Xerox Corp.

LAST MONTH’S In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference certainly provided a packed schedule of activities for those lucky enough to have attended. It boasted a blend of technology demos, educational sessions, plant tours, networking, baseball, Indian dancing, an Olympic medalist and a small dose of hypnotism. Digital color printing was a popular topic, with at least four sessions and numerous informal discussions dedicated to it. Other hot subjects were PDF workflows, marketing, best practices and mail. After the sessions, attendees took strolls along the Oklahoma City Bricktown river walk with new friends from all over the country, then cheered their colleagues during

The recent ACUP conference in San Francisco was both a good time and a great educational experience. Now you can see what it was like.

NORMAN HOWARD sums up the feelings of most faith-based in-plant managers in just one sentence: “I just feel like I’m serving God here doing what I’m doing,” says Howard, director of printing for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, Va. It’s a sentiment shared by countless in-plant managers at religious organizations—and one that drives them to put forth their best efforts in the service of their faith. “It’s not just a job; I’m working for the Lord,” echoes Trout Davis, print shop manager at Grace Baptist Church, in Santa Clarita, Calif. The devotion of in-plant managers like these has certainly been a blessing for the churches and

IF YOU try to remain “just a printer,” you’re not going to be in business very long. Those words, spoken by Xerox President Ursula Burns in her keynote address, reflected the overall message of this year’s Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference, held recently in San Francisco. Taking the theme “We’re Not Just Printers Anymore,” ACUP 2007 endeavored to remind its in-plant attendees that they are communications providers, and should think beyond print when adding new products and services. Collaborate with admissions and other departments to come up with new ways your in-plant can add value, urged Burns. And never

Creative professionals, other print buyers and Xerox Graphic Arts Premier Partners gathered yesterday at the Gil Hatch Center for Customer Innovation in Webster, N.Y. for a Xerox Thought Leadership Workshop. The session addressed the role digital printing plays in creating more efficient and profitable marketing communications programs that utilize both printed and new forms of media, such as the Web. Emmy-Award winner and author Steve Lance discussed the language disconnect that currently exists between creatives, marketers and print providers. He outlined the business challenges this creates and ways to improve the dialog and develop more effective marketing communications that drive revenue, profit and growth.  Xerox executives and

Xerox has just released the Xerox DocuColor 8000AP Digital Press. It reportedly enables print providers to tackle a broader range of applications at 80 ppm, regardless of the paper weight or media type running through the system. Building on the success of the Xerox DocuColor 8000 Digital Press platform, the new color press handles a wide range of media, from coated and uncoated papers to transparencies. It even handles has two operation modes that can be selected on a job-to-job basis to ensure the greatest level of productivity and flexibility for a range of applications and stocks.

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—It’s official: drupa 2008 will break all previous records. With some 170,000 square metres of net exhibition space (roughly equivalent to 40 soccer fields) and exhibitor numbers topping 1,800, the print media fair to be staged from 29 May to 11 June 2008 will be the biggest ever in its more than 50-year history. This will entail the use of the Düsseldorf Trade Fair Center’s full capacity, including all new additions. There were already indications of this trend last year, shortly before the official close of registrations on 31 October. Increases to leading international technology suppliers’ space requirements, plus larger-scale joint presentations from

I JUST got back from a coast-to-coast excursion that took me from San Francisco to Boston. I flew out to California in mid-April to attend the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference. The event was packed with more than 130 in-plant attendees from 33 states and four other countries. It was wonderful to see so much interaction between managers from such geographically diverse places as New Zealand, Mississippi, Alaska, Scotland, Maine and Florida, to name a few. Attendees fell easily into conversation about their mutual challenges, sharing stories and laughs as if they had been friends for years. ACUP was very well run,

When Jim Sabulski, manager of Printing and Mailing Services at College Misericordia in Dallas, Pa., asked to bring non-college work in house, he was given the O.K.—as long as the clients were other non-profit institutions. Misericordia lies between two school districts, so Sabulski reached out to them and started bringing in work. What’s more, Sabulski and one of the school districts are developing a training program in graphic arts for middle and high school students. “As soon as we start teaching printing, we can apply for grants that help us with equipment or space,” he says. “We also develop potential College Misericordia students.

Sometimes you can’t get money for upgrades no matter how badly you need them—and sometimes you get a license to spend. Rocky Reynolds, reprographics supervisor at the Citrus College in-plant in Glendora, Calif., says he kept hearing requests from higher-ups for a more professional and business-oriented look to all of the campus’ publications, even for flyers and brochures. “We were sending a lot of work off-campus to get that look, even with a Xerox 2060 for color work,” he says. After investigating available digital presses, the in-plant, which has just three full-time and two part-time employees, installed a Xerox iGen3. “We’re