Sunshine State Symposium

Attendees at SUPDMC enjoyed great weather and even better companionship.

by Jean-Luc Devis

About 40 attendees from 27 various educational institutions got together in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., recently for the 27th annual Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference (SUPDMC).

Colleagues from North Dakota and Minnesota escaped the snowfall in their respective states to enjoy 90-degree weather in southern Florida.

This year's SUPDMC was organized and hosted by Bill Buckler, director of Printing and Graphic Arts at Broward Community College.

Conferences are an excellent opportunity to meet with old and new colleagues, discuss common challenges and explore ways of utilizing the emerging technologies. This gathering was no exception.

Throughout the breakfast area, the breakout sessions, and even during the evening banquets people could be heard exchanging success stories, discussing equipment issues, and comparing Web site ideas and digital workflow processes. There was much excitement generated all four days.

InDesign 2.0 Integrates Well

Mike Richman of Adobe Systems discussed InDesign 2.0. He indicated that InDesign looks like all of the other Adobe programs and that if you are fluent with one Adobe product you can easily use In-Design.

The product integrates well with other Adobe graphics applications (Photoshop, Quark and Illustrator), he said, and provides easy-to-use tools that reduce elaborate design tasks to a few quick steps. Designers can stay in InDesign to do the entire layout. Everything is live, meaning one does not have to switch back and forth from program to program.

Richman discussed the new features of Acrobat 5.0. The ability to add comments to PDF documents in the form of highlights, strike-through text or the addition of sticky notes is significant. This is especially beneficial for PDF proofs, allowing for information sharing and more effective teamwork.

At another session, Neal Tompkins, of T/R Systems, presented "Managing The Digital Document Environments." He elaborated on avoiding manual intervention by leveraging the Internet and automating the workflow, and he discussed growing the business by broadening services and improving visibility. Tompkins also described PDF Transit with "on the fly" PDF creation of the submitted document and soft proof back to the customer for approval.

Ed Bokuniewicz, of Heidelberg, led a session called "Using Variable Information Printing." He shared numerous sample target marketing pieces and explained the growing trends toward one-to-one marketing. Bokuniewicz touted some of the benefits of the NexPress 2100 in meeting this application.

I gave a presentation on the changing role of the customer service representative, in which I pointed out the service skills and technical skills necessary in the evolving position.

One key point is the ability to manage the customers' expectations. Customer-created low-resolution digital images will not replicate satisfactorily as high-end color output. In addition the CSR must fully understand and practice the fundamentals of service, be the master of the one-to-one relationship and market your future growth through value-added products and services.

But SUPDMC wasn't all work. The Jungle Cruise, Broward Community College tour and evening entertainment were all outstanding additions to a well-organized conference.

Next years SUPDMC will be held at Florida State University, Tallahassee.

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Jean-Luc Devis is the director of Printing and Mailing Services at Oregon State University.