one of the heavy iron press manufacturers, a very suave gentleman, approached me and begged to differ. He was elegant in his defense of conventional offset, but his firm never did develop a digital partner and eventually sought protection against creditors. The digital die is cast.
This morning, 15 December 2011, Cheryl McClorey, who is in training as Marketing & Social Media Manager at Xic.com {Express Image} in Aberdeen/Edinburgh, Scotland sent me a note on our IAPHC Facebook Group page: “Right back at you Kevin, and Merry Christmas to everyone on your end 🙂 I don't see why we have to choose one or the other. I think there are huge benefits in blending both traditional and digital. You just have to be clever about it. I made the point to the person who posted the article that in actual fact, I am more likely to look through the pile of catalogs that comes through the post than I am all the spam that comes through my email. I love the tangible effect print has, and I feel many others are the same.
