Greetings Citizens of the Printerverse! It has been a crazy month. First off, a massive shout-out to all of the first respondents and health care workers in our families and communities. Once again they have been called to the front lines and our gratitude is not expressed enough… so please accept and pass along this collective thank you, and a personal one from me.

The devastation from the Coronavirus is going to be far-reaching. I can’t imagine life or the print industry going back to ‘normal’ now that so much has changed and will continue to change until we can walk freely in the streets and attend industry gatherings again without fearing each other for infection. It sounds more like the plot of a sci-fi movie than the reality of our lives, yet it is reality and somehow we must find a way to survive, and pull together.

2020 was going to be a big year for events, with drupa sitting as the jewel in the industry crown. The event organizers acted with careful precision and when there were no other options available the news of cancelations and postponements started to arrive, each one a bullet through the heart of the industry. Events are where we gather and learn and create partnerships. In a drupa year, exhibiting companies work strategically to plan product and technology launches and spend significant money on marketing materials to share. The print world waits for these announcements and plans their future and the future of their businesses around them.

So what now?

drupa has rescheduled for April 20-30, 2021, SignExpo and FESPA and many others have also announced new dates. There is a long time between now and then, and I believe I have come up with a solution to help the events, exhibitors and the attendees who are still craving information and will need it more than ever once business resumes.

Click. Learn. Connect.

To help the industry carry on in our current online state, I am transforming my 99,000 member Print Production Professionals Group into print’s largest classroom, ever. I am working with industry event exhibitors to create curated posts that will help group members get access to the assets and information they missed out receiving due to cancellations and postponements. The posts will include links to relevant information, names of key people tagged for easy connection, and will be ‘Recommended’ to the group every 7 days per LinkedIn’s functionality. The group also has a ‘Recommended’ posts tab. It’s accessible when you enter and it aggregates these posts. Members can consistently go back to see what they missed and get information and resources, on-demand.

Print Production Professionals is an open group, anyone can request to join and after I review your profile, accepted if appropriate. The information shared through these posts is open source. You do not need to be a member to get it, you just need to know someone who is, or watch for it being shared out of the group. And honestly, that is what I need from all of you. The more clicks, the more shares, the more connection requests… the more companies will want to participate and share. And we need them, as much as they need all 99,000 of us. Survival together.

What About the Events?

I love and support industry events and event organizers. They work with me, allow me to run around the show floor, present sessions and meet people around the world. Through these important partnerships, I get to share information with you – my primary objective. Nothing I am proposing here is a substitute for face-to-face networking and technology demos, or a reason not to attend the rescheduled shows. This is triage, and it’s what I can offer to help print life go on in some manner. As a matter of fact, I am offering a FREE podcast to companies that participate and share information now, to promote their presence at rescheduled events, later. I am also going to support and attend as many events as I can and hope you are, too.

Interested in Sharing Your Information?

I have created a proposal with ‘recommended post’ guidelines and a menu of options. Please contact me as soon as possible to schedule your post as I can only do 4 per month and it will be first-come, first-served, to be fair. Whenever you are ready to share, we – the people – are ready and eager to receive.

And Finally…

Coronavirus has disrupted the world. A roll of toilet paper costs more than gas. Over the last few days, states in the US have ordered businesses to shut unless they were deemed essential and guess what – PRINT made the list. Printed communication is needed for society to remain intact and for information to remain accessible to the masses. We must do all we can, not just to survive this, but to come back better and stronger than ever to honor our role in the world. Join the group and please support the companies that share by clicking and connecting, please support the events by attending and the industry organizations by joining, and most of all support each other as much as possible.

PRINT LONG AND PROSPER!!!