Cup-a-Joe

Did you miss getting a chance to hear Dr. Joe Webb last week in Kansas City or Dallas/Fort Worth?  It was an extremely informative meeting with over 80 attending in total at both locations, and to quote Dr. Joe, “Many folks say I’m much more depressing in person than online.”  That’s the knock on “Dr. Doom” as he is known by many — but Webb’s prognostications have been on target when it comes to the general commercial printing industry.

Joe’s key message at these meetings was there is no more “business as usual.”  We live in an industry which is changing – but in a very different way than in the past. From the days of letterpress up to about the year 2000, the changes were fast and furious (hot metal to cold type to desktop; letterpress to offset litho to digital) – but they were internal changes.  As an industry, we were changing the process used to produce print. With the advent of the Internet and the rapid expansion of advertising/marketing channels, our industry has been affected by outside sources — and will continue to be so challenged over the next 20 years.  The result will be that our industry will share a much smaller slice of the advertising pie.

The analogy Dr. Joe used was a pizza which was sliced in half – that was the old model.  Advertisers would either use “media” (radio/tv) or print to distribute their message prior to 2000.  The new model looks like a “Twister” board with probably 30 different choices an advertiser could make, e.g. Broadcast TV, cable TV, internet TV, social media, direct mail, print, radio, viral marketing, etc., etc.  Yet, advertising budgets have not grown, and advertising/marketing decision makers will make decisions which mean less of a slice for print.

But all is not lost per Joe – and that’s why his book (the premise of the presentation) is titled “Disrupting the Future.” He shares ideas of how companies in our industry must find ways to not do business as usual in order to “disrupt” the future realities.

Although the presentation was sobering – the message was clear.  Change the way we think about ourselves – think as entrepreneurs and find ways to help our customers achieve their end goals – regardless of how their message will be delivered.  Per Webb, our industry is uniquely positioned and skilled to be a key player in this new world of media.

This past March Motheral Printing hosted an Association breakfast meeting on the generation “gap.” It was one of the best programs I’ve seen on this topic – and I’ve been to a few.

It was led by David Danforth with Eastfield Community College and Dr. Rick Lumadue with Texas A&M – Commerce.  These college professors, who are both Gen X-ers (born between 1964 and 1980), were very entertaining and candid with their observations.  These were not guys who are consultants or doctorial candidates writing research papers.  Every day they are seeing the new generation (Millennials) in the classroom, and they are also interfacing with the Boomers (administrators).

The key to this program was the observation that the upcoming Millennials (born between 1980 and 2000) are motivated very differently than the Boomers or Gen X-ers.  They communicate differently—via blogs IMs and text messaging rather than phone or face-to-face preferred by the older generation, who are frequently their supervisors.  They are heavily influenced by their parents and peers and are very team oriented.  Where Gen X-ers were highly independent and self-motivated, the Millennials need structure and very focused leadership. Millennials are multi-taskers and are not use to having lines of authority – they ask “why.”

Given that our industry’s workforce composition is beginning to change, managers and supervisors need to understand the dynamics of the groups they manage and how their own biases can affect their leadership. The more we can learn about ourselves and our workforce, the better leaders we become.  If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint presentation used by Danforth and Lumadue, please contact me.

It was probably one of the industry’s best attended top management conferences in years – if not decades. Over 400 attended last week’s Vision3 Summit which was the first time Printing Industries of America, National Association of Print Leadership (NAPL), and The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES) all joined together. Although the venue (Palm Springs) always has one asking “who is really going to attend,” the programs were all very well attended and chock-full of information which is not readily found in many association programs or industry magazines. read more »

Yes, John Wayne was knows as the “Duke,” but I’m not writing about that Duke, nor am I writing about Ellington.  Since I grew up as a Dodger fan, you know which Duke I’m talking about – Snider. read more »

2010 is almost over and I’m glad to see it ending.  It’s been a tumultuous year for our industry, economy and nation.  Needless to say we’re all looking for a better 2011.  Although it may not make many of us deficit hawks happy, the present tax legislation looks like it’s going to pass, and we won’t be seeing a tax increase at the beginning of the year.  The saving grace of the legislation is small business gets some breathing room with tax credits and the estate/death tax changes, and that we actually had folks working together on this issue.  Granted the “wings” of both parties are not very happy about this — but it’s a step in the right direction.

It looks like more folks than just “us” in the direct mail industry are taking note of the USPS issues.  A recent article in Bloomberg Business week covered many of the key issues facing the post office.  It was a good read for the many who do not understand the real challenges which face our postal service system.

I got a chance to see Jerry Williamson the other night — on the local ABC Affiliate (WFAA).  Jerry was part of a feature on Greenberg Smoked Turkey, a local (Tyler, Texas) provider of smoked turkey.  Jerry, owner of Williamson Printing, spoke of how Williamson provides the turkeys as gifts to their select clients.   Great PR for WPC.

Gotta talk baseball.  For us North Texans, 2010 was a great year.  The Rangers far exceeded everyone’s hopes and made it into the World Series, and more importantly they beat the hated Yankees to get there.  The interesting side note is that they lost the bid to hold onto Cliff Lee yesterday.  Fortunately, they lost to the Phillies, rather than the fore mentioned hated ones.  The real story here is that Lee was willing to take less money than either New York or Texas had put on the table.  Why?  And here’s the real lesson.  Lee sees an opportunity to be part of a rotation (Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels, and Lee) that could break records and put him into a position to be in the World Series – again.  It reminds us that for many employees, it’s the intangibles that are just as important, and in this case, more important than money.

2011 may be the Digital Year for many in our industry.  In talking to a variety of consultants and suppliers the past few months, I continue to be surprised as to the number of firms which have yet to take the step into digital print technology.  And that’s not a bad thing.  If a company has yet to take the step, it’s probably because of two reasons.  First, they did not have the capital, and/or 2.) They weren’t ready to make the business model change.  Both are valid reasons for not playing.  Ask anyone in the digital world, and they’ll tell you that the only way you can play is to understand that it is a different business model and that it takes constant re-investment in technology and equipment.  It’s not for the faint of heart, or folks who are not committed to making a wholesale change.

OK, I don’t get it.  Well, yes I do.  I just don’t like it!  Why is everyone freaking out over the Bowles-Simpson proposals?

As a country we are facing one of the greatest financial challenges since the Great Depression.  Our financial system is dominated by a handful of companies.  Our large companies march to the drum set by Wall Street.  A drum that is not necessarily conducive to their success in providing long-term results.  We have an extremely large deficit, and there is an entitlement system (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security) which will acerbate the situation over the next 10-15 years as those darn Baby Boomers (that’s me!) start retiring.

Yet, no one in Congress (either side of the aisle) is willing to bite the bullet and say that Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson have it right.  Maybe not perfect, but it’s a start.  We have to cut expenses, reduce entitlements (all of them), and dare I say it, raise taxes.  We are in uncharted territory and continuing on the false pretences that we can reduce the size of government and not cut taxes, or increase taxes and increase the size of government is a pipe dream.  Our political parties (and their constituents) have to understand that economic/social legislation which may have been preferred in the past, will not work going into the future. 

I’m concerned that as a country we are not willing to make the difficult and painful choices which are necessary for long-term stability.  It’s a form of the NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard – syndrome.  As long as my ox is not gored – and yours takes one for the team, that’s cool.  But don’t ask me to put off my instant gratification so our country will be in better shape tomorrow than it is today.

OK, I’m getting off my soap box.  I think I feel a bit better, but I’ll close with one of my favorite quotations — “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” – Pogo/Walt Kelly

I’m going back a few months, but there’s a story here.  I’m talking about the departure of LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers which left the ownership, and the city, in absolute shock.  Owner Dan Gilbert wrote an open letter to the fans, in which he stated, “You simply don’t deserve this kind of cowardly betrayal. You have given so much and deserve so much more.”

So, what’s the lesson here?  LeBron is a fink?  Dan Gilbert is a jerk?  Cleveland fans deserve what they get (did I say that out loud?).  Nope.  It’s about an employer taking an employee for granted.  Regardless of how much money James makes or that he plays a game that overpays all its players, he’s an employee.  And when the grass is greener (or it appears that way), employees move.

The economy is not as bad as it was a year ago, and in a year it will be better.  Thus, what better time to start thinking about making sure that your “stars” are treated that way.  Robert Half, the staffing firm, did a survey of employed workers and found that 40% are now more inclined to search for opportunities.  Per Heather Ainsworth, who was quoted in a recent online Dallas Business Journal blog, “For a lot of them [employees], they made it through the downturn, and through those times, they were short-staffed and had to take on a bigger workload.  In addition, Ainsworth said, employees have become frosty due to salary freezes and other cutbacks.  The concept of “they should be happy they have a job” is not a long term attitude a company can take.

What’s the solution?

Start by doing an internal review of your employee teams with your key managers .  Yes, at this point, they’re all keepers, but which ones do you really need to keep?  How does their compensation and benefits match up with their peers?  (MidAmerica’s Annual Wage & Benefit Survey can help).  Have you invested in their training and helping them grow their talents?  Also, it never hurts to find out what motivates them.  In some cases (especially now) it could mean more money, or possibly more time-off.  Determine which one works the best — and it’s not the same for everyone.

Regardless, don’t assume, as Mr. Gilbert did, that your star(s) is going to stay with you forever and take your basketball team to the NBA promised land.

Like many folks who are stuck in a metal tube traveling at 500 miles an hour, boredom begins to set in – so why not sit down and write errant thoughts, which will hopefully make sense at a later time.  Here it goes.

The industry lost an iconoclastic voice this past week with the death of Dick Gorelick, one of the industry’s true marketing consultants.  Dick wrote a bi-monthly newsletter which he shared with several of the affiliates – and we used his thoughts liberally.  Most of Dick’s writings weren’t very friendly to the industry associations or the post office (his favorite target – after the airlines). Sometimes it hurt to read what he was saying – but there was a lot of truth in those comments.  More importantly he challenged his clients to find ways to differentiate their business in other ways than buying more equipment.  His voice will be missed.

I’m headed to Washington D.C., as the Print Council’s Ben Cooper used to title “Fantasyland on the Potomac.”  For those of us who follow our nation’s politics, I’ve become somewhat jaded over the past decade as I’ve seen polarization set in, which is not good for this country regardless of what side of the aisle you sit.  Regardless, it’s important that our voices are heard – today more than ever before.  And I challenge anyone reading this column to become active in learning about the real issues – not just what the talking heads or bloggers opine about.  More importantly make sure that your legislators hear your voice.  As a business owner, or as an employee in a small business your voice needs to be heard.  So, stand up!

Once this trip ends, I’m headed to Los Angeles. My father passed away two weeks ago, and we are putting his ashes to rest this coming Friday.  My wife and are the black sheep of the family.  We packed up our belongings and my parents first grand child and moved to Texas 32 years ago.  Liz and I are now the only non-residents of California (both my kids now live in SoCal, as the locals refer to that part of the Left Coast).  My dad was a blue-collar guy and union member, which led to some interesting conversations over the years.  But he listened and attempted to understand his “errant” son’s pro business approach.  More importantly he understood that the unions had lost their way as they became more entrenched in being an organization rather than working on behalf of their constituency.  That’s where he and I saw eye-to-eye. I will miss those conversations, which ended years ago as Alzheimer’s ravaged his memory and eventually took his life.  Your voice will always be with me Dad.

On another note of interest, we are beginning to see a flurry of business consolidations.  And there’s more to come.  Many company owners are coming to the realization that things are not going to get “better” as in the past.  Thus, some are considering exiting the industry while others are looking for ways to “acquire” sales.  In our industry, one which has a tremendous amount of overcapacity and “old” technologies, acquiring a business really means finding a way to add sales – equipment has no value. The real challenge is for the owner of the “selling” company to understand that his/her business no longer has the same value as it might have 5-10 years ago,  It’s not an easy pill to swallow.

In my last blog, I wrote about the upcoming PIA Legislative Conference — which starts tomorrow.  Since I’ll be in D.C. for most of this week, I guess I’ll share various thoughts of a political nature over the next several days.  But first, I want to say that the industry lost an iconoclastic voice this past weekend.  Dick Gorelick passed away on Sunday.   Not everyone cared to hear what Dick had to say — sometimes because he was very outspoken and frequently took a very contrarian view.  And that’s what made Dick so interesting to read and/or speak with.  He will be missed.

Education it’s not what it used to be . . . or so goes the mantra uttered by many baby boomers and their parents.  And it’s true.  It’s not what it used to be especially when it comes to technical/vocational training.  As our society has become more complex and the demand for better educated individuals has been voiced over the past two decades, the solution has been a focus by our country’s educators to improve education in the United States. Yet, I’m concerned about the results. read more »