Last issue I talked about International Print Day and the way people in print are using social media to share knowledge. IPD sprang from the #printchat group, a weekly discussion of all things print held weekly on Twitter that has become an interesting meeting point for print boosters from across the world.
And the characters who make #printchat what it is are the really interesting part of the story. I don’t think any of them control vast business empires, but by virtue of their deep trade knowledge and online chutzpah, they are becoming a hard-to-ignore part of the industry. These are a few of my personal favourites.
First up is Deborah Corn (@PrintPros), principal at the US-based PrintMediaCentr.com. Deborah, a print project manager by day, coordinates a diverse group of bloggers and onliners who love print, using LinkedIn and Twitter. She is also the prime force behind IPD and #PrintChat. Corn’s quirky style and unfailing good humour make her a natural at bringing together the sometimes irascible print community to show them how a bit of online cooperation is a good thing.
Matthew Parker (@PrintChampion) is an English print manager with his own firm, PrintandProcurement.com. While Matthew works as an independent print buyer, he is also a prolific blogger on print and selling print, constantly encouraging printers to up their game in terms of winning and keeping customers. Every day I get an email from him with examples of printers doing well and doing terribly at selling – and I have to admit to cringing often when I see things I have done myself held up as examples of bad selling. Normally when someone sends me an email every day I get quickly tired of it and unsubscribe, but I can’t bring myself to do this to Matthew as his daily reminders to be good at customers are so spot on.
Trish Witkowski (@foldingfanatic) is one of the true gems online. A graphic designer who grew frustrated at the inability of printers to give guidance for folds, she spent seven years putting together an 850 page book of fold impositions. This then morphed into foldrite, software which provides squillions of working fold templates for basic and complicated folds. And I am not really doing it justice – you should check it out because it’s great. But beyond this, the thing I love most about Trish is her 60-Second Super-Cool Fold of the Week on YouTube where she demonstrates some bizarre new fold that has come across her desk. A lot of the folds are so complicated that they would only work by hand, but they all show a degree of creativity and her videos are a goldmine for ideas.
Beyond the individuals, there are also a heap of industry groups and suppliers who a really pushing great stuff through their social media. While we all can get @proprint covering print here, Twitter is a great place to grab info from the US and English trade publications and bodies.
@NAPLconnect is the online presence of the National Association for Printing Leadership, a sort of US PIAA except they publish really interesting and top notch info on running a print business. You have to pay for the good stuff but they are worth following regardless.
Similarly @whattheythink is a great US based news source for print boasting some of the best print analysis around. Again you’ll need to pay to get the really good stuff but they are essential reading if you want to keep your knowledge of print world-wide.
I realise I seem to give these guys lots of plugs and I swear I get nothing for it but @xeroxproduction is another must-follow. The other suppliers should really look at how Xerox handle social media – their YouTube channel will swallow you for days. Sure there are some stiff basic ads, but they also have a ton of site videos from clients using their Xerox gear in ways you might not have thought of. They have got a great knack for doing short, sharp vids on the best aspects of their gear – check out the videos on the new FreeFlow workflow system they are spruiking to see how you do software infomercials. And the people handling the Twitter feed really have a great feel for non-Xerox info that is just interesting to read if you like print. @HeidelbergUS are playing catch-up to them, but they seem to be only other player even trying.
Locally I have to admit to being fond of @digital_press. Theo Pettaras’ shop puts out a lot of online info in what is presumably an effort to keep their name in front of clients and with 1400 followers they must be doing something right. Tweeting on cool print jobs they have done, they also do news, interesting non-print stuff they have found online and have even let slip an interest in Doctor Who and comics, two things sure to keep my attention.
There are heaps more you can find – any social media can eat your day if you let it, and there are so many interesting people in print out there now that you find your morning gone just seeing what everyone is up to. But if you hunt out the best people online, and the above are some of the best I have found, you will get a lot more out of it than the time you spend dialing through your Twitter feed while waiting for meetings to start.
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