Spooky Halloween Open House Draws Crowd to Texas In-plant
To promote the addition of several new pieces of equipment in its shop, the in-plant at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center held a Halloween-themed open house that drew 150 customers to its Lubbock, Texas, facility. Staff dressed up in costumes for the occasion, and the shop was festooned with spider webs, ghosts, skulls, and other decorations to put visitors in the mood. Attendees even got goodie bags to collect treats, stickers, brochures, and other materials as they went "trick or treating" from station to station and learned about the in-plant’s services.
Melinda Cavazos
To promote the open house, Designer Melinda Cavazos created a Halloween card that doubled as an invitation and mailed it to all campus addresses. Upon arrival, attendees were met in the display area of the Printing Center, given hot popcorn, and shown samples of promo items, folders, and wall art.
When about 10 people were present, each group was taken into the promo and design area (which featured suspended electric candles, as in the Harry Potter movies). Melinda Cavazos (dressed as a witch) and Jon Harwood explained the ordering, design and development process, and everyone was given a sticker and pen.
Lisa Haigh and Sandy Cain
Next, they were guided to the wide-format area where Chris Nicholson demonstrated the Mimaki flatbed, Colex cutter, HP L365 64” latex, and Canon CAPP 6000 aqueous machines. They watched latex posters being printed and saw the Colex cutting magnetic bats with the TTUHSC logo. Each received a bat for their goodie bag.
They toured the finishing center, where Mark Hix demonstrated the Duplo business card slitter/creaser/folder, the new Horizon full-bleed business card slitter/creaser/folder, the Polar cutter, and the two Duplo bookletmakers. They watched a four-page coloring book get stitched on the Duplo, and everyone received a copy.
Chris Nicholson holds a Halloween piece cut on the Colex.
The next stop was the “Ghost Copy” area where Sandy Cain described the six copiers she operated. Then came the spidery assembly area, with a Formax printer, a new Duplo DSF600 foiler and laminator, a Duplo DB290 perfect binder, a Sterling DigiPunch, and assorted tape binders and coil binding equipment.
Magnetic bats cut on the Colex were popular giveaways.
Visitors learned about A-Frame sign rental, shredding services, bulk mail, package distribution and mail services. They saw a live display of the in-plant’s PressWise digital storefront and got tips for more efficient ordering. There was even a photo opportunity with a Halloween backdrop and masks.
Lisa Haigh and Art Pare.
The open house was a big success, says Associate Managing Director Arthur Paré, and accomplished its goal of informing customers about the in-plant’s services.
“One attendee, who has been here at least 20 years, did not know that we would print personal invitations,” he says. “Most people did not realize the extent of embellishments we could do to print and folding. And some were so excited to get down here and visit, and tell us how many wonderful things we had done for them.
“Several placed orders while they were here,” he continues. “But overall the good-will of us giving a small token back – notepads, bat magnets, popcorn, candy – was very much appreciated, and I think will go a long way in fostering and improving relationships with the institution.”
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.
