I’ve been staring at my cursor blinking at me for longer than I should, coaxing myself into typing something clever about women in the first sentence. I could start with a statistic, or perhaps a joke…maybe even a blonde joke at my own expense. The fact is that it’s difficult to know where to begin. If you don’t know what I mean, imagine the article was called “Men in Print.” Where would you begin? Gutenberg?
I guess one safe place is to start with a disclaimer. I am going to assume that many of you have taken the title of this article to be the precursor to a bit of a feminist rant. A compilation of hardship stories about women in our industry, perhaps? While there are stories, few can deny it, it is difficult for me to be the messenger. This is the case for two reasons. Firstly, I have grown up in a school system that teaches me that boys and girls are equal. Secondly, I feel exceptionally lucky in my life, and that is closely tied to my femininity. So, here is my disclaimer: this article is simply a review of the realities of successful women in the Canadian printing industry. While some have had hardships, it is not the intention here to beat up on men. Gentlemen, I encourage you to read on.
We’ll start with some numbers. Then, with the help of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University, we will be able to compare our industry to the corporate world at large. Once we know where we sit, we’ll be off for a chat with the ladies.
Gender statistics for the printing industry
The Canadian Printing Industries Sector Council recently released a labour force study, which investigated, in part, the demographic breakdown of our industry. The results indicated that there are more men in the printing industry than there are women. The numbers, however, are not so staggering. About 64% of the workforce in print is male. We are just 14% away from a parity of sexes in our industry. That strikes me as exceptionally successful.
However, simply looking at the number of employees can be deceiving. In addition to the number of females in the industry, it is the role that counts as well. You can slice this pie in many ways. I have chosen that my measure will be the number of women in senior level management positions. More specifically, I have surveyed the number of women in the Top 10 Gold List printers.
The results surprised me slightly. Of the 81 people in senior management roles, 67 were male and 14 were female. Call me crazy, but given that less than 50 years ago that number was most definitely zero, I think nearly 20% is pretty high. Interestingly, there is no tendency toward any particular role. I had expected that a majority of the women would have positions in human resources and marketing. The fact is, these women are spread across the board—law, finance, IT, operations, and etc. It is valuable to understand how these numbers compare to the workforce as a whole.
Gender statistics for the Canadian workforce
Women are 46.4% of the U.S. labour force (earning $0.81 for every dollar earned by men). They are 38% of managers and hold 16% of FT500 corporate officer positions (flat since 2002). Only 2% of F500 CEOs are women.
By 2010, 1,000,000 women will own small businesses. This is particularly important to us, as print is a small business driven industry.
Females now dominate law and medical schools and are 20% of engineers and 30% of MBAs. Almost 30% of senior bank managers were women in 2005. Given these numbers, we can see that the printing industry is doing well – within our own FT500 list (the Gold List), we have 4% more female management than the corporate world at large. There has certainly been progress in our industry. Let’s take a look at the stories of some females who have made it happen.
In the beginning
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I feel very lucky to be a woman. On a professional level, I see my male colleagues as equals, only I have a cute collection of high heels and purses. I have never felt like being a woman has put me at a disadvantage.
When females first entered the industry, they were setting that path for women like me.
In order to understand how we got here, I decided to speak to some women whom I look up to, and whom I feel have influenced the way in which we think about women in print. They all seemed to have one thing in common – they are determined!
Mary Black
The first female that came to mind was the woman who brought me to Ryerson, and thus, to the industry, Mary Black. I was on my way to a psychology degree at the University of Toronto when I saw her presentation about the Graphic Communications Management program. I was a convert, one of many in fact. I knew her in the role of the school’s chair, where she was for 10 years. Today, she has returned to her entrepreneurial roots and began a recruiting company called Mary Black Recruiting.
When I met her, she was enthusiastic, passionate and very confident — I wanted what she had. Fast forward some years, and I am listening to Mary’s story of how she got where she is today, and I’m quickly realizing that she has a never-ending persistence at her core. She had earned the right to be recognized.
“I’ve been referred to as the queen of the printing industry…when they’re not calling me other things,” Mary says, jokingly.
Her career in print began in sales at Graphic Litho Plate. The company’s president had worked with Mary as a service provider in her previous role as art director and wanted her to work for his company.
She reflects back fondly at her experiences with her clients; working with 120 men on the other hand, presented challenges.
Mary’s stories, while sad at times, are actually uplifting because as you all may have guessed, she’s a success story. Mary captures her reality of being a female in print in these few short sentences, recollecting a conversation with the same man who brought her into the company: “I’m not here to complain. I’m here to tell you (the company president) that within the next three years, I will be outselling the three salesmen that I’m not already outselling, and then we’ll talk.”
In a calm and steady voice, she tells me: “Natalia, three years later, I walked into his office as his top salesperson and resigned; three years after that, I took over his office with my own company.”
Tracey Preston
Tracey has been the president of the OPIA for the last nine years. She came to the industry as an association executive from the construction industry. When I asked her what it was like being a woman in the printing industry, she laughed — apparently the construction industry has some catching up to do.
For Tracey, accepting the job at the OPIA was nostalgic as she had grown up being the daughter of a printer. She explains to me that women have been in print for as long as men have, in the capacity of wife, sister, daughter, etc.
“Print is like a family,” she says as she reflects on being embraced by people who had once worked with her father. “Print is familiar to me. When equipment is running and making noise, it feels like home.”
Tracey believes that our industry is doing very well in terms of gender equity. She has noticed that the definition of success for men and women is often different. Women often seek work-life balance, while men are more oriented toward the top. More importantly, however, she believes that “women bring to the table what men do.” It has very little to do with gender, and everything to do with the individual.
When asked if there are advantages to being a woman, Tracey laughs and says, “shorter bathroom line-ups.” She emphasizes that print offers a universal opportunity for career-minded, skilled and creative individuals, no matter the gender. “When you are determined to succeed, people recognize it, and then it doesn’t matter which bathroom you line up for!”
Nicky Milner
Nicky Milner is the vice-president of Premedia at Transcontinental. She started in the industry the traditional way, by joining the union and completing a prepress apprenticeship.
“My first union meeting, there were 300 people, and I was the only female in the room,” she tells me.
She describes some aspects of being a woman during those times as “interesting,” and that is about as negative as Nicky gets. She explains that “gender has not been an issue for me in the industry, because I haven’t let it be.”
The advice that I receive from Nicky sounds very much like that of Mary’s and Tracey’s — you must develop personal strengths and focus on being exceptional at what you do. Acknowledging that life has many choices, which you must own, you should also recognize that you cannot have it all. There are sacrifices to be made and no one is forcing you to make them, she explains.
“I believe it is less about gender than about single-mindedness of purpose. I’ve never felt ‘held back’ due to my gender, only due to my lack of understanding of what’s required to excel and thereby succeed.”
She stresses the importance of recognizing talent as a leader and is grateful to be working in an environment that promotes on the basis of merit. Successful people work to improve their strengths.
We begin talking about the world of print sales, which is often criticized for being an “old boys network” — in reality, Nicky tells me there are only small pockets of it left. “If you don’t make an issue of your gender, few others will, and if it happens, work around the person creating the issue, not against them.”
As our conversation draws to a close, she reminds me one last time of her optimism and bright outlook on our industry. “All we [women] need is a level playing field, and I believe we have that.”
Jana G. Lucatch
Last, but certainly not least, there is our cover model, Jana. Being on the editorial board of the magazine, she’s a woman who has been a mentor for me. Regardless of gender, she is certainly an A-type entrepreneur with ideas bursting at the seams.
She began her career in printing after graduating with a degree in psychology. She laughs as we explore the usefulness of the degree in her career so far. (To draw a quick parallel, Mary Black was also a psychology major).
Jana started out in a large company where she reflects she had the benefit of a great formal training program. She carried learning and education as a life long value all the way to her current role as the president of Magnum Fine Commercial Printing Limited, a division of Intertainment Media Inc., a new media and technology public Canadian company.
Much like the females you’ve read about above, Jana did not see gender as a road block in her career. Entering the industry, she felt supported by family, friends and professional mentors, both male and female. “My husband is my number one supporter,” she tells me.
She feels that print is a progressive industry, in many ways ahead of others. As a result of being in a constant state of flux, we adapt using people most able to rise to the challenge.
There has been a change that Jana feels is crucial for the industry as a whole, as well as positively impacting women — that is the advancement of technology. Jana sees technology as an enabler for women to join the industry in ways they had not before. As an example, press automation makes this skill more accessible to women.
Education has had an impact on our industry, she explains. Where in prior years printing companies tended to promote from the press room (which in large part consisted of men), technology and education allow for a new entry point. Jana expresses why this is important: “As IT, business development and more modern practices evolve, gender will no longer be an issue. We will be focused on knowledge, experience and the ability to take a company to that next level.”
We begin talking about what the printing industry can do to attract women. Jana tells me that gender aside, it is important for us to attract talent. One way to do this is to consider work-life balance. Family has been important in her life. As such, she empowers her employees in the same way.
“Educating companies of all sizes, especially the small and medium companies which represent the majority of our industry, about the benefit of offering work-life benefits to all employees is important.”
Being flexible is an important contributing factor of the great atmosphere at Magnum. Jana feels that employers should consider opportunities like flex time, job sharing and telecommuting.
Jana is certainly not afraid of embracing her gender. While she has never felt it was an issue for her, she is active in networking opportunities with other women, recently joining a Women in Print initiative introduced to her by Heidelberg.
So, I finally ask Jana for advice about what I should tell my female students entering the industry. She shares her three core values; “Jana-isms,” she laughs.
JANA-ISMS
• Learn at least one new thing every day
• Ask lots of questions
• Be passionate about what you do
Certainly great advice for all!
The newbies of today
So, what is the take of young women new to print today? As I talk to a handful of other women, I quickly realize that just like the women I spoke to for this article, they have determination. They also have something else in common — they’ve never felt excluded as a result of gender.
Interestingly, for young women the problem has been age.
“While I’ve never experienced so much as a single joke about not being able to walk into a pressroom because my heels are so pointy I can’t put on the clown-like toecaps, I have been ribbed for being young,” says Magda Stolarczyk, a specification representative at Spicers.
The truth is that the minds of young people are filled with opportunities for change. It is their turn to set a new path in the industry. While we, the women of today, walk in the glory of acceptance as females, it is our turn to shake things up as young professionals.
The young people I know say things like “printers who think they can do just that are going to be dead in the water.” We are a generation that is moving toward the integration of the creation and delivery of all of the media platforms. In our world, successful companies are those that understand that they should be able to deliver everything that a customer’s heart desires. This does not mean we have to know how to do it all. The key is to draw on the expertise of others. We move in networks in our daily lives, connected to everyone in an exceptionally overwhelming way — six degrees like you’ve never seen it before! Look me up on LinkedIn, for example. Even if we’ve never met, I bet we’re connected somehow.
I leave you off with a rather quick and unassuming conclusion (because being the girl that I am, I’ve talked too much and run out of space). Not so long ago, gender was an issue in our industry. The women you read about in this article simply did not accept this as fact. The result is that, today, we have a great industry in which gender doesn’t matter. Where gender doesn’t matter, what does?
Talent, skill, passion, dedication…
A big THANK YOU to all of the contributors! The Diversity Institute in Management and Technology at Ryerson University provided the gender statistics for the Canadian workforce.
For more information on diversity in the workplace, I encourage you to visit www.ryerson.ca/diversity.
The current global economic situation makes an article on workflow flexibility both timely and relevant. We have all heard, feared and lived through some tough times lately, and there seems to be no shortage of bleak stories affecting everyone in some capacity or another.
In a recent presentation entitled “Profiling the Economy and Print 2009-2010,” Dr. Ronnie Davis, vice-president and chief economist for the Printing Industries of America, reported that the annual rate of change for ink-on-paper in the U.S. was down by 6% in 2008, while total printing shipments declined 4.5%. While Dr. Davis predicts a small increase in the latter half of 2009 and through 2010, the growth is likely to be slower than we have seen previously, and Dr. Davis suggests that recovery for the printing industry will be somewhat slower than the overall economic recovery. With predictions like this, the necessity to become more efficient, leaner and profitable is paramount.
At a recent industry conference, I saw several different sales presentations as sponsors of the conference presented their products and services. Unfortunately, most of them missed the mark. But, they are not alone; having been subjected to dozens of sales presentations over the years, I have discovered that most sales people fail to deliver a great presentation. Yet, if you want to succeed, a top-notch sales presentation is critical. Here are few key points to consider as you prepare for your next meeting.
Start with impact. Don’t waste valuable time talking about your company or your products, services or solutions. Instead, demonstrate that you understand your prospect’s pain, problem, concern or issue. This will capture attention. One of the most fatal blunders sales people make is spending the first five minutes of their presentation talking about their company. I have heard far too many sales people tell prospects how long they have been in business, about the awards their company has won or what makes them different. This approach does little to interest or engage the prospect because it does not address his/her key concerns.
Instead of thanking your prospects for taking the time to meet with you, highlight a current problem they are facing and the potential impact on their business. This means that you MUST conduct due diligence BEFORE you meet with new prospects. Once you know their problems, you can offer your solution. Repeat this process as you continue your presentation.
Show, don’t tell. Whenever possible, use props in your presentation. Instead of telling prospects the results you can help them achieve, show them what you do. During the conference I mentioned at the beginning of this article, one sponsor showed an example of her work to help people connect what she was saying to an outcome. As she said, “I can help you develop marketing materials,” she held up a brochure, a postcard and a letter she crafted for a client.
Third-party testimonials are one of the most powerful presentation tools you can use. Consider the late-night infomercial. The proven formula consists of identifying the problem followed by several testimonials that state how much better life is since using that particular product. You can use this approach as well by showing your prospects a testimonial letter or video that outlines a key outcome that is similar to a situation they may be facing.
Focus on your prospect. Most sales people fail to make the presentation about the other person and use a lot of “I” or “me” or “we” language. But, your customers don’t care about you. They want you to talk about them. They want to know how you, your product or service will help them solve a problem. Before you actually deliver your presentation or present your business case, run through it to make sure that everything focuses on the prospect’s business, company and problems. If possible, rehearse it at least one time and record it so you can hear exactly what you say and how you say it.
Show the ROI. Also known as the WII-FM theory — What’s In It For Me? Every sales presentation MUST focus on how your customer will benefit from using your product, service, solution or company. Will your product or service reduce expenses, improve productivity, eliminate errors, shorten shipping time or increase sales? When possible, use figures, numbers, dollars or percentages to demonstrate actual results. However, make sure that it is easy to understand the bottom line. The less you try to “sell” and the more you focus on solutions, the more you will stand out from your competition.
Address the risk issue. Virtually every new prospect you meet with has some concern about using your product, service or company or about changing vendors or suppliers. In today’s tough sales environment, it is essential that you address this in your presentation. Don’t ignore it!
Here is how you do it: First, ask your prospects, “What concerns, if any, do you have about changing vendors?” This demonstrates that you recognize that they may be concerned about switching suppliers. It can instill confidence, and in many cases, it will uncover additional information you can use to improve your presentation. Pause briefly before offering a reason why it makes sense to make the change. This is much more effective than simply telling prospects why they should do business with you. It separates you from most of your competition.
Modify your approach and use these steps. You will quickly notice an improvement in your results.
I recently had the opportunity of moderating a panel of experts at the Eastern Canada chapter of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association. The panel members covered four areas of the exhibition industry; a show manager, a display builder, a shipper and a show contractor. Each spoke on how to ride out the current economic uncertainly from their perspective.
We started by asking the audience for a show of hands on how many would be cutting back on their exhibit expense, how many would be maintaining the same level as last year and how many would be increasing their budget. The percentages were split evenly at one third for each question. It is both astonishing and encouraging to hear that two thirds of the participants plan to either keep their budgets at the same level or increase it.
The panel offered some thought-provoking ideas. Here are a few points that are worth considering.
1. Exhibit Space
Rather than pulling out of a show, consider taking a smaller space.
Some companies are pulling out of shows in an attempt to lower their expenses. The problem with this approach is that, in many cases, these companies do not really know which shows produce results and which don’t. A better solution is to pare back the amount of exhibit space during these challenging times and measure the results. Once the company knows clearly which shows produce positive results, the decision about which to drop not only becomes easier to justify, it also makes sense.
2. Working With the Show Manager
Now more than ever, it is important to strengthen your relationship with show management. Prior to making any radical changes to the exhibit program, companies should talk to the one person who has an incredible wealth of knowledge – the show manager.
Traditionally, there is a wall between show management and exhibitors with no attempt to cross over to see what’s on the other side.
The show manager is busy juggling the needs of many exhibitors and the exhibitor looks at the show management’s advice with skepticism. The truth of this myth is that show management has a long-term view of their shows. Nothing pleases them more than exhibitors who add value to their shows and are happy with the experience.
Show mangers have also raised the bar on their professionalism through some of the certification programs offered by the industry. Ignoring this potential wealth of knowledge means that exhibitors simply miss important opportunities.
3. Negotiate Costs
Generally, show managers will not cut the cost of exhibit space, and suppliers generally do not adjust the price for specific services. But, both agreed that they would be open to discussing the entire exhibit expenditure and helping the exhibitor put together a package of services that makes economic sense. The panelists expressed a willingness to sit down and talk with the exhibitor’s and develop win-win solutions.
4. Maintain the Company Image
While it may be necessary to make some cutbacks, it’s equally important to make sure that the integrity of your presence has not been compromised. In this economy, the last thing any company wants is to show cracks in their well-being. Poorly conceived exhibition plans can quickly back-fire leaving the impression with your clients that your stability is not what you profess it to be.
5. Turning the Economic Downturn into Opportunities
Since one third of exhibitors might be cutting back or maintaining the same level of commitment, there is an opportunity during the current economic slowdown for those who stay in the game. While some exhibitors may choose to have less space, it’s what they do with the space that’s crucial. Those companies that have booth staff who are up for the challenge and ensure that their physical appearance attracts the right people and gives the right message will come through this economic downturn well ahead of the competition.
Before you attempt automation, you need to ensure you have cleaned up your files and have practices in place to allow automated workflows to succeed. As you upgrade and maintain your hardware and software, you should also include your fonts.
Workstations have fonts stored in many locations – the Quark folder, InDesign folder, library, user library, Mac Font Book – and opened in a font manager. Often when creating files, the fonts appear in the list and work on your machine, but you do not always know where they came from.
Different types of fonts – OpenType (OTF), TrueType (TT), PostScript (PS), dFont – find their way into our font libraries. It’s important for the success of automation that these be found and organized for use.
An example of an automated workflow would be the automated creation of postcript and distill to PDF from an InDesign file. This can be a five to ten minute task per file and removing that process from a workstation saves hours per day of operator down time and ensures standardized PDF creation. There is only one problem: InDesign must receive the proper fonts for use in its fonts folder on an automation server. Easy, we do a package and collect the fonts used, right? Not always.
You can create an InDesign file using only PostScript fonts. You can open that same InDesign file and if OpenType fonts are available instead, InDesign will swap the OTF. Save this file and it will save the fonts as OpenType. The problem is, InDesign will not swap back to the original fonts, which means you’ll have missing OpenType fonts when you have already packaged PostScript fonts.
To compound this problem, PostScript fonts contain all screen fonts in one suitcase package. If the OpenType font was, for example, Condensed Light and was swapped when you collect the fonts in a package for automation, InDesign will place the fonts in its fonts folder and only use the PostScript font. It cannot use Condensed Light (OTF) as it is already in the PostScript suitcase. Now, your font is missing and automation fails.
The font clean up has to start at the creation of a document. Everyone will save time and money by managing their fonts. Font management software can cause trouble by allowing OpenType and PostScript fonts to be open at the same time. Document creators must understand that reopening a file could cause this OpenType swap to occur and thus, create problems we want to be rid of – font reflow, font substitution, and tracking and kerning problems. If prepress departments can’t make the fonts work, they will send the files back to the creator, or worse, substitute them all over again and charge the creator company for the extra work.
Here is a strategy for efficient font management across all levels.
1. Document creators, create a list of the fonts you are using in a job as well as the type. Consult this list, and check your font management system before opening and saving your InDesign files. Whenever possible, stick to one type of font only, either OpenType or PostScript. Don’t have them both open at the same time.
2. IT and management, don’t allow font management packages to “group font families.” This will allow OpenType fonts and PostScript fonts to merge together in the font client. Let the users see that there is an “O” or and “A” version of the font.
3. Prepress departments, you are all probably aware of the OpenType swap issue; try to work with your customer to get proper packages. The more time you save by not messing with fonts, the more work gets done for your department.
4. For those working with automation tools, accomplishing the three tasks will increase the percentage of work that you can automate, saving time and money for everyone.
This is my lecture for this issue, so clean up your fonts! Wasting time and money because of software glitches affects us all, and we can get information out there to reduce our waste.
By the way, I didn’t mention Quark in this article because it always swaps the fonts without notification; however, it will always swap them back.
Q. I want to set up a wireless network and my friend tells me all he needs to do is hide the network or use the machine address. Somehow that doesn’t seem very secure. Is that all he needs to do?
A. You are correct to be suspicious of this advice. As wireless networks have evolved, several progressively better encryption methods have become available. You should be aware of the various choices there are for security – you can have no encryption, light encryption with protocols, such as WEP, or more sophisticated encryptions, such as WPA2 PSK or Personal and WPA2 Enterprise.
If you choose to have a wireless network, also known as WiFi, you can have an open network by not employing any security, which anyone within range of your network can use. This is not really a good idea as you don’t know who is connected to your network and what they’re doing.
Every WiFi network is made up of a couple of things; a broadcast name, or SSID, a wireless access point, such as Apple Base Station, and the protocol to support the various devices that will connect to the network.
When a WiFi laptop or smartphone comes in range of a network, it discovers a network by the SSID or name that is broadcast by the access point. If the name of a network is not broadcast, the user wishing to connect to the network has to manually enter in the name of the network. However, the name of the network is actually broadcast within the packets, so with software downloaded off the Internet, a user can easily find the name of the network. You can also use the machine address to restrict which devices are able to connect. Unfortunately, the machine address is also broadcast in the packets and the address can be spoofed easily with software.
Additionally, WEP is easily hacked off the Internet because it is a pretty weak protocol. It actually consists of eight characters, which are basically declaring that its WEP and in the rest is the password. So again, within about 20 minutes, someone can discover everything they need to get onto the network.
WPA and WPA2 are more sophisticated protocols and consist of 128-bit keys. All of the information transmitted is encrypted. There is a “pre-shared key” that is part of the connection. As a 128-bit key, it would take trillions of years to decode the password. WPA2 Personal uses a password only and WPA2 Enterprise is a more sophisticated version of authentication and consists of a certificate authentication method.
So, the bottom line is you should use the best security your equipment can support, preferably, WPA2 Personal for a few computers and WPA2 Enterprise for many computers.
Q. I have a Sony HDD camcorder, and I can connect it to my Mac with a USB cable, but I cannot do anything with the MPEG files. How do I import them into iMovie or Final Cut Express?
A. Sony camcorders save their files in AVCHD format based. In order to import these into either iMovie or Final Cut Express, the files need to be in DV or digital video format.
So, you will need to download a couple of things from the Internet - a free program called MPEG StreamClip and Apple’s MPEG-2 Playback Component, about $30 CDN. You can install MPEG StreamClip by dragging the app to the applications folder. An Apple component comes with an installer.
Connect your Sony camcorder via USB and use the HDD. Your camcorder should appear as a mounted drive on the MAC called “no name.” Locate the folder that contains the movie clips and drag them into a folder. Launch MPEG StreamClip and choose Open Files from the File menu. Choose a single file or a batch and you should see and play the movie file in the preview window. To convert the files, choose Export to DV from the File menu. You can safely save the files into the same folder because the file will be named with the “.dv” extension. You’ll now find that you can import these new DV files into iMovie or Final Cut Express.
The word is out. PUR (polyurethane reactive) is hands down the best glue for adhesive perfect binding. For durability, nothing comes close. Consider this: take a PUR-bound book, throw it in the washer and watch it disintegrate…except for the spine. No kidding, that’s how strong PUR is.
PUR is the ideal solution when perfect binding isn’t perfect enough. Try PUR for the following:
Coated text
As anyone who’s been burned before knows, you’re taking a chance trying to bind coated text with traditional hot melt perfect binding glues.
Books that must look great
Coffee table books, annual reports and other showcase pieces should be bound with PUR glue. Compared to perfect binding, less glue is required. This reduces the likelihood of unsightly glue being forced up the spine, which sometimes creates an unsightly “nail head” appearance.
Coating in the spine
PUR is the only adhesive that can securely bind projects with inks, varnishes, aqueous and other coatings bleeding into the spine.
Thick books
Be safe. Heavy, thick books are bound more securely with PUR.
Thin books
PUR produces smoother, less wavy spines than traditional perfect binding because the PUR manufacturing process runs at cooler temperatures and draws less moisture out of the paper itself. In general, very thin books – approaching 1/16”- should always be bound with PUR glue.
Cross grain text
Use PUR for books with cross grain signatures, for the same reasons as thin books.
Frequent use
Reference materials and other books subjected to frequent use should use the one glue that can take it: PUR.
Rough use
PUR binding will benefit manuals and other products used in rough workplaces, such as automotive and heavy machinery repair shops and the U.S. military.
Temperature extremes
Outdoor guide books, maps and other products that will be subjected to extreme environmental conditions should be bound with PUR. Traditional perfect binding glues can cold-crack in sub-zero temperatures, melt on hot dashboards in the southern heat or have pages detach in high humidity.
Lies flatter
Cookbooks, instruction manuals and other books that need to lie reasonably flat should be PUR bound. PUR is more flexible than traditional hot melt perfect binding glues and pages do lie flatter with less resistance when opened. Also, PUR won’t break when users crease the spine.
Years ago, I worked for a very insightful man who was president and CEO of our company. When we were doing performance evaluations, the employee’s intelligence and academic qualifications would frequently be raised in the evaluation process. The president would brush these attributes aside and ask, is Tom or Carol “maze bright?” Many people had never heard the term and were at a loss to respond. The term inferred whether or not people can use common sense to work themselves out of difficult and complex situations.
Over the years, it has amazed me to find how many very bright and intelligent people frequently exhibit little tendency to be maze bright or to use common sense.
No Sense
During the last few weeks, I got a call from a colleague expressing his frustration with a mutual client of ours. Apparently, the client was planning to move a bright young woman, (let’s call her Chris) to Toronto from New York. They were doing this so she could follow her partner, who had just received a promotional move to Toronto, not because they needed her to relocate for business purposes.
The issue at hand was how much compensation Chris would get. The manager of human resources in New York looked up the relative cost of living between the two cities and came to the conclusion that New York had a higher cost of living than Toronto. It seemed to her the natural thing to do was to see that Chris did not receive the same salary in Canada as she did in New York. Chris’s salary should be reduced by the percentage that New York’s cost of living exceeded Toronto’s.
When the CEO heard about this move, he expressed a completely different approach. He decided that Chris’s U.S. salary would be converted from U.S. dollars to Canadian dollars, to which my colleague was flabbergasted since this meant a 40% increase in income for Chris.
The Result of Not Using Common Sense?
None of the parties to this tale displayed any tendency of being maze bright. The HR manager really had no idea what the job was worth in Toronto. She had not compared what the organization was paying other employees for similar work. The CEO did not take into account the fact that converting Chris’s salary into Canadian dollars would give her a salary that was much higher than other employees in more senior positions.
My colleague who was so surprised at Chris getting a 40% increase in income as it didn’t reflect an appropriate salary for the position.
He was only amazed by the absolute dollar increase.
The result of this ill-thought out action may likely be that current employees in the Toronto office will learn of Chris’s salary and will be miffed. Local management will be faced with the option of raising their salaries or losing the staff.
These problems are the result of the decision makers not using common sense, not conducting a study to determine what Chris’s position is worth and not conferring with local management.
Maze Bright and Using Common Sense
Many readers of this article will raise the flag of saying that it is irrelevant to their situation. They don’t have an American office and they don’t bring personnel in from the U.S. so what is the point of the story.
The point is that when making compensation, promotion or pricing decisions, don’t make a conclusion without facts. Don’t make decisions without considering the consequences and ramifications of your actions. In the long run, it is better to take an extra hour, day or even week and get the proper data than to give a knee jerk response.
Around the globe, males and females are relatively evenly split. It is estimated that spanning the globe in 2008, there were 101 men for every woman. In Canada, we see 54% of the population as female and the remaining 46% as men. But, with this relative equal balance in our population, how is that print has been thought of as an “all boys’ club” by so many, for so long?
In retrospect, it makes perfect sense when print was a fledgling industry and even in more modern times. In its earliest days, print was hard, dirty work, and not that much has changed. This was, however, the sort of work that was deemed as man’s work and would have been no place for a lady. As the practice of printing has refined itself, there has been a notable increase in the interest and availability of jobs for women.
But, enough about the globe and statistical information about Canada in general; where are we now?
An independent study* I recently conducted myself showed we are not out of the male dominated print world yet, but we are moving toward parity, if not an entire shift. Overall, 38% of all those surveyed were women. This number is well below half, but the number is significant when taking into account a further demographic breakdown. Of the youngest demographic, 54% were female, which is in sharp contrast to the 70% male representation in the 30-44 age category and the 100% male representation of the eldest age group.
The short and quick of it is that this is a young woman’s printing world, and it will take some time before these numbers even out.
To illustrate my point, my graduating class was comprised of 64% females. In theory, at this rate, women will eclipse men as the primary figures in the industry inside of 20 years.
While women are making great strides as being equals in the workforce, there is one area that is still seeing a severe lack of female representation – ownership. There are nearly 1900 print shops in the GTA, which are all almost exclusively owned and operated by men. It only stands to reason as printing is primarily a family business, and many men picked up where their father’s left off, while women opted for fields that seemed to offer more opportunities at the time.
But, with the equal opportunity workforce, the next generation of female printers may opt to take the reins. That being said, the current state of affairs is that of a male-owned industry, and thus a male-run industry. Even with all this, there were still some women out there who pioneered this increasingly hospitable rise of women in print.
So, what does the future hold for women in print? It seems as though the trend is that women are looking to claim their rightful place as equals with men in the industry. This not only pertains to the number of employees, but also the level of salary and the availability for advancement within the company.
As more women become higher ranking individuals within the print companies, it only stands to reason that we will eventually see an increase in the number of female presidents and owners. A large enough increase in such numbers and we may see print go from a boys’ club to a girls’ club in the next 25 years, but, of course, I am speculating.
What does seem certain is that the number of women in the print industry will only continue to increase over the next five to ten years. I, for one, am very excited and pleased by this as I find my female co-workers to be a wonderful resource and often more helpful than some of my male associates.
For those of you women in the industry who want to see a few more females around the office, it only seems like a matter of time before you are the majority, rather than the minority.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to contact me: johnathonanderson@graphicartsmag.com
*A few notes about the figures: 1. This survey focused on primary office type positions and does not take into account press or bindery employees; 2. These are primarily Canadian results relative to the Toronto area; 3. These results are meant to show general trends in the industry and are in by no means an actual representation of the sexual diversity in the workforce.
The Canadian stock market has had a split personality, repeatedly rising to set new record highs, then falling back again sharply. It’s left many investors wondering whether it’s a bull market – or a bear market. In many ways, it’s both.
A closer examination of the benchmark Canadian stock index, the S&P/TSX, shows that the strong performance is dominated by a handful of stocks. Take away the top 15 performers and the TSX, instead of being up around 600 points, would be down 600 points. In other words, the TSX’s top 15 stocks are up 1,200 points, while the remaining 285 stocks, in aggregate, are down 600 points. What’s more, these top 15 stocks are all from just two sectors of the economy – the energy and materials sectors – reflecting the burgeoning global demand for commodities such as metals, forest products, gold, oil and gas. These two sectors were up 21.9% and 13.3% respectively halfway through 2008.
Meanwhile, the financial sector – which together with the energy and materials sectors accounts for over three-quarters of the TSX – was down 3.1%. Most other sectors were also down.
So even while the TSX sets new record highs, most Canadian investors are experiencing poor returns because their investment portfolios are diversified across many sectors, not just the materials and energy sectors. Furthermore, many investors purposely limit their exposure to these two particular sectors, which can be very volatile, in favour of normally less volatile sectors like the financial sector.
Coping with the market’s split personality
Seeing their portfolio performance lag behind the TSX, many investors are wondering whether there’s anything they should do. The following are some strategies to manage the market’s swings:
1. Don’t try to time the market. Avoid the temptation to do this – or sell on the highs and buy on the lows. History shows that the long-term direction of the market is always up. But over shorter time periods, it’s impossible to predict with any accuracy what the markets will do. Not even the most successful investment professionals can do this consistently.
2. Keep some cash on the sidelines. With the markets being so uncertain, it may be wise to increase your allocation to cash and other liquid investments. This way, when the market’s direction becomes clearer, you will have some cash on hand to take advantage of potential opportunities.
3. Stay properly diversified. Loading up on stocks from the energy and material sectors because they’re “hot” now – while excluding the rest – is a risky proposition. Just because these sectors are outperforming now doesn’t mean they will be tomorrow. A properly diversified portfolio holds stocks from a range of sectors to reduce the impact of any one particular sector performing poorly.
The inspirational story of Katie Gajdacs and Aussie Graphics
For a relatively small country, Hungary has produced some of the world’s best scientists, composers, explorers and thinkers. And, though she may not be as famous as Neumann János (the father of computers) or composer Franz Lehár, the story of Katie Gajdacs who runs Aussie Graphics in North York is no less compelling.
To say she comes from a printing background would be an understatement.
“My mother, grandmother and godmother were ‘feeders’ to letterpress, and my godfather was a pressman,” she recalls. “My sister was a hand-setter for letterpress, and my cousin set the lead type. I learned to be a press feeder when I was 14, then I became a typographer.”
Katie married Tibi in 1974, and their daughter, Hajni, was born in 1977.
“We wanted to give Hajni a better future, so we decided to leave communist Hungary,” says Katie. “Hajni and I both got a passport and went to Frankfurt, Germany. The problem was, Tibi didn’t. He tried to cross the border from Yugoslavia to Italy, but the Italians wouldn’t let him enter. Eventually, a Yugoslavian soldier put handcuffs on my husband and walked him through a forest for an hour with a gun pointed at his back. After that, he was jailed for 10 days. He was eventually released, made it to Salzburg, Austria on July 11, 1980, but was jailed there for seven days and taken to a refugee camp where he was locked up for 13 more days.”
“Meanwhile, my daughter and I went from one church to another in Germany because no one wanted to give us shelter. Finally, we got a kitchen and a room in Darmstadt. After six weeks of not knowing where my husband was, I got a letter from my mother-in-law with Tibi’s address in Austria. So after two months, Hajni (who was three at the time) and I went to Austria, and our reunited family registered to emigrate to Australia,” she continues.
“Within 10 weeks, we arrived in Perth. We couldn’t find work, however, a Hungarian newspaper editor helped us to move to Sydney where we found work within 10 days. Tibi worked in a meat factory and I worked in a Hungarian printing shop as a typesetter. I still couldn’t speak English, but I typed just about all languages.”
“In 1988 we had an opportunity to come to Canada. Mr. Vorosvary, owner of Weller Publishing on Bloor St. in Etobicoke fought for us for four years, spending his time and money in an effort to help us get here. On April 11, 1991, we got a phone call informing us that MP Barbara MacDougal was helping fast-track our request. Finally, in January of 1992, we arrived in Canada.”
“I worked at Blue Line Printing and Bowne of Toronto and eventually got my degree in Graphic Communications Management at Ryerson University. After that, I worked at Commerce Press, then at Rewco Printing Group. When Rewco went under, I started Aussie Graphics Typesetting Studio and later changed the company name to Aussie Graphics Printing Group Inc., a digital printing shop. The rest, as they say, is history.”
Q. What equipment do you have?
A. Xerox 260 Docucolour with Light Finisher and a Ricoh 1100 B&W printer.
Q. When you started your business, was it difficult because you were a woman?
A. It’s hard to break into an industry that’s male dominated. I run all the machines and do all the selling, paperwork, etc. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming.
Q. How is business and are you happy in your shop?
A. Since we came to Gordon Baker Rd., I’ve gotten many new clients. I’ve also decorated my workplace like my home. It’s very warm and friendly. I love to produce quality work. Coming to work is a joy every day, even when I’m tired.
Q. What does your shop specialize in?
A. Books and booklets with special finishing that we do in-house, trade show materials and variable data. I broker offset printing and posters.
More information: 416-491-2794 or email
katie@aussiegraphics.ca.
Topknotch wedding for a Topknotch couple
Congratulations to Amin Suleman Nathoo of Topknotch Printing in Mississauga and Karen Cott, who were married April 11. More than 125 friends, relatives and business associates were on hand for the ceremony and more than 280 attended reception festivities at Bombay Palace and had a wonderful time.
At last report, their honeymoon was going splendidly. Both had been working at the shop until 10 pm for several days in a row following their wedding. Sounds like a typical printer couple, doesn’t it?
What a great month! As part of my responsibilities at Ryerson, I got to take our first year students on an overnight trip to see the Mackenzie Printery and Newspaper Museum in Niagara Falls. The intention of the trip is to allow the students to bond while they are exposed to the history of Canadian print.
May is important for several reasons. The absolute top priority is the ability to put away the snow shovel (please!). Quick to follow are the 300 students hitting the printing industry pavement for a summer job — 100 of which are in search of a formal internship.
I often see students working in retail or restaurant services unaware of the fact that there are opportunities within our industry. And, while things may be slower than usual, there are still some jobs students can benefit from.
Another key event is the graduation of about 100 of our students. I feel for them, as they are about to enter the workforce during an exceptionally difficult time. I hope that the climate stabilizes enough that you, as owners and managers, get to enjoy the benefits of bringing these new enthusiastic individuals into your companies.
The last important marker in May for me is the start of the “Natalia Brainstorm.” Summer is the time when academics develop courses and research. I love this part of my job. I think the more collaboratively we approach learning, the further we will move as an industry. If you have a project in mind that you would like to test, please feel free to contact me and add it to my pile of weird and wonderful things to think about.
That’s enough about me. We have a couple of great treats for you. First, we have an article by one of our editors, Mandy Bayrami. Mandy has grown up in the world of photo printing and shares what that world looks like today.
Another first this month is Ryerson’s own Professor Jason Lisi exploring workflows from a prepress perspective. I am very excited to have him contribute as he is the school’s premedia manager and our own authority in the area. I hope after reading his article, you will have a good sense of what a workflow can do for you as well as the different flavours that exist out there.
This month is also our Women in Print issue. I had the opportunity to talk to some really inspiring females for the article — if you haven’t met them already (which is unlikely), it is my great pleasure to introduce them to you. They have a common thread of determination and a love for this industry.
Now, for the most important news of all: after more than 25 years of teaching at the School of Graphic Communications Management, Rye Goodyear and Manfred Breede are retiring. Their knowledge and experience will be dearly missed. I was once their student, and now their colleague, and I recognize that the high standard of education in our school is a direct reflection of their strong values. For those of you who would like to stay in touch, you’ll find their emails on the Ryerson website.
We wish you both all the best!
Natalia Gilewicz
natalia@graphicartsmag.com
Hopefully, we’re finally saying goodbye to this lingering, miserable winter weather and hello to a warm, uplifting spring.
As I write this, we’re preparing to head off to Montreal for the fifth edition of the Grafik’Art trade show, which seems to be growing in popularity. Our June edition will feature photos and news about the show. We look forward to meeting all our old colleagues as well as new friends there.
Part of our commitment to keeping you better informed is to travel to these different shows giving you a perspective on the new equipment, technology and methods emerging. Travelling also gives me a very personal view of the diversity of this rich country. Perhaps as an immigrant, I have an “outsider’s” appreciation for the many benefits that some may take for granted.
Yes, economic times are tough, but the sky isn’t falling – Canada’s employment rate is still 92%. Remember, we’re in a recession, not a depression. Just speak with elderly people who lived through the Great Depression – we really don’t know how good we have it today. We don’t have the homeless riding rail cars in search of food and work.
Actually, according to the International Monetary Fund, Canada’s banking system is the strongest in the world. Our neighbours to the south are much worse off. Yet, in a global economy, one country’s downfall affects all of us to some degree. With the emergence of China and India in economic strength, Canada still remains in a good position to trade our natural resources with them.
So, cheer up and have a positive approach. Hang “No Whining Allowed” signs throughout your shop and notice how the attitude and atmosphere changes when people think of solutions rather than complain. All problems have solutions – dig deep and find them. Get out there and serve your customers, and watch the rewards come back to you.
On a sad note, we’ll all miss Ralph Bickerton who passed away at the end of March. True to my Irish traditions, I won’t remember his passing as something sad, but rather as a celebration of the great accomplishments and memories he left behind. I have fond recollections of my time working with the Bickerton family in the 1980s on Adelaide St. in Toronto. Ralph was a wonderful person. Condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.
Finally, I would like to congratulate Amin Suleman and Karen Cott from Topnotch, a thriving print shop in Mississauga, Ontario, on their beautiful wedding April 11. May everyday be as happy as your wedding day!
As always, stay positive and stay focused.
Joe Mulcahy
“What’s business like for photofinishers today?”
Photofinishers today, more than ever, have to keep up with the changing technology and latest software in order for business to continue, let alone progress.
A business that began with darkrooms and film processors has now expanded into a myriad of printing options from film to digital to photo restoration using Photoshop to large format printing and more.
With the introduction of digital photography, photofinishers feared the worst: customers would no longer require photo labs for printing; inkjet home printers would be the convenient choice, or worse, people would merely store images on a computer with no intention of ever printing. But, quickly, this fear proved unwarranted as customers kept coming back for more. Much the same way as the print industry has shown that people still enjoy traditional books, the perseverance of the photo industry has shown that there is no replacement for the tangibility of a photograph.
The digital uproar – a wealth of options
Have you ever been to a Second Cup and heard someone ordering a drink that seems tailored to just one person in the world, them? A green tea latte, half-sweet with low-fat, lactose-free milk (this isn’t my obsessive-compulsive order, I promise) is quite the customized order.
The photo industry is seeing much the same sort of custom ordering. Customers are amazed to discover a wealth of possibilities in personalizing their photo memories.
As a manager of an independent photo lab in Toronto (Photo 1-2-3), I’ve seen a variety of special orders – anything from splicing people from two different photographs together to giving someone a photo make-over (ie: remove wrinkles, whiten teeth, add a shot of collagen to lips, etc). We now have the capabilities to be doctors and miracle workers in the photo industry.
For those who don’t require costly specialized work, the majority of photo labs are equipped with self-serve digital terminals where customers upload photos from their digital media and have an opportunity to crop pictures, add text, remove red eye and more. This allows customers to be in the driver’s seat and tailor their photos to get exactly what they want.
Some photo labs even have options to make photo mugs, calendars, posters and the latest trend right now, photobooks. While print shops have typically done these kinds of work, many customers are learning that their local photo labs are just as capable, though sometimes more costly.
As our world is getting bigger with the expanse in technology, so is the photo printing business. Many photo labs have online ordering systems through their company website where customers can send in their print orders online for delivery or pick up – a way that’s even more convenient than printing from home, less expensive and better quality!
A learning curve
Let’s face it though, while digital has loads of options, the average customer is frustrated with the specialized aspects of digital photo printing. From image resolution to uploading pictures to a computer to the difference between 35mm and digital full frame images, customers not only need to learn the digital language, they need to be able to apply their knowledge, which can be quite time consuming for them. There’s more prep work involved on the customer’s end, which sometimes provides a challenge for photo finishers when a customer’s files are causing a poor print quality. For instance, some people tend to overcorrect their work (too much contrast, etc.) and once printed, aren’t happy with the final product. What they don’t know is that what they see on screen doesn’t translate exactly in a print. The average person wouldn’t be expected to know this, which is why there’s a learning curve for novice digital customers. Usually though, customers don’t need to worry about corrections as most photo labs have colour technicians who will do any necessary corrections during the printing process in order to ensure the highest print quality.
A big challenge in the industry is that the older generations haven’t quite caught up with the current technology, and who can blame them when it’s changing all the time? What seems simple to those who grew up in the computer age seems like a foreign language to those generations that grew up without colour television. Typically, a 30-year old can comprehend step-by-step instructions on uploading images from a media card to a photo terminal; your 70-year-old grandfather probably has a harder time. But, you bet he’s made the switch from film to digital already and desperately wants to learn how to do it himself. In my experience, what often happens is the elderly client (and this is a sweeping generalization, I know) becomes frustrated and discouraged and doesn’t understand the digital talk. It’s up to the photo lab staff to step in and help him along the way.
Because of all this, support is a huge component in the photo printing industry. Customers rely on staff to guide them through until they become more comfortable and better equipped. There’s a huge learning curve in the industry and both employee and customer produce the final job. Gone are the days when customers were only responsible for the picture-snapping.
Speciality photo labs vs. the superstore
The one-stop shop has become a big part of our consumer culture and speciality stores are suffering as a result. Why go to a specialty photo lab when you can pick up your groceries and print your photos in one place? No one can argue that the superstore is the convenient choice.
But, many people can argue that the quality does vary. From the grade of paper to the colour technician, there is a major difference between specialty labs and superstores.
Print quality is no doubt important for both, but the superstore has less to lose if one aspect of the business fails, whereas photo labs make a huge chunk of their profit through printing alone. Hence, the importance of quality! Many of the photo labs in Toronto that have been around for years, have experienced colour technicians who correct each photo individually, which contributes to quality control.
Of course, the low prices of these superstores are attractive and no speciality photo lab can compete. Especially during the current financial climate, customers are more likely to opt for the more economical choice. With that said, while smaller photofinishers may have had lower revenues as a result of superstores and the much-talked about recession, it’s obvious there is still a great deal of support for them as customers continue to have their photos printed at specialty photo labs without objections to cost.
Colour technicians are only as good as their printers
Every good colour technician needs a good machine to work with. There’s an array of digital printers on the market now from entry-level to high-performance models. Entry-level printers roughly produce 700 – 1000 prints per hour, depending on the model; medium-performance models produce 1100 – 1500 prints per hour; high-performance models produce up to 2000 prints per hour.
Speed is not the only factor obviously; print quality is equally important. Generally, entry-level processors produce images at 300×300dpi, while medium and high-performance models generate prints at 300×600 dpi for extremely vivid colours.
The digital conversion
It’s becoming apparent that film is slowly falling behind the scenes of a very digital world; however, there are still many customers who swear by film and prefer the outcome of 35mm and 120. It seems there’s a silent war between the users of the two technologies, though there’s no hard proof as to which produces better results. Besides, there are many other variables that affect the final print (ie: lighting, camera lenses, etc.). And, those who love the good old-fashioned film process can easily have their films scanned to CDs to take advantage of digital options.
Whether or not film or digital produces better pictures, one thing is for sure, digital photography has converted many film users into satisfied, digital-savvy customers and isn’t showing any signs of falling to the wayside anytime soon.