Editor's Blog

Do you enter awards? I don’t mean just print specific industry awards, but more generic business competitions – Midlands Business Builder of the Year – that kind of thing. Just think what marketing leverage you can get from even making it onto a shortlist published within a local free sheet. If you’ve done it and it’s paid dividends, let me know.

What do you think about this newly announced Government consultation with employers on apprenticeships? We talk about the skills gaps in this sector, so what about taking the bull by the horns and designing your own apprenticeship scheme – would you do it if you had the financial backing to do so?

Do you put an onus on attending seminars and talks where you can take the temperature of the world in which you operate? Are you for instance attending the Two Sides/Print Power Autumn Seminar in London on 4 November. I don’t mean this to be a sales pitch for the event, I am merely wondering how owners/MDs/general managers of companies in this sector view such opportunities to listen and learn – it seems to me that it’s a tiny percentage who ever turn up. Why is that? Let me know your views.

It will be interesting to see if DuPont extends its LifeCycle Based Solutions programme to the UK. The scheme, which allows retailers to recycle Tyvek and Tyvek Vivia displays, plays directly into the hands of sustainability-minded big brands and their print suppliers, but is so far only fully available in the US where DuPont has partnered with Waste Management which recycles the banners and reprocesses them into resin, which is then repurposed. Waste Management also gathers data pertaining to the Tyvek recycling programme by scanning a barcode on the recycling package. The material owner can then receive a certificate that details how much Tyvek is recycled, great for all those wanting actual measurements.

It would be great to see some British companies entering the designmaker 2013 competition that will see winners awarded with cash and gifts at Viscom in Dusseldorf this November. Drop me a line if you intend to have a go and make me smile.

Well, I’m back from my hols in Japan, where I can only say the levels of customer service made my return to Britain all the more difficult! I wonder how some retail companies here ever make a sale given the lethargy and disinterested response of some employees. Anyway, the point is, how closely do you monitor how well your staff represent you and your company when they’re customer facing? Your products can be great, but if your people aren’t…I’d be interested in knowing how you establish and monitor service abilities and attitudes among your workforce.

Are you finding an increasing number of newbies - well, new to wide-format – encroaching on your territory? If so, what are you doing about it? Of course investment in print kit that can provide you with new applications is one route, and looking at the deals that have taken place around Fespa it’s one many are taking, but what other profit generating strategies have you put in place in what’s becoming an ever more competitive marketplace? I’m on hols for the next couple of weeks, but I look forward to coming back to an inbox full of your clever ideas! And enjoy the sun while we have it…

Going on holiday soon? Then get the camera at the ready because unless you’re lucky enough to be on some deserted island you’re likely to see wide-format graphics of some kind or another, and if you see anything really unusual I’d love you to take a snap and email it to me. The best will appear in the In-Situ gallery of work in upcoming issues of Image Reports. And if you’ve completed an unusual job yourself, send that over too!

Anyone looking at the list of Fespa Award winners could be forgiven for assuming that UK printers must be rubbish – because, with the odd notable exception, they don’t get a look in. We know that’s not true – but what is, is that not many are members of Fespa UK Association, and for UK companies to enter the Fespa Awards they must be. That alone is perhaps no reason for forking out on membership, but it might be worth taking these profile-building opportunities into consideration when thinking about the value of belonging to associations.

You’ll see an interview with Fespa UK Association president Mark Simpson in the next issue of Image Reports.

How directional was Fespa 2013? Did it help push the envelope when it comes to wide-format print? At the end of the day, it’s a trade show and the focus is getting exhibitors there and attracting the types of visitor they want to see. At the time of going to press, the detailed number crunching was still underway, but we are told that in total over 22,000 attended the London-based event, slightly up on the 21,642 that attended Fespa Munich in 2010.So are we being fair in expecting more?

I have to say I was impressed by the sheer amount of new products at Fespa 2013, which closed its doors on Saturday. You had a tranche of news in enewsletters last week and you’ll get more as I continue to work my way through all the notes I took at the show, but please, get in touch if there was a new introduction that particularly impressed you.

Well, I’ve been writing as fast as humanly possible but don’t expect to get the total Fespa 2013 news hit in this one enewsletter – there’s been a hefty haul of introductions beyond those we’ve already flagged up so keep your eye out for following enews bulletins and a more comprehensive round-up of those new developments and their likely impact on the market in the next issue of the main magazine.

Well are you? Fespa 2013 bound that is. I am, so if there’s anything you think I should be following up from an editorial standpoint drop me an email – or tap me on the shoulder if you see me on site!

As you’d expect this close to a major show like Fespa 2013, the lion’s share of the news is focussed on product launches and improvements, but we know very well that improving businesses isn’t just about buying better kit. Which is why, at Fespa 2013, there’s such a strong focus on educative seminars too. I’ll be hosting a debate on ‘futureproofing’ at the Jet Set Conference a week today (27 June) so come along and get involved in the discussion on how we strategise for a profitable future.