San Diego, California Weather

Welcome to San Diego and the 2008 Dscoop Annual Conference! As you have surely felt by now, the excitement and momentum is building here. Attendance has skyrocketed with 1,200 HP Indigo professionals in attendance, and the fun has just begun. Dscoop members are geared up and ready to go!

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21

Dscoop Golf Outing
Thursday marked the opening of the Dscoop Annual Conference, beginning with the annual golf outing at Torrey Pines, site of the 2008 U.S. Open. Seventy-two attendees hit the links at South Course for friendly competition and fun in the sun. San Diego offered 60 degree Fahrenheit weather this morning.

Torrey Pines South Golf Course provided a challenging environment for the Dscoop Annual Golf Outing.

Larry Vaughn, Bob Niesen, Todd Kalagher and John Rogers golfed together on Thursday morning.

Pre-Conference Seminars

Marketing in a Digital World
More than 200 attendees participated in addressing the ins and outs of their current marketing tactics and goals. The session, taught in five modules, had participants evaluate their business snapshot, collectively develop a marketing plan and then implement an action plan moving forward. Attendees were given an introduction to aspects of marketing including: promotion, publicity, public relations and its distinction from sales. 

Participants' marketing plans were developed by addressing three main questions:

• Where is my business today?
• Where do I want to be in 12 months?
• How am I going to get there? 

At the conclusion, attendees left poised to utilize their new found knowledge, and the bulk of the conference had not even started yet.

Your Capture Knowledge Center – HP Open House
About 400 attendees came through the HP Capture Center and enjoyed drinks and snacks while floating around multiple stations.

In HP Large-Format Printing and HP Scitex Super-Wide Format, Todd Waltz explained the limitless opportunities of creating full-color indoor and outdoor signs, posters and banners. The DesignJet can print aqueous-based inks on photo paper, vinyl or backlit materials for signs up to 60 inches wide. The Scitex is able to print banners, billboards and building wraps up to 16 feet wide. Attendees received a complete book of technical information and step-by-step instructions about how to produce large format prints.

The Clean Slate Printing Company station explored the financial model of a fabricated printing company. Business consultants walked attendees through using the Commercial Job Estimator and Business Planner v2.0 and answered their questions about combining e-commerce, lean manufacturing and solution selling.

Ed Dedman, HP, talked to attendees about certification for new substrates.

Daniel Bradley, HP, discussed smart labels and packaging software and its breakthrough into the digital industry.

Solutions Showcase Opens with Welcome Reception Sponsored by GPA
The official kickoff to the festivities began with the Welcome Reception sponsored by GPA. More than 55 partners displayed their latest products and services over the three-day conference.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22

Opening General Session
Dscoop Chairman Todd Kalagher welcomed everyone to the conference. He gave a high-level overview of the organization and how it has grown in the past year, as well as his vision for Dscoop. “We are not just printers—that might be what you call yourself in your neighborhood, but it’s the value add that you offer to your clients,” Kalagher said. “No one else is like us. We’re all different—different verticals, applications, technology. But Dscoop can help you grow and refine what your message is.” Kalagher also thanked Art Manzo, an outgoing Board member who helped build Dscoop from the ground up through his role as the organization's first treasurer.

HP's Francis McMahon presented the first ever Jack Glacken Award for Doing the Right Thing to Jack Glacken, immediate past chairman of Dscoop. He praised Jack as one of the first to realize that customers and HP need to work together to help grow the market because it’s the “right thing to do.” As the Pretenders’ “I’ll Stand by You” wafted through the speakers, Jack received his award and brought the entire board to stand by him onstage. Jack humbly said it wasn’t just him; it was the whole team.

Finally, keynote speaker Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, fired up the crowd with an inspirational speech about how his father instilled in him the values of hard work, believing in yourself and surrounding yourself with good people. “Heart. Pride. Commitment. These are intangibles that you can’t measure,” Eruzione said. “But if you understand the value of work, then at some point in your life, you’ll be successful.”

Educational Sessions

Ready, Aim, Fire: Hitting Your Target
The session was packed with eager business owners, marketing and sales professionals learning how to clearly define their target markets.

Barb Pellow of InfoTrends discussed the benefits of a focused market approach:
• More attention in your market space
• Viewed as an expert within the segment
• Value proposition is succinct for the market
• The sales process becomes repetitive

How to take aim at your customers – questions to ask yourself about your target
• Are the segments identifiable? Can they be measured?
• Is the segment successful?
• Is the segment accessible?
• Do you have a unique competitive advantage?

The session took you through both the advantages and disadvantages of horizontal and vertical markets in the B2B and B2C segments. Pellow says “Focus is essential in today’s market.”

Learn MSL: Marketing as a Second Language
Marketonia. Financial-vania. Agency Island. These are the destinations where digital print specialists need to travel, and do so comfortably, according to Bob Boucher of Cole Creative. This well-attended session centered on the message of “to sell to a marketer, you need to be a marketer.”  Print providers in today’s market cannot sell print per se. They need to be a partner that provides solutions to ease pains, drive revenue and grow market share for their customers. Boucher estimated that effective marketing is 40 percent right message, 40 percent right audience, and 20 percent creative. Accordingly, his key takeaways included: 1) talk to the right customer, 2) send a message that touches an emotion, and 3) don’t be afraid to talk about yourself and your successes. That, and make sure your visa is up-to-date for your next trip to Marketonia.

Solutions Speed Sharing – Encore Event
About 60 attendees gathered to share best practices and new ideas with each other. Bob Blackman talked about how his company adapted to a series of changes. He talked about the importance of finding solutions from the bottom-up rather than top-down to get buy-in from all employees. His company has hosted voluntary lunch and learn sessions one to two times a month for the past two to three years that address why they are changing and how to make it work.

Vintage Beach Bash, Sponsored by HP
We welcomed the Surf City Allstars, featuring members of the Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. The sounds of the ‘60s accompanied the food and networking Friday night, at the HP-sponsored Vintage Beach Bash.

Mike Blanco of Finlay won an autographed Fender Stratocaster in the air guitar contest.

Alon Bar-Shany, HP, takes the stage to play with the Surf City Allstars.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23

General Session
We hope everyone was able to attend this morning's session for some early motivation because the message was worth hearing. Chris Petro, conference chairman and chairman-elect of Dscoop, challenged conference attendees to build upon the momentum of this event and take it back to their offices. He emphasized the importance of building Dscoop as a global organization and pushing it to the next step. Petro recognized HP for their commitment to customers, which was evident at the event. He also recognized outgoing board member Doyle Mortimer and his contributions to the technical committee.

Attendees heard from HP executives Stephen Nigro, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Graphics & Imaging Business, who spoke about the importance of Dscoop to the printing industry and the common goal of converting printing pages from analog to digital.

Vyomesh “VJ” Joshi, Executive Vice President of HP’s Imaging and Printing Group, gave the HP keynote address about the five key success factors to building a business.

1. Anticipate market trends
2. Operational excellence
3. Partnership
4. Our people
5. Leadership

According to Joshi, Print 2.0 is the future of print. He spoke about the importance of riding the wave of the internet, and likened it to riding the wave of the computer during the ‘90s. The projected worldwide opportunity in 2010 is 53 trillion pages of print, 10 percent of which is digital printing. By combining content—creative and technical—consumers will be able to print from anywhere. “The power of HP is that we have the technology to be successful,” said Joshi.

Next, Rich Raimondi, Vice President and General Manager, U.S. Graphics Arts emphasized that HP has the broadest portfolio and that they differentiate themselves through print quality and consistency. “It is an IT world, not just a print world,” Raimondi said. “We’re a technology company with a great printing business.”

Francis McMahon, Director of Marketing for HP U.S. Graphic Arts, spoke about the HP Capture program and encouraged attendees to view the business development tools available on www.dscoop.org/busdev. He also urged everyone to participate in a contest by May 5 to tell Dscoop how they have used the tools and their success stories or suggestions for improvements.

Finally, Alon Bar-Shany, Vice President and General Manager, HP Indigo Digital Press Division, closed out the general session by focusing on the international perspective of print. He encouraged the attendees to see what’s happening outside the U.S. by attending drupa and gave a preview of exciting news that HP is planning to review to the public March 10.

Letters from Katrina
Mark Hoog, pilot and author, led an moving session about leadership and the challenge a leader has to inspire others to contribute. He stressed the value of instilling hope in the minds and hearts of young children by encouraging them to live the life of their dreams. 

Hoog compiled a book of peer letters written to the young victims of Hurricane Katrina by children in Colorado and California schools. He gives 100 percent of the profits toward the Katrina Endowment, which provides scholarships for the affected children. 

Hoog left attendees with a powerful message: “Each of us need all of us, and all of us need each of us. Realize the importance of the contribution you can give while on earth.”

Tech’s S-hold’em: Productivity Roundtable
About 40 attendees attended this interactive technical track session led by Paul England and Laura Field of HP as well as a panel of four. Topics covered included new media, improving the workstream, supplies productivity, troubleshooting, tools for measuring success and finishing the job. Attendees earned playing cards whenever they answered questions or posed questions of their own to the group. The nature of the cooperative shone through as panelists and members answered each others’ questions and suggested best practices and new tips and tricks. Look for more in-depth information from this session to appear in the form of Webinars and newsletter articles. At the end, prizes were given out to those with the highest hands—if you can believe it, the winner had six aces!

Public Relations Tip and Tricks: Get Your Company in the Spotlight
John Bord of Consero walked participants through key communication tactics to get their company more exposure and the basic format of a press release. Press releases should be sure to include no more than 400 words; quick highlights; who, what, where, when, how; and should have an angle that makes it newsworthy. He also discussed the new SMART press releases and their multimedia capabilities, including photo and caption, streaming video and micro Web sites.

Sustainable Practices for Label and Packaging
Jason Pearson, CEO of GreenBlue, discussed his organization’s movement from a seal of approval for green products to ranking on different scales, much like the Consumer Reports type of ranking. He said that shift gives customers and consumers the ability to decide what to buy based on their own values. Helpful resources that he mentioned included Cleangredients, a Web site that lets formulator companies mix specific chemicals that do not harm the environment. They want to expand that network of information to include inks, coating and adhesives, which would help printers find environmentally friendly products to use. Terie Syme of Prestige Label Co. Inc. walked attendees through how to initiate a sustainable program at their own companies. She said it is important to receive support from top management and continually improve the program. Attendees can service their customers best by asking, listening, learning and teaching.

Dscoop Closing Reception
Thank you for joining us and making our third annual conference so successful! The closing reception allowed conference attendees to relax after three days of learning and networking. Take all the energy and enthusiasm back to the office and really build your business this year!

We know you are eager to surpass all your goals and metrics, and Dscoop is here to help you year-round. We’ve re-launched the business development tools section of our site to make it easier to use.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Corazon “Build a House in a Day” Project
Fifty-five Dscoop members took advantage of this unique opportunity to help the needy by building a house in Tijuana, Mexico. Their volunteerism and can-do spirit is an inspiration to all of us!

We look forward to seeing you next year at the 2009 Dscoop Annual Conference, February 19-21, 2009 in Orlando, Florida.