Comments for Cup-a-Joe

Comment on Lesson Learned? by Travis Stein

Travis Stein — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:33:47 +0000

Joe, another solid post. I’ve argued this point with our Promotional Product factories. One of my favorites over the past 10 years has been Leed’s. 2 years ago a new rep of theirs stopped in for a short presentation of new items. He started off by sharing the new eco line and then shared two catalogs with us and said “that will be it for the year. We’ve cut back on our catalogs as another means to save our earth”. While he was packing up, I asked if he had a minute and gave him a tour of our print facility. Quite entertaining. My point is, that year’s sales for Leed’s merchandise dropped drastically, not only from Odee, but nationwide. They admitted their mistake and are now back to printing enough catalogs to service demand.

Travis
http://linkedin.com/in/travisstein

Comment on USPS Enters The Fray by EDDM Retail

EDDM Retail — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:29:23 +0000

Of course, email is killing the post office. How many companies have “gone green” and are now sending bills via email rather than snail mail. It arrives quicker to the customer and is more reliable to actually arrive. Perhaps sending bills by text message is not too far off in the future.

Comment on USPS Enters The Fray by Cam Swegman

Cam Swegman — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:20:47 +0000

I agree that the USPS needs to be coming up with new ways to remain relevant and I love the proposed mobile media advertising incentive program but I can not say the same about the Every Door Direct Mail program. It is the USPS going into direct competition with mailshops like mine whose customer base is 90% small, local businesses mailing 5,000 or less per mailing. The Every Door Direct Mail program cuts out the mailshop and list provider putting the USPS in competition with me for my current and target customers. After they have called on me to be their “partner” for many years (since 1993) I do not appreciate this at all.

Comment on Super Bowl Observations by Tim Freeman

Tim Freeman — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:59:06 +0000

2 questions:
Who are \number 8 or 9?
Are you enjoying the snow?

Comment on It’s Hand Grenade Time by JS

JS — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:51:35 +0000

Nicely put Joe. The devil certainly is in the details on this one.

JS in New England

Comment on The Misinformation Highway by Jim Motheral

Jim Motheral — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:20:59 +0000

Joe, Instead of asking the reader to contact you for a copy of Mike’s letter on why print has value, it would probable be better to have a link to it.
Please send me a copy of Mike’s letter.
Happy belated Birthday. What day was it?
Merry Christmas, Jim

Comment on Can We Handle The Truth? by Jim Lloyd

Jim Lloyd — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:00:30 +0000

Joe, I just stumbled on another “frienemy” as my daughters like to say. The USPS offers printing services direct from their website through an affiliation with click2mail.com. They are thus competing with both printers and mailers in one stroke.

Comment on Why Not A Public Plan? by Joe Polanco

Joe Polanco — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:41:02 +0000

Sara, thanks for the well thought out comments. A point you brought up — which is so true — is President Eisenhower’s concerns about the military-industrial complex and how it is just as applicable to our medical-industrial complex. Now that the Senate has decided to take their bill to the floor, it should get very interesting through the end of the year. As it wasn’t already.

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Comment on Why Not A Public Plan? by Sarah Adams

Sarah Adams — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:36:11 +0000

I have to give you credit Joe, for your “the gloves are off” post, considering the prevailing views among the “party of business”. Kudos! I’m not ready yet myself to come out and solely endorse the public option, but you know, there may be something to the “trigger” option, as well as what Michael suggested by way of the freedom to shop across state lines, that might help create more “true” competition thus containing costs.

With all due respect, Michael, I’d have to say that the argument as presented looks like a reiteration from the US Chamber of Commerce. Been there; done that; learned all too well that THEY ARE NOT US! (they are AIG, Chevron et al)

Free marketers I believe see the word “free” and often mis-construe “free market” for “free profit”, when in reality we all know (and expect) that nothing is free.

What we’re talking about here is the ongoing greatest transfer of wealth in the history of our nation, with the very old and the very poor already on government insurance, with a growing number of Boomers signing up for their benefits against a shrinking pool of those entering the workforce paying in. While I’d acknowledge the 13% number in terms of fraud/waste in Medicare, we might also consider the reality of the fraud, waste and abuse of those buying “free market” insurance whose cost has risen by up to 160% over the past few years for many small businesses, as well as the very real prospect of bankruptcy when their carrier exercises their rights to deny coverage or a policy at all.

I think it an embarrassment that the richest nation on earth has allowed it’s government and corporations to treat its workforce and its people as profit centers instead of assets to be cultivated and nurtured. Whatever system is decided upon initially (perhaps a compromise–what a novel idea) had better have some flexibility to allow us to patch what clearly doesn’t work, and stick with what does; the bottom line being the strongest most productive workforce and people in the world.

Anything less is just something that Eisenhower missed when he warned us of the dangers of the growing MILITARY industrial complex. Who would have ever thought that the MEDICAL industrial complex would be our ruination?

Comment on Why Not A Public Plan? by Michael Makin

Michael Makin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:33:53 +0000

OK you are a radical and need to be thrown to the wolves! LOL

The merits of expanding health care for the millions of uninsured is laudatory Joe but a public option is not the solution – it will only drive the cost of care up while providing arguably worse coverage. We do need dynamite for the system but our economy is not in a position right now to take the blast.

What we need is the ability for small business to pool resources and buy across state lines, have greater flexibility with health savings accounts and not be the source of all tax revenues. Pelosi may have won a small battle on Saturday evening but the war is far from over.

Best,

Michael Makin
President & CEO
Printing Industries of America