@kendallPress The Blog

That's a quote from the Hatch Brothers. They started Hatch Show Print back in 1879, the same year that Edison invented the Light Bulb. Light bulbs and uses for electricity have changed since then, but Hatch Show Print, one of America's oldest Letter Press Print Shops, is still using the same wooden typefaces that they started with.

If you don't know what letterpress is, take a look at the video to fully appreciate where your iPhone and Androids have come from. Right Now, iPad, iPhone and iPod all suffer from the same disadvantage compared to LETTERPRESS POSTERS.....



When the music stops playing, "the poster is all you have left to celebrate the ART of Music." That's a quote from Jim Sherraden, the manager and curator of the shop. And when you download an iTune, or dust off an old CD, the image is kinda small to appreciate as art.

How's their business? Booming! The printer is the designer and the designer is the printer. And Jim's comments match our feelings about the value of print. Sure, there will be less of it. Fast, Electronic communications are a wonderful thing but ya can't hang it on your wall and have it lookin' pretty.

Your printer and your designer needs to have the business acumen to know when to use digital and when only paper will do. I loved this video and the posters that they are still (hand) crankin' out. Take a look and see if you're smiling at the end of it.

Keith

bringing you another in our series of commentary on the technology skirmishes in the world of digital ink.

Labels: digital ink, iPad, iPod, Letterpress, Print Shops

Yesterday, the British Consulate General in Boston, hosted a reception for their new digs just down the street from us and to open the new office and kick off an amazing conference was His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent. Kendall Press was on hand to cover the excitement.

Why are the Brits here? In the words of Phil Budden, the ConsulateGeneral for New England, "we do Science and Technology, Education and Commerce. Harvard and MIT are here, so is Microsoft and Google." So, naturally, they want to participate in the resurgence of Kendall Square and the East Coast's Inventive Economy. The British kicked off the first of an annual event that brings together a panel of business leaders and an audience of primarily High School Students.

The program was called Inspiration in Action Conference 2010 and was put on in a partnership between the British School of Boston and STEP http://stepinspire.org/ an organization which works hard to inspire students and engage companies by connecting students and businesses in Cambridge. Kudos to them. It was quite a scene, with His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent mingling with high school students from area schools and business leaders such as Peter Tedeschi, president of Tedeschi Food shops, and representatives from Microsoft, MIT Sloan school, USA First and others all sharing life and career experiences.

Here are just a few images from the event. The future of our economy and industries are transitioning to this next generation's hands and there are business leaders who do GET IT.

Labels: British Embassy, education, Sloan School, STEP, Tedeschi's

Out after '09, In with '10 - Mass High Tech Business News
Mass High Tech staff contributors had a list of IN's and OUT's for the beginning of the new decade. Two particularly interesting ones were:

****
Out: Stealth — Another word for “I’m keeping my toys to myself”
In: Crowdsourcing — No one is smart enough to figure it all out themselves.
AND
Out: Offices — Cafes, bars and shared-space incubators are collaborative and cheap
In: Office hours — Jury is still out on whether opening your doors at scheduled times is better than simply having an open-door policy
***

I'll add two more "IN's" to that list from the commercial printer's perspective:
Higher Quality Printing
and
Strategically Coordinated print and on-line communications

Will social media reduce dependence on print? Probably. Is there still a place for printing? Absolutely. For every "old fashioned" email dumped in the in-box, there will need to be a very well thought out print document to catch that second chance 'touch' whether it's for a job interview, follow-up opportunity or even 'just" an all important Thank You, not 'thanks' but Thank you.

For every new facebook and twitter link and blog post, there will be the opportunity to develop that next relationship with a more personalized approach and sometimes sitting back and waiting for that 'inbound' self identifying customer/client/job may just not get it done. So, what to do? I'll second the thought of crowdsourcing - no one person knows it all but it's nice to have experts on call; Also, STRATEGIC has a good sound to it - planned, cost effective, targeted.

Kendall Press will be introducing additional voices into our blog this year for more marketing moments. Let us know how we can help. Contact us with questions you'd like to see addressed.
Keith

Labels: crowdsourcing, in bound marketing, print and on-line communications, strategic print