On Wednesday, December 1, 2011 nearly 100 people representing a cross section of our industry came together for the Digital Imaging Association's traditional Christmas Lunch and Annual General Meeting at the Boulevard Club in Toronto.

Jason Hamilton, the DIA's President, took care of AGM business and introduced the 2012 Board of Directors:

Officers: Past President Rebecca Buffi, Xerox; President Jason Hamilton, PaperlinX; 1st Vice President Myrna Penny, M&BP Services; 2nd Vice President Ed Rooney, Lowe Martin; Secretary/Treasurer Mark Norlock, Kodak Canada

Directors: Jana Lucatch, Magnum Fine Commercial Printing; Mauro Masatti, Heidelberg; Brad McDonald, Presstek; Mike Millard, Ellis Packaging; George Sittlinger, Maracle Press; Dino Sinnathurai, Kempenfelt Group; Paul Tarvydas, Elliptica Software; Ruby Thomas, Harmony Printing; Bob Weller, Transcontinental PLM; Director Emeritus, Karl Schmed, Global Colour

Jason thanked industry sponsors for their support of the Digital Imaging Association's goals:

Platinum Sponsors: Konica Minolta, PaperlinX, Xerox

Gold Sponsors: Ricoh

Bronze Sponsors: Heidelberg, Graphics Canada Trade Shows

Print is not dead

DIA attendees were treated to some good news – there are 3 main reasons why a career in print is not dead. Keynote speaker Phil Barrett, Senior Director, Digital Marketing, for Research in Motion (RIM) shared his views on integrated marketing. Phil is a true integrated marketer, working both with online and offline channels – even though he believes that print is only "undead" when it includes a call to action to a web site, text message, phone number, or something really cool like an augmented reality code.

But, he said, print is dead – "I read about it in the print media!" With that statement Barrett shared facts, figures and videos demonstrating that print isn't going anywhere soon – it's just changing, evolving – and remaining relevant.

The internet experience is also evolving

Barrett shared statistics from Comstat that track the amount time Canadians spend on different media. The internet is number 3 at 26%. Readership of newspapers and magazine has dropped slightly over the past year, but not near as much as other media choices. As marketers, as publishers, as print folk, said Barrett, we need to figure out how we can integrate this internet/interweb thing into what we do day to day – to stay relevant. Comstat statistics show Canada with the highest penetration in the world for people going on line, enabled by technology that provides fast and easy access.

It's not just about the internet as you've always thought about it. It's not just about laptop desktop computers – it's also about the phone. The phone has transitioned from making and receiving calls to the mid '90s when it also became an email device with the advent of the Blackberry Smartphone. Then—Steve Jobs figured out that the Smartphone could be more than just a message device. It could also be a way to browse the internet, download apps, check the weather, get directions, take pictures, – connecting with the non-digital world as well as with the digital world. Barrett advised DIA listeners that this is a more important thing to understand than what is happening on line today.

A couple of years ago, mobile evolved once more. Steve Jobs (again) completely changed how we perceived mobile with the advent of the tablet. Connectivity and access were expanded beyond anything we had seen before. This, Barrett said, has huge implications to the marketing industry—and he cited just some examples of how everything is shifting to mobile. But, wait for it – Barrett does connect this to the incremental value proposition for print providers.

Repurposing web sites

Take a look at any web site on your Smartphone or tablet. Is it a downsized version of what you could view on your laptop or desktop? How do you feel about that?

Barrett defined an opportunity – developing web sites for mobile. He told the DIA audience that the worst thing companies can do is to take their desktop based web site and shrink it down for phones or tablets. You can help your clients with the mobile experience. As you have done with past media based transitions, you can now assist your customers in developing something that will work robustly in the mobile media space.

Much of printing done today is for retail:  end-caps, flyers, signage, etc. Mobile enables a call to action. If signage gives shoppers something to do, something that will provide more information, they are more interested, which hopefully translates to faster buying decisions. The speed of this call to action is something new to marketers, something that should be maximized.

Stats show that soon 50% of consumers will be carrying Smartphones, using them for finding stores, comparing prices, and gathering information about products while in the store. Again, a profound implication for the printing—or better named—communications industry.

Barrett said to create a rich and engaging experience – web sites rather than apps. Barrett believes this is the future. It is costly to develop apps for multiple platforms, and also more time consuming for people to download an app vs. going to a web site to gather information on the fly.

Here is another example Barrett shared. The Toronto Star released something they call a "webapp". Everyone is so fixated on apps vs. browser-based web sites that they were afraid to call it what is really is – a cool web site that is an incredible and immersive printing experience on a tablet.

Print – the undead

Barrett shared three reasons why print is not dead – if it is interactive and smart.

1. The first reason print is not dead, Barrett told the DIA audience, is that it is the vehicle for QR codes. He showed video examples of clicking on printed QR codes with a Smartphone, demonstrating good and bad uses of the integrated technologies. Another video showed 37 different print applications of QR codes on a variety of substrates including the typical signage, print ads, addendums to magazine articles; and the atypical on clothing, food, and even tattoos! While all of these uses are plausible, there are also lots of ways to mess it up, cautioned Barrett. For instance, you could make the code too small and therefore hard to read with the Smartphone camera; you could make it really hard to reach up to and scan; you could neglect to create a compelling reason for people to stop and scan your QR code.  But a major issue is to be sure the QR code takes the person to a viable web site, landing page or video – it has to go to a continuing and engaging experience. Also, there should be a call to action. No call to action equals failure. And do not link the QR code to your desktop web site; this equals a broken experience.

2. The second reason print is not dead, is that it can be a vehicle for AR codes (augmented reality), where something interactive happens on your screen that augments what you're looking at. Barrett showed another video to communicate the experience with AR codes used effectively in printed books by taking the reader to a video. Barrett made the bold statement that he thinks this is the best thing to happen to books since the printing press. He stated, though, that AR technology is still in limited use, partly because it cannot yet be viewed on mobile devices. Also, it is very expensive. However, augmented reality is very effective for practical applications. One such practical example Barrett showed the DIA audience was a Lego box containing pieces to make a three dimensional end product. While the picture on the box was very representative, the video showed a 3-dimensional, rotating finished product. This in-store experience did prove to be a powerful selling mechanism for Lego.

3. The third reason print is not dead, is that it can enable NFC capture. Near Field Communication allows for simplified transactions, data exchange – and wireless connections. Using an NFC enabled Smartphone, you tap on the printed NFC code with your smartphone to quickly go to an expanded experience. This could be printed on a poster or in a magazine advertising, for example, a movie. Tapping the NFC code downloads a movie preview. Or a tap on a restaurant ad downloads a discount coupon. Blackberry phones are NFC enabled. There are apps for other Smartphones, but by this time next year you will be hard-pressed to find a Smartphone that is not NFC enabled. And, said Barrett, NFC codes will replace QR codes for close-proximity applications. NFC's ease of access will ultimately usurp the QR code for all but codes printed on locations that can only be accessed by camera capture.

Phil Barrett concluded his presentation by stating that print it not dead. In fact, he said, "print is a really exciting place to be now if you incorporate some of the things we talked about today."

Prize draws

The afternoon concluded with a draw for prizes contributed by Transcontinental Printing, Heidelberg Canada and the DIA.