Madison Advisors today announced its Fall CCM Executive Roundtable, held in Philadelphia on November 14, was a well-received opportunity for executives from seven major companies to spend time in thought-provoking peer-to-peer discussions that addressed the specific challenges their companies are facing in an evolving communications landscape.

Attendees, representing top companies in the insurance, financial services and healthcare industries, included COUNTRY Financial, Discover Financial Services, HM Document Solutions, Northwestern Mutual, Raymond James Financial, Vanguard and Voya Financial.

By Kemal Carr, President, Madison Advisors

PRINT 18, held September 30 through October 1, at Chicago’s McCormick Place seemed to be suffering from the same malaise as other once-large, all-encompassing industry trade shows. One way you can judge the traffic at these events is to use what I call a “bump meter.” That is, if you bump into a lot of people in crowded aisles, it’s a well-attended show. At PRINT 18, I bumped into a few people, but not as many as might be expected.

I thought one of the highlights at PRINT 18 was that a section of the floor had been put together like a software village with various developers demonstrating their newer types of applications. The fact that they were all in one area generated a positive synergy that was good to see. However, noticeably missing were several legacy firms that historically exhibited at the event, which is a sign of the times and a troubling trend in the trade show business.

Another noticeable missing element of the show was that so few vendors exhibited hardware. The days of moving in six-color presses or 12-foot alignments of interconnected digital production lines seems to be gone. One reason may be that the larger vendors—both digital and offset—now have Customer Centers at their headquarters that showcase the equipment. It’s easier and less expensive to invite potential buyers there, where they also have the advantage of fewer competing distractions.

A reason for reduced foot traffic at PRINT 18 may be that there are several industry events you can attend that offer a narrower focus, each centered on an industry segment or a specific type of print application, which seem to draw attention from the big shows. Additionally, everyone has better access now to a plethora of information gained through online searches and through the greater willingness to share opinions with peer groups about equipment, experience with installation, implementation, maintenance and so forth. Vendors, too, are more willing to help in the decision-making process.

Finally, what’s new always drew attendees to the shows. Previously, printers would travel to see the new print and prepress technologies in operation, or to witness firsthand what kind of color quality you could get from digital presses. Of course, vendors are still developing upgrades, adding more bells and whistles that can improve productivity and profitability, but the revolution has settled into a less spectacular evolution. The trade shows are certainly worth attending if you know what you’re looking for, but less like magic than they once were—and there is some nostalgia attached to that.

By Kemal Carr, President

Quadient Inspire Days Americas, held at the Boston Sheraton, September 19 – 21, was the fifth in the Inspire Days series and the last of Inspire Days events held earlier in Melbourne, Singapore, Hong Kong and The Hague—touching five continents. In Boston, the general theme revolved around enhancing customer experience, and of course, offered a 360-degree look at how Quadient’s Inspire software platform, including its latest R12 version, supports these efforts.

Chris Hartigan, Quadient’s new president and general manager of the Americas, kicked off the two-and-a-half-day event with a welcome address, followed by keynoter Jeanne Bliss, president of Customer Bliss and author of several books defining and promoting the concept and practice of customer-centricity. Both Chris and Jeanne set the general tone of the conference by detailing the why and how of improving customer experience, one of the most talked about trends in business today.

Attendees were a mix of enterprise and print service providers. One of the areas I found most interesting and of special value is when clients like RBC, IWCO, Shutterfly and Quad Graphics presented their own experiences with Quadient applications in the three breakout tracks: Innovation, Engagement and Boosting Productivity. Their presentations tended to cut through the marketing chatter to provide a true picture of the implementation, usage and results of using Quadient Inspire. For the most part, their reports were positive, though not entirely without a predictable glitch here and there.

Quadient Inspire’s R12 version adds several enhancements and additions to earlier versions. Because of the dynamic and rapid pace of upgrades for Inspire, as well as Quadient’s other types of software, the best option for many enterprise users may be to purchase and deploy the platform via an HMS (Hosted Managed Service Provider). That way the enterprise can gain all the benefits of the latest upgrades while leaving the technical nuts and bolts to the service provider, who should be the expert.

This concept is consistent with the findings of our most recent report on the CCM HMS market, which outlines how this market is growing and how verticals such as financial services, insurance, utilities, telecommunications and others that generate large volumes of transactional communications benefit from hosted managed services relationships.

ThINK 2018, held September 5-7 in Boca Raton, Fla., demonstrated once again the power of bringing together the print community to share innovations and best practices. With Canon Solutions America as the executive sponsor, thINK is an independent community of Canon Solutions America Production Print customers, vendors and print experts. This year’s conference featured 25 sessions and valuable networking time, providing educational opportunities and hands-on learning for newcomers and veterans alike.