Turning Publicity into Opportunity During In-plant Awareness Month

The Frisco video watch party.

Sherri Broderick, manager of Print/Mail/Sign services at Frisco Independent School District (FISD), turned the launch of an RSA testimonial video into an awareness, promotional and employee-engagement opportunity during in-plant awareness month. After learning that the video would go live on Valentine’s Day, Broderick spread the news with staff and administration (the department reports to communications).

Everyone who was prominently in the video received a gift bag with an invitation to watch the “premiere of the Frisco movie,” a floor walk of fame star graphic with their name on it, a bag of popcorn and popcorn box, a movie-themed decoration, and a box of Valentine’s conversation hearts with their name on it. School administration loved the stars and want to purchase them for future projects.

Broderick alerted the district communications team about the video so that it would be included in “School Beat,” FISD’s eNewsletter that is sent to parents, students, community members and relocating families.

The Print/Mail/Sign center decorated the department with Valentine’s Day and movie-themed decorations and held a video “watch party” for staff, even filming a quick video of the team watching both the video and In-plant Graphics' coverage of the video launch.

Broderick stated, “All of our staff have really liked the video and think it was professionally produced. It is definitely a conversation starter about WebCRD and the issues or concerns we were having, how the Print Center looked a few years ago, and when we first started the Print Center. The staff are really glad to have validation of how well perceived we are by other in-plants and districts and appreciate the acknowledgement of the district, as well.”

I recently visited the district to present an award, talk with them about how things were before they started using RSA’s Web-to-print software and understand the impact of our solutions on the district.

As one of the fastest growing districts in the nation — adding students at a rate of 2,500 annually for the next 10 years — FISD needed help handling the growth and to maximize production capabilities while controlling costs. To meet these needs, the district’s Print/Mail/Sign Services department chose RSA’s WebCRD. Over time, they have evolved the WebCRD solution, adding modules (like WebCRD Dynamics for variable data) and other RSA software, including QDirect (for queuing, grouping and job batching) and the ReadyPrint prepress suite module as their volume has increased.

While we visited, we filmed a four-minute video that explains how adding WebCRD has saved the district millions and highlights how everyone from teachers to administrators to the print center love their efficient solution. Watch the video to learn about the improvements, including:

• Saving district money
• Slashing turnaround from one week to 1-2 days
• Bringing in more volume with less staff
• Letting teachers spend more time in the classroom

Recognizing and sharing the improvements your in-plant delivers with your customers, management and stakeholders — whether you are a K-12, higher-education or any kind of corporate print center — is important for your staff and your operation. Make every month in-plant awareness month.