Print Buyer Profile:
Spotlight on Jane Morrison

Once in a blue moon you meet someone who takes his or her profession up a notch and a half. This happened to me recently, when I traveled north to Nova Scotia.

Sandwiched between my 3rd Annual Print Buyers Conference in Boston and GRAPH EXPO 2008 in Chicago, came Strategy08, an annual conference produced by CPIA (Canadian Printing Industries Association). I was a panelist for the session about print buyers, and it was there that I met Jane Morrison, Production Manager of Colour, a creative agency based in Nova Scotia.

In my business, I get to meet print buyers all the time, both here and abroad. Having sat and chatted with Jane for over an hour in Halifax, it was clear to me that she was not your average print buyer.

Most buyers, myself included, have no direct industry experience, but I'd offer that your typical professional buyer has a liberal arts bent and a degree to match. Early-career jobs somehow, some way, lead them into positions that include the buying of commercial printing. A passion for print is ignited, and so begins their lifetime love of all things litho.

Jane Morrison's background is different. She was trained to be a Registered Industrial Accountant and bank manager at one of Canada's major banks. However, she always felt that owning her own business was her calling, and when Jane and her husband read in the local newspaper over 30 years ago that a publishing business was for sale, they didn't hesitate to buy it. They published papers, then their firm morphed into a full-fledged publishing business. Oh, they also became typographers…industry-leading typographers, in fact.

Family health concerns led them to sell their business, which had provided employment for upwards of 80 people over the years, and Jane stayed home with her children.

One day, 11 years later, Colour came calling, asking Jane to project manage a job right away. She did so - and was hired full time because of her skill.

I was struck by two things as we chatted: her incredibly calm demeanor - so uncharacteristic of a print buying professional; and her unique approach to her role.

"My role changes every day," she explained. "I'm doing different things all the time. I embrace new methods in printing. I want to use whatever's the latest thing in print technology and be innovative for my company and my clients. I'm constantly being asked to do the strangest things, and I just do it." When asked about the future of our industry, she surprised me again by adding, "And I hope to be doing things differently tomorrow."

She'll try to find providers nearby first, though she's not "hard-wired" to do so all of the time. Helping support the local industry is important to her.

What Matters Most?

You and I both know that printers believe a customer will chant the "price, quality, service" mantra when asked about their sourcing criteria. Not Jane Morrison.

She lists equipment first. Yes, Jane is one of the elite buyers that can really translate an equipment list. Next up, it's the people in a printing company that make a big difference. And third, a company's commitment to excellence comes into play. "I like working with printers who share similar values."

The sustainability movement in the industry also matters to her. "I've adopted environmentally friendly policies at home for 12 years, and we're now following them at the office. I follow the press sheets on a press OK to see where those sheets end up; I check everything. QC is important to me. I look for that in my printers, and I look for people in the plants who are like me. I find employees who want to help me or stand in if I can't be there. If you ask for help, they will give it to you."

If she sounds like a print buyer who knows her stuff, I assure you: she is.

Jane expects her printers to be technically savvy and have secure FTP sites (won't use couriers anymore). She wants them to be knowledgeable, to understand their expertise, and to be good at that. As we talked, it was clear to me that she really felt that she was in partnership with her printers. She might be an envelope pusher, but she understands the manufacturing processes and newest technologies, and it seems to me she was instrumental in getting her printers to deliver the best they were capable of.

There was not a whiff of "us vs. them" about Jane Morrison. (How refreshing is that?!) I suspect her printers think that she's a very tough customer, but that she'll get the very best quality work out of them in a calm and professional way.

I'm certain that print buyers at our next conference will be interested in learning from Jane herself, so I've asked her to pencil in November 2009, so she can come down to Boston and participate in our 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference.

It's hard to say exactly why Jane Morrison made such an impression on me, but the phrase, "gold standard for print buyers" popped into my head, and I'm sticking by it.

Comments? Talk to me at mdana@bostonprintbuyers.com.

©2008 Margie Dana. All rights reserved. You're free to forward this email to friends and colleagues: please do! However, no part of this column may be reprinted without permission from the author.

Print Buyer Conference News

September 11th - 12th, 2008

Sheraton Boston Hotel, Boston, MA

May I direct your attention to two important site updates?

Conference photo slideshow is at www.printbuyersconference.com/conferencephotos. It may take a minute or two to load, but it's worth it!

Fantastic Feedback in the form of testimonials can be found on our home page.

Plan to join us in November 2009 for the 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference! Stay tuned for details.

GRAPH EXPO Print Buyers Forum

October 28-29th, Chicago, IL

"Beyond Survival: How to Thrive in Today's Business of Print Buying"

Go to http://graphexpo.gasc.org/printbuyers.cfm to register.

GRAPH EXPO is the granddaddy of US print conferences, and if you've not been to one, now is the time. Our Print Buyers Forum stars Frank Romano, Peter Muir, and yours truly as we focus on you, the professional print buyer.

Frank Romano's sessions always draw the highest of praise from print customers. One Print Buyers Conference attendee wrote, "Frank rocks as usual. Keeps it light and easy to learn such a serious and demanding topic." Another said Frank was "a legend and deserving of being one."

At our recent Conference in Boston, we welcomed Peter Muir as a two-session leader, and he, too, rocked the house. Someone wrote of Peter: "Absolutely awesome speaker! Engaging, and had concrete ideas on how to promote my value to my organization." And another attendee said: "Excellent presenter. Motivating speaker who shared a ton of info from all points of view!"

Now you can hear them both at GRAPH EXPO!

Come to Chicago This Month
Your Print Buyers Forum registration includes a FREE Exhibit Hall pass, which provides you access to the show for all four days of GRAPH EXPO!

Morning and lunchtime sessions will cover the issues of greatest interest and concern to sophisticated print buyers. The afternoon 'practical application tour' will provide participants with the opportunity to explore the expansive GRAPH EXPO exhibit hall and visit with more than 600 manufacturers and suppliers.

Register today at http://graphexpo.gasc.org/printbuyers.cfm.

Job Bank Postings

Two current positions exist at United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, located in Boston Massachusetts:
Web and Social Media Manager and Traffic and Proofreading Manager.

For more details, visit our job bank page.

NEW Print Buyer Poll for October

Buyers, with whom do you forge the most important business relationship when you work with a printer?

• My sales rep

• My CSR (Customer Service Rep)

• The estimator

• The owner/top brass

• The pressmen/women

• The prepress staff

• Other

• A mix of the above

Cast your vote on our home page at www.bostonprintbuyers.com.

Print Tips Archives!

Our Print Tips archives are public. Access them from the home page of our site
under Print Tips at www.bostonprintbuyers.com.