The PEiR Group Launches New Web Portal

In our on-going quest to keep our members informed and up to date on the latest trends, opportunities, events and technologies that impact the reprographics industry we are pleased to announce the introduction of our new web portal.

Our new portal incorporates the latest technologies in web features and functions and will allow us to communicate in a more effective way. The new site is the same web address as before (http://www.peirgroup.com/) but with a whole new look and feel.

Notice you will see a user login on the right side and also a new feature called: My Profile. This new feature will allow all of our members to interact with the web portal as well as with others in the PEiR Group Community

We will be hosting several orientation webinars in the next few weeks; after we return from this week's IRgA Convention and The PEiR Group's Executive Conference in Palm Springs. For those who are adventurous and want to get to know the new web site now; we are sending out usernames and passwords this week. So, once you get your username please login and start playing around.

We are anxious to get your feed back; and to make it easy for you, there is a feedback link on the every page that will allow you to comment on the new web site and let us know what you think!

Best Regards


Shaun

Shaun’s Corner “Innovate 2010”

Happy New Year PEiR Group Members:

2009 was a year that really tested our managerial skills. In talking with PEiR members all over the world, there was no escaping the plight of the Great Recession of 2010. Many of you stated that you have never experienced such dramatic changes in your industry, and at the same time, been confronted with such challenging business decisions.

Having weathered the storm, I hope you have learned some good lessons and will use these experiences in planning for your future.

2010 has the prospects of an economic recovery. We are beginning to see indications that the decline in construction employment is flattening and that there is projected growth in some sectors of the industry. Many of you have realized the need to diversify and are seeing the merits of that decision. I also think that many of you realize that change is something that we all have to embrace and that we need to continue to adapt our business offerings to remain relevant to the clients we serve.

With that being said, I would like to start out the New Year announcing the PEiR Group theme for the upcoming year "Innovate 2010". The idea is to show our customers that Reprographers are leaders in innovation. It is more important than any time in our history that reprographers demonstrate to their customers that they are a creative and valuable resource.

But how do you go about doing this? This is where the PEiR Group can help!

While it's up to you to do the actual innovation, the PEiR Group can help you explore what you should be looking to change; new ways of adding value to your offerings, and help you communicate your value more effectively.

Let's face it, your customers are being bombarded with new technologies every day, but do they really understand how these new technologies are going to be useful? Those of us who can explain how new technologies can be applied to solve real business problems (innovation) have opportunities to build our businesses.

To accomplish these objectives, The PEiR Group has planned the following list of activities and events for 2010.

• PEiR Group Meetings
  
  • May 21-22: PEiR Group Annual Executive Conference in Palm Springs
    
  • October 14-15 PEiR Group Color Sales & Technology Conference at the SGIA Convention in Las Vegas
    
• Weekly Technology Demonstrations and Training
  
  • PlanWell, SubHub, ishipdocs, Abacus, MetaPrint (sign-up here)
    
• Bi-Monthly Best Practice Webinars
  
  • See Above
    
• Member Visits (if interested please let me know) (shaunm@planwell.com )
  
  • January/Feb/March (NE, MidWest, SW, SE)
    
  • Others to be Announced
    
• Conventions
  
  • March 24-26 AGC Annual Convention in Orlando
    
  • May 19-21 IRgA Annual Convention in Palm Springs
    
  • October 13-15 SGIA Convention in Las Vegas
    
  • Oct/Nov Reprographics Industry Regionals
    

More details will be sent out on each of these activities but please mark your calendars appropriately.

We have plans to announce some additional vendor programs (currently 43 vendors) and new exciting and innovative technologies later in the year as well, so please check out the PEiR Group or read our emails for the latest news and updates.

Again thank you for all your support and please let us know if you have ideas for innovation we should be exploring with you.

Best Regards

Shaun Meany

Shaun's Corner: Springtime In Pittsburgh - IRgA Segues Into May

"Shaun's Corner"
By Shaun Meany

Springtime in Pittsburgh was beautiful, but the mood and atmosphere at this year’s IRgA convention in Pittsburgh felt somewhat subdued, in my view.

Attendance was off considerably from past years, I felt, but despite these conditions, which most likely are reflective of the economy and the location, the conference was rewarding and beneficial for many of us who made the investment to attend.

As always, I squeezed in a little golf at a gorgeous course (Quicksilver GC) outside of the city before the convention and tradeshow. Absolutely fantastic. Starting the convention with a little golf is a great way to allow many of us to meet some new friends and reconnect with old buddies we have not seen for a year. There were so many nice prizes that I think everyone left the course a winner, whether their scores reflected it or not. I want to thank golf committee chairman, Joe Abeyesinhe, for making this years outing one of the best I have experienced in years! I vote to have Joe head up the golf committee again next year.

Our first evening together, Wednesday, started with a cocktail reception for the CREST Foundation. Last years scholarship winners where recognized and an announcement made about future sponsorships - the foundation has another $100,000 available for deserving students going to college this fall and that's a great thing.

For more information on the CREST Foundation please visit www.crestfoundation.org - you may be glad you did.

There were several educational tracks offered at IRgA this year. One I found particularly valuable was the sales training presentation (salesOctane) presented by Jim Ryerson. In this session, called Behavioral Selling Skills, we were taught to identify our prospects/clients behaviors (Driver, Influencer, Compliant, Steady) and apply the right selling behavior to increase the odds of selling the prospect. For more information on this type of selling approach please visit the following web site: http://www.salesoctane.com/.











The trade show component of the IRgA was really slow. At times it felt there were more vendors then attendees. That said, those of us who were vendors had some good prospects and plenty of time to spend explaining the features and benefits of our products and services. At the PEiR and PlanWell booth we demonstrated all of our existing products and made several new product announcements as well, including:

1. PlanWell 5.5 Release
2. PlanWell Bridge to Prolog
3. PlanWell EasyPrint for Océ Plot Wave and TDS Systems
4. Abacus “Cost Recovery and Print Tracking”
5. Abacus for KIP Controllers
6. SubHub
7. ishipdocs
8. MetaPrint for Color

To help the reprographics community learn more about these exciting new products please click (register) to sign up for an on-line demonstration.

Leaving Pittsburgh this year, I got the sense the IRgA and the reprographics industry are coming to a crossroads. What does the future hold? I can be sure of one thing; it will not be what it was just a few years ago. As someone with a vested interest in the future of reprographics I plan to make whatever future investment I need to in order to ensure that I evolve and ultimately survive.

That's it for now. Hit 'em long and straight!

Shaun

The Busiest Of Weeks - But Taking Time To Say "Thanks..."

Members of the CREST Foundation Board of Directors and Selection Committee,
From left to right: Billy Dieterich, Suri, Martha Korman, Miguel Garcia, John Deermont and Mike Carter.

It’s not every day you can give away $100,000 to 10 kids who really need it for school, but that’s what the CREST Foundation did last year. This year, the Foundation is well on its way to doing it again, with more than $115,000 already pledged and more coming!

At the CREST Reception Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, the Foundation’s Board, Selection Committee, and shop owners and managers from all over the country got a chance to rub elbows, celebrate the awards, and encourage giving in 2009 to support even more students in the coming year.



Dennis with CREST's Janine Brandel

Dennis Goodrich of CADCopy & Supply, LLC was on hand, still beaming after his daughter, Anna, landed a little financial help for her stay at Appalachian State University.

"To have the opportunity to personally show my appreciation at the IRgA meeting felt better to me than any words of appreciation that I could have ever put on paper," Dennis says. "To be able to look the people directly responsible in the eyes and shake their hand was in itself another gift."

Well said, Dennis, it was a pleasure to see you at IRgA.

All in all, more than 200 people filled the CREST Foundation venue to see photos, thank-you notes, and meet the sponsors of the 10 recipients from the 2008/2009 school year, as well as enjoy the hospitality and goodwill of everyone who attended.

Applications for this year’s awards are currently being taken, so make sure to spread the word around your shop and branches – and share the opportunity with your peers in the industry. CREST Scholarships are for the children of employees of any reprographic shop in good standing with the IRgA, so make sure and talk up the opportunities at association events or informal meetings with reprographers from any company.

For more information, click HERE.

Back To Work Amid New Hope for Better Times

By Shaun Meany
The PEiR Group

It has been a busy couple of weeks since returning from the PEiR Group’s Executive Conference in Las Vegas. The economic slowdown seems to be continuing but there are growing signs of optimism out there. Some reprographers are reporting that projects temporarily placed on hold are becoming active again.

Much of the anticipated stimulus money for infrastructure improvements and the like have yet to materialize. Despite these delays there was still some good news on new housing starts.

Economic Report: February Housing Starts Jump 22 Percent - 03/18/09
The construction industry received some good news on Tuesday as numbers for construction starts were released. The numbers showed housing starts increasing in February by 22 percent, that number was bolstered by an 82 percent increase in apartment building construction and is the largest single month gain in 19 years. Also receiving a solid boost was the permitting for the construction of single family homes. That number had a significant increase of 11 percent.

Earlier this year the PEiR Group made a commitment to offer monthly educational webinars and it appears they have been a hit among our members.

Webinar’s Held In 2009:


For those members who missed these webinar’s all of the presentation material is posted on the PEiR intranet library under the category: Webinars

IRgA is Coming:

The IRgA annual convention is quickly approaching and The PEiR Group is preparing to announce and demonstrate several new technologies along with our existing family of software products which include:

• PlanWell Enterprise
• PlanWell BidCaster (new release)
• PlanWell PDS
• EWO
• PlanWell Easy Print for KIP and HP
• MetaPrint
• SubHub

New Products to be introduced at the IRgA include:

• iShipdocs
• MetaPrint Abacus
• PlanWell EasyPrint for Océ
• PlanWell Bridge to Prolog

If you have not made your reservations to attend the conference in Pittsburg, there is still time to register. I know everyone is trying to cut costs but I believe it may be more important than ever before to invest in the reprographic industry by joining with your peers for networking, education and good fellowship.

Last but not least, if you do decide to attend, you will learn first hand how the PEiR Group is preparing the reprographics industry with best practices and new purposeful technologies that meet the needs of today designers, contractors and owner/developers.

I hope to see you in Pittsburg!

Shaun