PrintMediaCentr was fortunate enough to have Pat McGrew as our representative at this year’s PODi AppFourm last week in Las Vegas. Here, Pat@PODi rounds up her coverage with some key takeaways from the event…
What Did We Learn at the 2011 PODi AppForum?
by Pat McGrew, M-EDP, CMP Data-Driven Communication Evangelist
If you were following the tweets from the handful of us tweeting sessions and hallway conversations from the 9th Annual PODi AppForum you have likely come to the conclusion that you missed something special. The attendees were drawn from every point in the print supply chain, from hardware and software vendors to the many types of print provider and marketing service provider you can imagine. Some specialize, while others offer services to a broad base. That made for interesting Q&A periods after main presentations, and even more interesting conversations during the network breaks.
As we noted last time, if you aren’t familiar with PODi, check out www.podi.org for details. Members will have the opportunity to download the presentations from this year’s event in addition to the case studies in the ever-growing PODi application library. Want to know who is doing what in insurance, casino loyalty, or the education market? The PODi library has examples drawn form best practices submissions.
In addition to great networking, there were some specatular keynote presentations. One of those came from Charlie Corr, and it’s worth mentioning. Charlie is currently the VP of Strategy for Mimeo, but before that he lead research activities at InfoTrends. He has a keen eye for a trend! He started by telling us that while the US print industry say a small increase in revenue in 2010, it’s up to printers to craft their own recovery. The growth rates of the past are in the past. Going forward it is all about print on demand and the convergence of multichannel delivery techniques to get marketing messages to end consumers.
Just in Time fulfillment it key to growth in the industry. If it isn’t part of your portfolio, Charlie says, it should be. It’s all about being super-efficient in all processes so that it is possible to meet every customer request, no matter how complex. Another requirement is customer satisfaction, which is why Mimeo uses the Net Promoter Score (find out more at www.netpromoter.com). If you aren’t familiar with the concept it all revolves around one question – how likely is it that you would recommend our company? It’s a powerful force for understanding customers!
As you might be able to tell, it was a great keynote, and a great conference. I can’t wait until next year!
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Check out our 1/1 interview with Pat and with Marcus Timson from FESPA and Skip Henk from Xplor – both events coming up soon in FL!
1/1: Interview with Pat McGrew EDP, Data-driven Communication Segment Evangelist at Kodak
1/1: Interview with Marcus Timson, Sales and Marketing Director, FESPA
1/1: Interview with Skip Henk President/CEO Xplor International
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