If
Bills Are Your Business, Read Regulation Z
If your organization
produces credit card bills, statements, or any documents
associated with paying a debt, you need to know about the
requirements of Regulation Z...
CPSIA
Labels Approved
The U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously last
week to approve guidance on tracking label requirements...
Wal-Mart
Works to 'Green'
Supply Chain
WhatTheyThink.com
reports that Wal-Mart has announced a new program to
develop "green" standards and ratings for all
the products it sells...
Get the Latest on Intelligent Mail
Get the latest info
on Intelligent Mail topics in a series of upcoming
webinars presented by the USPS...
Cool
Website of the Week
A new website,
BlendArt.com, offers an innovative and free way to create
images...
Member
Anniversaries
Guess who's marking 25 Years?
Members in the
News
EU
Services featured in business management article...
Upcoming Events
|
Promote
Your Company at
the MAGE Crab Feast
Get your company name into the conversation
at the biggest MAGE event of the year (200+ attendees)!
The annual Crab Feast will be held September 24 at Ten
Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville, MD, and sponsorships are
still available for prizes and gaming tables. Sponsor
firms receive recognition (re: targeted advertising!)
on promotional pieces at the event, and in Association
newsletters before and after the event, as well as on
the PGAMA home page. Contact Paul
Foster for more info, 410-319-0900.
Thanks
to our current sponsors: ASI, Kline, Heidelberg,
Prisco, sappi, Xerox, and xpedx.
|
If
Bills Are Your Business, Read Regulation
Z
If your organization
produces credit card bills, statements, or any documents associated with
paying a debt, you need to
know about the requirements of Regulation
Z,
the update to the Truth in Lending Act. The new requirements regulate
the types of information that must be provided on bills, and in some
cases, the layout and type size of the information. Be sure to review
the regulations so your company meets all obligations for developing
a bill.
More
on the Topic of Bills
While it is essential to work within the confines of Regulation Z, columnist
Pat McGrew at Output Links says it is also important that these documents
are consistent with the 'brand' of your client's company. That
means more than just the logo, it means the typography, the design sense,
and the information architecture. Check out the company website,
the direct mail pieces, and even magazine ads and circulars to get an
idea of how the company is positioning the brand in the market. How is
the company using the logo? Is there a tagline? Is it used consistently
across all of communication vehicles you produce? Bill and statement
design should include repeating elements of style in the same way as
ads and other media. A quick look at what your firm is creating, and
a subsequent document update if necessary, will create a consistent image
across all bills and statements...and help build customer loyalty with
your attention to detail!
(PS- a consistent look for your own invoices will
help establish your company 'brand' too!)
CPSIA
Labels Approved
The U.S. Consumer Product
Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously last week to
approve guidance on tracking label requirements of the
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). This Statement
of Policy and Enforcement comes just before
the August 14, 2009 deadline when manufacturers will be
required to begin marking children's products and packaging
with tracking labels. Printing Industries is conducting
an analysis of this policy and will issue compliance guidance
specific to the printing industry in the near future. In
the meantime, printers are encouraged to review and submit
questions to the CPSC's new FAQ on Tracking Label Requirements
Page.
Wal-Mart
Works to 'Green' Supply Chain
WhatTheyThink.com reports that Wal-Mart
has announced a new program to develop "green" standards
and ratings for all the products it sells. As part of an
ongoing initiative to reduce energy consumption, cut waste,
and introduce sustainable products, Wal-Mart will depend
in large part on its 100,000 suppliers who will be asked
to calculate and report the full environmental costs of
making their products. And if they don't provide the info,
they simply will fall out of the pack. All suppliers eventually
will have to answer a preliminary, 15-item questionnaire
covering waste generation, resource use, and community
involvement. Take a look at the Wal-Mart
questionnaire here.
Get
the Latest on Intelligent
Mail
Get the latest info on
Intelligent Mail topics in a series of upcoming webinars
presented by the USPS. The first broadcast is set for August
21 from 2:00-4:00 EDT, entitled "Full-Service
Benefits: Full-Service ACS™" and will describe
the address correction information available under the
Full-Service option. This webinar will describe the contents
of the address correction information, how it is provisioned
and the flexible data distribution options available. It
will demonstrate how to optimize the use of Service Type
Identifiers and Mailer IDs in the Intelligent Mail barcode
and how to construct the electronic documentation to derive
the greatest value from Full-Service ACS. It will describe
how Full-Service ACS is different from the other address
correction services and how mailers can use these in conjunction
with Full-Service to ease the transition to Full-Service
ACS. Watch for more details
and links to the webinars on the Intelligent
Mail calendar.
Cool
Website of the Week
A new website, BlendArt.com, offers an innovative and free
way to create images using clip art, text, and other visual
elements. The site has a library of 7,000 clip arts, 1,000
fonts, 800 photos, and 500 patterns. Users can even upload
their own media, including clip art and fonts. And, you can
use the images for anything, including commercial purposes. For
designers seeking a fresh source for images and printing
firms expanding into desktop publishing, this could be a
handy tool. Check it out at www.blendart.com.
Member
Anniversaries.
Congratulations to the following companies, marking major
anniversaries as Association members this month:
25 Years
Automated Graphic Systems
20 Years
Bel-Jean Printing
Members
in the News
EU Services in
Rockville, Maryland got a bit of free publicity in an
online article last
week. The article centered on the success of firms using
postcards for direct mail promotions. Listed among the perks
of postcards were affordability and versatility. Read the whole
article to
see what EU Services' marketing manager Crystal Uppercue
said about the effectiveness of direct mail postcards.
Upcoming Events
| August 12 |
Free Business
Seminar: Essential Considerations in Protecting
Your Company's Intellectual Property, 6:00-7:30pm
at Intelligent Office, 300 E. Lombard Street, Baltimore,
Md 21202. Presenter Jon Wachs, Chair of member
firm Offit Kurman's Intellectual Property Group,
will teach you how to protect the intellectual
property developed by or for your business. More
specifically, you will learn the costs, benefits,
timing and value of patents, trademarks, copyrights,
and trade secrets; and generally why intellectual
property protection should be a key priority for
your business. RSVP to: coordinator@intelligentoffice.com.
Be sure to mention that you are a PGAMA member
and the $20 attendance fee will be waived. Light
refreshments and parking included. |
| August 13 |
CSR Webinar
Series Part 2:-Creating Customer Interaction and
Feedback for Continuous Improvement, Noon-1:00pm.
Part 2 of this
6-part webinar series will focus on
the importance of proactive customer contact for
creating trust. The series runs each Thursday
through Sept. 10 and is designed for CSRs,
CSR managers and other sales professionals. Led
by business development expert Sid Chadwick. Sign
up for one session for $90 per connection or $490
for the entire series. Register at www.pgama.com. |
| August 13 |
FREE Webinar:
Using Adobe Creative Suite 4 to Harness the Power
of Cross Media Communications, 2:00-3:00pm.
Learn how to use the tools in Adobe Creative
Suite 4 to create and deliver powerful cross-media
experiences. We will show you how to take print
content and re-purpose it for a variety of additional
mediums such as web, video and even mobile devices.
You'll learn how to export InDesign content for
further editing in Dreamweaver CS4 and Flash
CS4. You will then get an overview of Dreamweaver
CS4 and Flash CS4 allowing you to extend your
print content with interactivity and animation
for use on the web and even mobile devices. This
is your chance to gain first-hand experience with
one of the industry's most exciting advances -
cross media communications - using a familiar publishing
platform: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium.
This broadcast is FREE for PGAMA members! More
info and register at www.printing.org. |
| August 13-16 |
Special Event: Summer
Management Conference, at Great Wolf
Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. Come for the family
time. Come for the classes. Come for the networking.
Whatever your reason, be sure to attend this year's
event. Featured speakers include Lisbeth Lyons
of Printing Industries of America who will weigh
in on the EFCA; sales consultant Linda Bishop who
will give three talks on sales techniques; and
Ray Prince who will share ideas on implementing
LEAN manufacturing at your plant, plus a Recession
Checklist. Room rate is
just $219 if booked by July 13~call the hotel at 800-551-9653. Call PGAMA
to register for the seminars, 410-319-0900. |
| August 27 |
FREE Webinar:
Success Stories with JDF Automation, 2:00-3:00pm.
During challenging economic times, many companies
intensify their efforts to become more efficient
and drive out needless costs. The use of JDF (job
definition format) files to automate processes
is already having a profound impact in this way
for some printers. This webinar will focus on how
to incorporate new technologies via JDF automation
and its real world results. You will come to understand
the process of integrating JDF automation and how
it can effectively address today’s business
needs.This broadcast is FREE
for PGAMA members! More info and register at www.printing.org. |
| September 11-16 |
Special Event: PRINT
09,
at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. PRINT 09 is
where top executives come to learn, network and
make informed intelligent purchasing decisions.
From design to delivery you'll see the full spectrum
of equipment and services for: Commercial Printing,
Creative Services, Quick Printers, Book Printers/Publishers,
Mailing & Fulfillment, Package & Specialty
Printers, Wide Format Printers, In-Plant Printers,
Print Buyers, and MORE! Over 650 leading manufacturers
and suppliers will be exhibiting at the show and
80% of them will be showcasing newly released products,
technologies and services. More info and registration
at http://www.print09.com/My-Print.aspx. |
| September 20-22 |
Conference-Label
Printing Industries of America Fall Management Conference at
the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg,
VA. "Get Back to the Basics of Business" is
the theme of this conference, and educational programs
will show you why and how to become an
expert in your customers’ businesses
and guide the strategic
direction of their enterprise. More info and registration
online, http://www.printing.org/page/5307. |
| September 24 |
MAGE Crab Feast, 6:00-10:00pm
at Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville, MD. Come to the
biggest MAGE event of the year and enjoy LARGE crabs
all night, plus a dinner buffet. By popular demand
there will once again be Blackjack 21 gaming tables--play
for prizes! New this year: your ticket stub enters
you into a drawing for a Garmin GPS system. Tickets
are the same cost as last year: just $60 per
person for ALL YOU CAN EAT LARGE CRABS! ($575
for a table of 10.) Reserve
your seats by 9/18. Call
PGAMA, 410-319-0900.Thank you to ***Sponsorship Opportunities
Available. Contact Paul at
PGAMA for more info. |
| October 1 |
Seminar:
10 Things Keeping CEO's Up at Night, 10:00am-Noon
at PGAMA (9685 Gerwig Lane, Columbia). If you're a
printing company owner, president or manager wondering
how to increase profits in a down economy, this
is the best two hours you can possibly spend. Member
firm Heidelberg will give concrete answers to questions
like: "How can I reduce make-ready times and
save on labor and material costs with the equipment
I already have?" "Am I really making
money? How do I calculate actual production costs
for specific customers?" "How do I get
G7 certification?" This
is a FREE presentation for
PGAMA members! Register online at http://sso.us.heidelberg.com/pgama. |
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