ChicagolandBoard

...the heart of Xplor

Chicagoland Chapter Events - Review of 9/16/05 Meeting

On September 16, 2005, Xplor Chicagoland Chapter held its final meeting of 2005. Mike Szajek, Chicagoland Chapter Board, (pic 1) was in early to help attendee’s sign-in. 23 members (pic 2) attended the meeting. This was a very good turnout due to the competition from the Print05 Conference in Chicago. Our attendees took advantage of networking opportunities-an Xplor strength (pic 3). The Chicagoland Chapter Board thanks Kodak Versamark for providing a speaker and for co-sponsoring the meeting.

The first speaker was Steve Coburn, Director of Product Management, Kodak Versamark (pic 4). Steve spoke on the “Kodak Roadmap to Color”.

A document, such as a Billing Statement, is seen as a production cost center. But, a Billing Statement can be redesigned to provide room, on the statement, for personalized, customized, and relevant offers. These “onserts” change the Billing Statement from a cost to a revenue producing document.

Consumers encounter 3,500 to 5,000 marketing message per day. Generic messages just become marketing white noise. Consumers are filtering their messages to make better and faster decisions.
· 60% of Americans are on the Do Not Call List
· 33% of Americans use Pop-up Blockers on their computers

Americans do not discard their Billing Statements unopened.

Marketer’s Goal:
· Gain mindshare and share of wallet
· Deal with the universal requirement to do more with less

Market Trends:
· Mass marketing becomes Targeted marketing
· Monochrome marketing materials add color
· Cost per Page metrics being replaced with Cost per Response metrics

The customer’s preferred method of receiving marketing communications is on paper.
· Telephone 3%
· Email 28%
· Paper 69%

The Opportunity – Group 1 learned that Bills and Statements get looked at twice as long as any other format of customer communication. This includes TV advertisements.

Color enhances communication. Redesigned Statements, in color, reduce Call Center calls saving money.

What are the advantages using color in a document?
· Color use increases document awareness by 165%
· Customers are 78% more likely to remember words and phrases that are in color
· Customers are 55% more likely to pick up a full color document
· Color graphics are 80% more comprehensible
· Color use increases message comprehension by 80%
· Color and text, working in concert, improve recall by 82%
· Text gets the attention of the left side of the brain color the right

The web site of the Print On Demand Initiative, podi.org, has many excellent case studies on the benefits of using color in documents.

It takes more than color to create an effective document. The power of Digital Print is the ability to combine design with customer data. It also takes an Information Designer not a Graphics Designer to do an effective job.

What can you do with customer data?
· Personalize the document
· Version base the document based on demographics or buying patterns
· Customize – use customer information to create a unique communication experience
· Integrate – create new communication tools by integrating transaction information with news and promotions

An effective use of document real estate is a key to driving customer response. Personalized messaging increases the value of the communication to the customer.

Partnering on a Billing Statement is good for the partner.
· No need to print separate inserts
· No mailing cost
· Less total cost than a direct mail campaign
· Improved customer response

Keys to moving forward:
· Understand the current technology in place in the organization
· Determine how much information is available for each customer and where that data resides

What is the plan?
· Do you make the most of what you know about your customers
· Could you re-design statements to add space for personalization and targeted offers
· Take the information included on inserts and add it on inline statements

What is the bottom line?
· Affordable color technology exists now to produce full color transactional print
· Pre-printed shells and inserts can be eliminated by using re-engineered custom communicating documents using Variable Digital Print technology
· Inserts can be eliminated

In every generation there is some technology that takes hold and changes the way business is done. Kodak Versamark believes that for this generation that technology is Digital Print using Color Variable Data techniques.

STEVE COBURN PRESENTATION

Our next speaker was Richard Huff, Principal Analyst, Madison Advisors (pic 5) speaking on, “Selecting an Enterprise Output Management System for Your Organization”. Madison Advisors Research publishes 2 to 3 Market Studies per year objectively assessing the technology segments of interest to customers. The Market Studies determine where the vendors are going and what the customers are seeking.

An Enterprise Output Management System (EOMS) allows centrally managed and controlled print and electronic output. To cut costs, you must get better control over the EOMS.

EMOS Selection Strategy:
· Develop the enterprise electronic documentation strategy first
· Prioritize requirements
· Research EOMS
· Determine the future direction of electronic output within the organization
· Determine the critical applications
· Determine all of the electronic output channels
· Determine the print volumes produced

Prioritize Requirements:
· Invite all stakeholders to discuss requirements
· Objectively evaluate requirements
· Primary requirements are tied to business drivers (cost reduction or regulatory compliance)
· Secondary requirements identify required functionality

EOMS Selection Criteria:
· Functionality
· Input capability
· Transformations
· Print management
· Workflow capability
· Output capability

Functionality Criteria:
· Where does the data stream originate
· Does the data stream match the printer capabilities
· Do all data streams follow the same channels
· Do data streams need to be sent to fax or web

Application Interface Considerations:
· Is the EOMS product managed through a single interface or multiple interfaces
· Is the Print Operator interface drag and drop
· How easy is it to define job tickets

Architecture Considerations:
· What Operating System platforms are supported
· How much product functionality is accessed through an Application Programming Interface (API)

Vendor Selection Criteria:
· Product stability
· Product support
· Product maintenance
· Vendor financial stability
· Vendor market share
· Vendor market presence

A well chosen Electronic Output Management System allows better integration and productivity of print resources.

RICHARD HUFF PRESENTATION

Jeff Rector and Hubie Kocurek (pic 6) of the Chicagoland Chapter Board closed out the meeting by leading an interaction with the members to talk about any topics of concern.

Jeff and Hubie promoted the Xplor Vision 2005 conference November 11-13 in Orlando, Florida and the Xplor Global Document Exchange Conference February 1-5, 2006 in Miami, Florida.

Members who attended Print05 spoke about their thoughts on how Print05 compares to Xplor.

· Xplor is more technical than Print05
· Print05 has more entrepreneurs and business owners attending the show
· Xplor excels in education
· Vendors are going to the offset press shows because offset press people are just starting to get into Variable Digital Print

The entire Chicagoland Chapter Board thanks all of our speakers for sharing their wisdom and all of our vendor sponsors for helping us to put on memorable meetings. With all of today’s Time Constraints, we also thank our membership for attending our meetings this year. The Board looks forward to presenting another beneficial set of meetings in 2006.

For a PDF copy of these notes, click on the icon.


		...the heart of Xplor

	Chicagoland Chapter Events - Review of 9/16/05 Meeting

	On September 16, 2005, Xplor Chicagoland Chapter held its final meeting of 2005. Mike Szajek, Chicagoland Chapter Board, (pic 1) was in early to help attendee’s sign-in. 23 members (pic 2) attended the meeting. This was a very good turnout due to the competition from the Print05 Conference in Chicago. Our attendees took advantage of networking opportunities-an Xplor strength (pic 3). The Chicagoland Chapter Board thanks Kodak Versamark for providing a speaker and for co-sponsoring the meeting. The first speaker was Steve Coburn, Director of Product Management, Kodak Versamark (pic 4). Steve spoke on the “Kodak Roadmap to Color”. A document, such as a Billing Statement, is seen as a production cost center. But, a Billing Statement can be redesigned to provide room, on the statement, for personalized, customized, and relevant offers. These “onserts” change the Billing Statement from a cost to a revenue producing document. Consumers encounter 3,500 to 5,000 marketing message per day. Generic messages just become marketing white noise. Consumers are filtering their messages to make better and faster decisions. · 60% of Americans are on the Do Not Call List · 33% of Americans use Pop-up Blockers on their computers Americans do not discard their Billing Statements unopened. Marketer’s Goal: · Gain mindshare and share of wallet · Deal with the universal requirement to do more with less Market Trends: · Mass marketing becomes Targeted marketing · Monochrome marketing materials add color · Cost per Page metrics being replaced with Cost per Response metrics The customer’s preferred method of receiving marketing communications is on paper. · Telephone 3% · Email 28% · Paper 69% The Opportunity – Group 1 learned that Bills and Statements get looked at twice as long as any other format of customer communication. This includes TV advertisements. Color enhances communication. Redesigned Statements, in color, reduce Call Center calls saving money. What are the advantages using color in a document? · Color use increases document awareness by 165% · Customers are 78% more likely to remember words and phrases that are in color · Customers are 55% more likely to pick up a full color document · Color graphics are 80% more comprehensible · Color use increases message comprehension by 80% · Color and text, working in concert, improve recall by 82% · Text gets the attention of the left side of the brain color the right The web site of the Print On Demand Initiative, podi.org, has many excellent case studies on the benefits of using color in documents. It takes more than color to create an effective document. The power of Digital Print is the ability to combine design with customer data. It also takes an Information Designer not a Graphics Designer to do an effective job. What can you do with customer data? · Personalize the document · Version base the document based on demographics or buying patterns · Customize – use customer information to create a unique communication experience · Integrate – create new communication tools by integrating transaction information with news and promotions An effective use of document real estate is a key to driving customer response. Personalized messaging increases the value of the communication to the customer. Partnering on a Billing Statement is good for the partner. · No need to print separate inserts · No mailing cost · Less total cost than a direct mail campaign · Improved customer response Keys to moving forward: · Understand the current technology in place in the organization · Determine how much information is available for each customer and where that data resides What is the plan? · Do you make the most of what you know about your customers · Could you re-design statements to add space for personalization and targeted offers · Take the information included on inserts and add it on inline statements What is the bottom line? · Affordable color technology exists now to produce full color transactional print · Pre-printed shells and inserts can be eliminated by using re-engineered custom communicating documents using Variable Digital Print technology · Inserts can be eliminated In every generation there is some technology that takes hold and changes the way business is done. Kodak Versamark believes that for this generation that technology is Digital Print using Color Variable Data techniques. STEVE COBURN PRESENTATION Our next speaker was Richard Huff, Principal Analyst, Madison Advisors (pic 5) speaking on, “Selecting an Enterprise Output Management System for Your Organization”. Madison Advisors Research publishes 2 to 3 Market Studies per year objectively assessing the technology segments of interest to customers. The Market Studies determine where the vendors are going and what the customers are seeking. An Enterprise Output Management System (EOMS) allows centrally managed and controlled print and electronic output. To cut costs, you must get better control over the EOMS. EMOS Selection Strategy: · Develop the enterprise electronic documentation strategy first · Prioritize requirements · Research EOMS · Determine the future direction of electronic output within the organization · Determine the critical applications · Determine all of the electronic output channels · Determine the print volumes produced Prioritize Requirements: · Invite all stakeholders to discuss requirements · Objectively evaluate requirements · Primary requirements are tied to business drivers (cost reduction or regulatory compliance) · Secondary requirements identify required functionality EOMS Selection Criteria: · Functionality · Input capability · Transformations · Print management · Workflow capability · Output capability Functionality Criteria: · Where does the data stream originate · Does the data stream match the printer capabilities · Do all data streams follow the same channels · Do data streams need to be sent to fax or web Application Interface Considerations: · Is the EOMS product managed through a single interface or multiple interfaces · Is the Print Operator interface drag and drop · How easy is it to define job tickets Architecture Considerations: · What Operating System platforms are supported · How much product functionality is accessed through an Application Programming Interface (API) Vendor Selection Criteria: · Product stability · Product support · Product maintenance · Vendor financial stability · Vendor market share · Vendor market presence A well chosen Electronic Output Management System allows better integration and productivity of print resources. RICHARD HUFF PRESENTATION Jeff Rector and Hubie Kocurek (pic 6) of the Chicagoland Chapter Board closed out the meeting by leading an interaction with the members to talk about any topics of concern. Jeff and Hubie promoted the Xplor Vision 2005 conference November 11-13 in Orlando, Florida and the Xplor Global Document Exchange Conference February 1-5, 2006 in Miami, Florida. Members who attended Print05 spoke about their thoughts on how Print05 compares to Xplor. · Xplor is more technical than Print05 · Print05 has more entrepreneurs and business owners attending the show · Xplor excels in education · Vendors are going to the offset press shows because offset press people are just starting to get into Variable Digital Print The entire Chicagoland Chapter Board thanks all of our speakers for sharing their wisdom and all of our vendor sponsors for helping us to put on memorable meetings. With all of today’s Time Constraints, we also thank our membership for attending our meetings this year. The Board looks forward to presenting another beneficial set of meetings in 2006. For a PDF copy of these notes, click on the icon.