ACUP Goes West

The weather was warm but the sessions were hot as more than 300 college and university print and mail managers got together in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona.

College and university in-plants are thriving, and nowhere was this more apparent than at the recent Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.

This year's event, which marked ACUP's 35th year, broke new ground by partnering with the National Association of College and University Mail Services (NACUMS). As a result, a record 325 people attended the event, which was hosted by Arizona State University (ASU) and organized by Bob Lane, ACUP president, and Linda Augustine, NACUMS president.

Lane and Augustine did a stellar job of setting up a full schedule of educational sessions, roundtables, a large exhibitor area (featuring the likes of Agfa, Canon, Océ, Ricoh, T/R Systems, Xerox and many others) and an entertaining array of evening activities. Arizona's sunny spring weather allowed most events to take place in a vast, tent-like pavilion fronted by pools, splashing fountains and lush greenery, bursting with flowers.

The main reason for combining ACUP and NACUMS was to mirror the path many in-plants have taken by merging their in-house printing and mailing operations. Almost 37 percent of college and university in-plants manage both print and outgoing mail, according to an April IPG survey. At ACUP, managers from Brigham Young University and University of California, Berkeley, described the result of such mergers.

Efficiency Boost

BYU's West Barton and Thom Roylance said that combining print and mail has allowed them to use employees more efficiently, through cross-training and shifting employees during downtime. Roylance, mail manager, tries to catch design problems before pieces are mailed and money is wasted on postage. He advises departments on ways to change the design of their mailings to save postage.

"You come away looking like a hero because you save the department money," he said.

They also described how they put together their initial proposal of the merger. It included:

• Executive Summary: About five sentences to explain why the university should consider this merger.

• Introduction/History: Background on the two departments.

• Goals/Objectives: What they hoped to accomplish.

• Implementation: Examples of how this plan would be implemented.

• Summary/Conclusion

In a similar session, Sue Sheehan and Bill McCart pointed out the advantages that the University of California, Berkeley, realized when it recently merged its printing and mailing operations. Because printing and mailing is now handled in one continuous process, there are no more "hand-off glitches" between the departments, Sheehan said. Also, jobs can be given more time in the printing stage when needed if the department knows that mailing won't take long.

Because integrated services are more efficient, pricing is now much more competitive, she said. Multiple order forms, requisitions and invoices have been eliminated. Customer service has improved because the mailing area can now take advantage of Printing Services' computerized tracking system. Because of the merger, Sheehan added, both print and mail have gotten new customers from each other.

To bring about a print/mail merger, McCart suggested analyzing current print and mail jobs and arranging a customer focus group. Develop a vision, he said, that addresses customers' future needs, looks at new technologies and matches the university's vision.

Certain business aspects must be addressed, McCart said, such as marketing the merger and educating customers about it. It's important, he stressed, to involve key managers from both sides and to keep your staffs informed. Let them know that the merger is good for them because it will bring in more business and increase their advancement opportunities.

Around The Table

Discussing solutions to common problems is a big part of every ACUP conference. This year, a number of roundtable discussions allowed attendees to focus on specific concerns. At one roundtable, several dozen managers discussed the pros and cons of student employees.

One common question was how strict to be with student employees on issues such as lateness. A minor dispute arose between those who felt that education came first and lateness should be tolerated and those who felt that students needed to learn a good work ethic, so lateness and missed shifts should be dealt with harshly.

Some managers have published a student handbook that details the rules students must follow. Others suggested sitting with students to personally explain what is expected. Some require that students coordinate their class schedules with the in-plant. Other managers have even negotiated priority course registration for student workers as an incentive.

Managers discussed whether or not to let students run presses. Some felt they should be allowed to do this after signing a release certifying that they would get trained. Others said that this release would not stem a lawsuit if injury resulted.

Getting What You Want

Influencing people and getting them to say yes to your requests was the theme of the keynote session presented by Robert Cialdini, Regents' Professor of Psychology at ASU. He noted that if you arrange a context in which you have first given something to someone, then that person will be inclined to say yes to your next request.

"If you want to be influential in the settings in which you work...look around and say 'who can I help here?' That's the key," he said. "You build an array of credits by acting first."

So if you want people in your office to have a good attitude, start by having one yourself. If you want information, start by supplying it.

He said that the next time someone thanks you for doing them a favor, don't say "No problem," say "You'd do the same for me." This way they know that you really did help them and they actually owe you a favor.

When requesting capital for equipment, Cialdini said, don't slash your initial estimate down to the bare minimum, because it's likely that your upper management will again reduce it. Instead, start big so that when you get turned down, you can retreat to the next lower level and increase your chances of getting approval there.

Cialdini also said that you get more credibility if you point out the negatives of your argument first and end with the positives. People will see you as being more trustworthy.

Numerous Educational Opportunities

Overall, the ACUP/NACUMS conference was packed with enough educational sessions to send participants home brimming with new ideas. Here are some of the other highlights:

• At a session on copyright issues, ASU Professor Jon Duff noted that ideas, data, government publications and works of industrial utility cannot be copyrighted. Fair use of copyrighted material, he said, applies to a fundamentally different use of intellectual property, such as criticism, parody, teaching, reporting or research. It does not give professors free reign to copy material in lieu of having students buy the book.

• Ray Jensen, ASU director of purchasing and business services, stressed the importance of having a "Yes you can" attitude. He teaches his staff not to say no but to think of how they can satisfy the request.

• Rudy Bellavia, ASU senior systems analyst, gave a talk on Web site design, advising creators to keep sites simple, have consistency between pages for different departments and use a navigational bar on each page. "The main priority of the Web," he said, "is to deliver information to people." Therefore, don't waste space with complex graphics.

• Sean Joyce, popular with the ACUP crowd since his appearance at ACUP 97 at Lehigh University, talked about reducing stress by exercising three times a week, having hobbies, bringing humor into your life, and communicating better with others.

• Gary Fretwell, of Millsaps College, offered some ideas for creative problem solving. Since many good ideas are never voiced because people are overly cautious, he suggested creating an environment where you're not afraid to be wrong or to appear foolish. List every idea, no matter how silly, and then modify these ideas to discover new possibilities.

• Nancy Mariano, of Lehigh University, offered her insights on body language, noting that 55 percent of a first impression is given via body language, while just 7 percent comes verbally. Forming a steeple with one's fingertips is a sign of confidence, while touching one's face is a sign of doubt about what is being said.

• Mickey Call, of Xerox Customer Education Services, noted that all managers and employees should be able to recite 10 benefits that the in-plant provides to any given customer. Price, he said, should not be one of them. Collect testimonials from satisfied customers, he added, to show to other customers. Bring customers into your shop so they can see for themselves how you can help them.

• Agfa's Mark Orchant said that digital printing will eventually be done for a market of one, forcing printers to learn to work with databases to customize mailings.