I’ve recently returned from Germany, the land of massive tradeshows, where Interpack (drupa for converters) was held. In this month’s issue you will find some highlights from the show. The amount of technology at this show was astounding. It makes you really think about what a cookie goes through before it gets to your home. In an exciting twist of fate as I walked the 17 halls I walked by a copy of our own magazine on display! The February issue, which featured an extravagant laser cut cover was front and center at the LasX booth (responsible for the cutting technology that created it).
In addition to visiting Interpack in Dusseldorf, I also had the pleasure of visiting the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz. They have on display one and a half copies of the original Bible printed by Gutenberg. It was absolutely incredible to see the transformation of books that resulted from movable type. By the accounts of many it is humanity’s most important innovation. Our guide shared that it is possible that in the 50 years after Gutenberg more books were printed than in the 1000 years prior. There is no doubt that we have continued to quicken the pace of change in communication ever since.
The lead article this month discusses a technology that connects the printed page to a mobile phone. Scott Morgan discusses the structure and results of an NFC campaign completed with a Canadian rum brand, Lambs. I am a big fan of making sure that digital devices can link back to a physical page. We will continue to see more of this in the future. Olivia Parker shares a great article about the power of infographics. It is important to understand that infographics are not new and are not a fad. We have been summarizing facts into pictures for a very long time. In addition, they provide companies and readers with an opportunity to really distill the important facts about what is being communicated. I strongly encourage sales teams to develop an infographic for their offerings, not only for external use, but for internal cohesion as well. There are many other great articles in the magazine this month about managing your social media better, utilizing grants to train existing employees, the importance of displays, and even textile printing.
Prost!