2015 Xplor Scholarship Accepting Applications

The Association’s Scholarships Open to Xplor Member’s and Their Families

Lutz, FL – June 3, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that they are accepting applications for their 2015 scholarship program through the deadline of June 30, 2015.

In 2010, Xplor decided to go beyond its traditional member offerings to help promote and support the next generation of professionals in the electronic document and communications industry. The Xplor Member Scholarship program was founded to provide financial assistance to Xplor members and their families who are looking to pursue a career in the electronic document and communications industry.

The program is funded by the generosity of Xplor Elite Sponsors: Crawford Technologies, GMC Software Technology, NEPS, Solimar Systems, Canon Solutions America, HP, Neopost USA, Ricoh, and Transformations.

Scholarship recipients are selected based on their pursuit of a career in the electronic document and communications industry, which includes all phases of document and communication creation and delivery, as well as academic achievement, participation in school activities, and service to the community.

“Everyone should apply!” says Skip Henk, President and CEO of Xplor International. “Not only are our member’s eligible, but their children and grandchildren are as well. We really want to foster the next generation, so be sure to spread the word!”

Each year scholarships are awarded in various denominations, up to $1000 USD. The deadline for applications is June 30th. For more information, visit www.xplor.org/scholarship.


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

A look at Xploration 15 from the Student Perspective

Xplor International University Chapter, Ryerson University
Interview by Skip Henk, EDP with Ryerson students Valerie Drozdowsky and Kyle Tavares


Almost two years ago Xplor International and Xplor Canada launched their first University Chapter at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Since that time Xplor Ryerson has prospered with student members holding onsite campus events, a job fair, attending Xploration 14 as well as the 2014 Xplor at Graph Expo event and most recently Xploration 15 in Orlando, Florida.

And as time has passed some of the “founding” members of the chapter are graduating and venturing into the workforce.

I recently asked Kyle Tavares and Valerie Drozdowsky, two of the founding members of the Xplor Ryerson Chapter what their thoughts were on Xploration 15.

Skip: What was the value to you and the other Ryerson students in being able to speak with vendors and other document professionals at Xploration 15?

Kyle: Although we are used to speaking and networking with vendors when we attend other trade shows, Xploration 15 was a unique experience for all of us. As a student we usually do not get the “time of day” from the sales people because they know we are students and will not be purchasing their products or services.

At Xploration15 it was the exact opposite – we were able to speak with people who wanted to converse with us. Many of the vendor participants were decision makers who were very interested in what we thought about the Xploration15 experience, and they took the time to educate us on the goods and services they provide.

Valerie: The value that I find in speaking with vendors and other document professionals as a student is getting a chance to learn more about the mission that the vendors are trying to create as a company and also gaining the confidence to even speak to them. It may seem funny but being a student, it’s hard to know where you stand against these professionals who have worked in the industry for years. After a bit of time, the main value I get is recognition. When they start to remember your name and who you are, you feel valuable.

Skip: Was there anything in particular that you learned that may help your career?

Kyle: The experience taught me a lot about networking. As a student I found the educational sessions were very well done. I was able to attend most of the sessions that interested me and pull very valuable information from all of them. The best ones for students I thought were the LinkedIn and networking sessions. I found those very applicable for students. Many of the panel discussions also contained great information. It was great to be able to ask insightful questions about the topics.

Valerie: I have learned that building relationships is a very big part of being successful in the business world. Watching how everyone interacts at these conferences I now understand how to act, dress and communicate professionally in a conference and a working environment. All of this has made me develop a passion to work in the industry that I am entering. I have also learned how to approach and communicate with others, whether they are much older or much more experienced than I am. Being the second conference that I have attended, I found it easier to join in conversations and discussions, whether personal conversations or group discussions.

Skip: Any opportunities you may have to explore employment opportunities?

Kyle: For me personally it was a great opportunity to speak with a variety of vendors. I spoke with several vendors including Mary from NEPS to inquire what their business was all about. Later that evening their President approached me and asked if I would like an opportunity to interview with NEPS. Just following Xploration15 I had an interview and I am now a NEPS employee.

Valerie: Last year I was able to make a connection for an internship opportunity with Symcor, in Mississauga for the summer of 2014. It was required to complete a 420 hour internship at a company related to our school work and the graphic arts industry.

This year was a bit different. I did get to meet a lot of new employers, mostly from the U.S. Since I am looking for employment in Canada I wasn’t able to find an employment opportunity directly from the conference but I did make additional connections. I had a third interview with TC Media a week ago and I am still waiting for a response. We’ll see what happens in the next few weeks. Fingers crossed.

Skip: Sounds like it was a great event for you both. Do you have any closing remarks?

Kyle: My involvement with Xplor International and the Xplor Ryerson Chapter has provided me opportunity to not only expand my knowledge and personal network, but also launch my career. I would recommend any student looking to be part of the Communications Industry to join Xplor, and if your school has an Xplor University chapter become part of it.

Valerie: It’s always valuable listening to the latest trends in workflows, listening to how companies are getting the younger generation more involved and how the companies are evolving their mission statements to cater more to and fit in with the millennials.
Skip: Valerie and Kyle, thank you for sharing your experiences about Xplor as well as Xploration 15. I look forward to seeing you both next year at Xploration 16.

Note: Any college or university that would like to discuss the possibility of having an Xplor University Chapter can contact Chad Henk at chad@xplor.org or call +1-813-949-6170.

 

Xplor Canada Adds Xplor Ryerson Intern

Intern to Support Membership Programming and Activities
Submitted May 12, 2015 – Cross Posted from Xplor Canada

Xplor® Canada, an affiliate of Xplor® International, today announced the addition of intern Jim Phan to support membership programming and activities within the Canadian Region.

Jim PhanIn his a 3rd year studying in the Graphic Communications Management (GCM) program at Ryerson University, Jim takes an active role in his Course Union (GCMCU) serving as the President – and in the past as Vice President of Events. He also took part in planning events for the Ryerson International Experiential Learning Program as well as contributing to the Ryerson Communications and Design Society campaign team. With the coming 2016/2017 year, Jim hopes to be able to get students in GCM involved in more academic, professional, and social events.

“It is a very exciting to be able to work with so many members with such diverse backgrounds,” says Phan. “Currently I am working towards planning out the logistics of Xplor Canada’s annual Golf Day. I also look forward to showcasing Xplor in creative ways in order to support Xplor’s mission of opening more Xplor university student chapters.”

Mr. Phan is an active member of the Xplor Ryerson University chapter, in Toronto. Launched two years ago, Ryerson became the first university chapter of Xplor International.

“We are very happy to support the Ryerson GCM program, especially since they were the inaugural Xplor student chapter” says Paul Abdool, Xplor International Board Member focused on student chapter development. “When I interviewed students at the Ryerson University GCM Job Fair, there were many great candidates, but I knew Jim was our guy. I liked his energy and his ‘make something from nothing’ attitude.”


Xplor Canada Media:
+1-905-469-9062
info@xplorcanada.org

Harry’s Corner – Star ‘n Cones

Submitted by Harry Stephens, President/CEO of DATAMATX
May 11, 2015

Anyone who knows me well knows I love everything about the mail. Even when I travel, I like to visit the local post office to see what it is like—particularly in countries outside the U.S. Recently, I was in Italy on a trip that took us from Rome to hilltop towns built up to 10 centuries ago and to Florence. It was quite a trip with our driver (Paulo) who explained the history of things along the way. Of course, my request was always to stop in each town to see how they managed their mail. What I learned was the post offices in Italy don’t resemble any post office we have here in the United States. Unlike here, where we view the post office as a place to buy stamps and send packages, the Poste Italiane is a place where you can accomplish all sorts of tasks.

You can pay certain bills, collect a pension check, renew a passport and even buy health insurance. Seriously—you can. It is also a competitive operator in the area for financial and payment services: savings accounts, interest-bearing bonds, national and international money orders.

Additionally, you can shop for things like books, CDs and even cell phones. There are posters all around promoting these things and there are consultants on site to help you with whatever you need. In Florence, when I entered the door of the Poste, I saw a machine that dispenses numbered tickets based on what you were planning to do there. Then, similar to the DMV, you waited until your number came up on the screen. The Florence post office was a veritable hub of activity.

Standing there I started thinking about our post offices—what may be missing and it sparked an idea (if you read my column, you know I have made several) for an option that might help alleviate some of the financial burden it carries. If European towns use the post office as a hub for other things besides mail, why can’t we? I know we can’t let a government institution go into banking or sell insurance. Private enterprise would not allow it. But how about getting support from private enterprise in another way?

For example, what if a company like Starbucks® stepped up and decided to help out the situation by creating a franchise model that would rent space from the USPS, similar to how the USPS operates within a Staples store? Or a telecommunications provider, like Verizon® or T – Mobile® have a franchise model that rented space from the USPS? If it was the type of products and services people wanted, and the franchise was located within the USPS real estate, perhaps it would spur activity around the post office itself, encourage local involvement and help offset the costs of operating the building.

This idea strikes me as particularly relevant for local post offices in rural areas where services like the ones mentioned are needed and not always available. A model like this might be a good gesture on the part of a company like Starbucks or Verizon and bring in more foot traffic to help keep our smaller post offices open. A few years ago there was a survey that found at least 6,000 post offices in the U.S. served a volume of only 3.3 people each day. 3.3! People in these areas don’t want to lose their post office—or their jobs. So if it’s some of my earlier suggestions, like “no work Wednesdays,” or decreeing “Saturday a day of rest” that might help save the USPS—or sharing space with Star ‘n Cones—the point is we all know something has to change.

Until next time – Harry
Harry Stephens


Harry Stephens is President/CEO, and founder of DATAMATX, one of the nation’s largest privately held, full-service providers of printed and electronic billing solutions. As an advocate for business mailers across the country, Stephens is actively involved in several postal trade associations. He serves on the Executive Board of the Greater Atlanta Postal Customer Council, Board Member of the National Postal Policy Council (NPPC), Member of Major Mailers Association(MMA), and member of the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service . He is also immediate past president of the Imaging Network Group (INg), an association for Print/Mail Service Bureaus. As an expert on high-volume print and mail, he has frequently been asked to speak to various USPS groups, including the Board of Governors, about postal reform and other issues affecting business mailers. Find DATAMATX at www.datamatx.com.

Xploration® 15 Deemed a Success

The Customer Communications Conference is well received by Attendees

Lutz, FL – April 29, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced that they deemed Xploration® 15 a success. Xploration® 15 was held in Orlando, Florida April 14-16, 2015.

The event featured over 60 educational sessions in addition to the general sessions and vendor forum. The vendor forum featured 38 leading-edge providers of document technology products and services. The conference also included daily networking events, two keynote speakers, the second annual Customer Engagement Program and pre-conference programs provided by Madison Advisors and PrintMediaCentr.

For 2015, the conference Education Committee once again focused on user experiences as part of the agenda, resulting in more end user presentations that featured real world experience and best practices.

“We are extremely pleased with the results of the 2015 event. We made many changes based on recommendations from our 2014 attendees that were well received.” said Skip Henk, EDP, President and CEO of Xplor. “Next week we start planning Xploration® 16. which will once again take place in the March-April timeframe. Additional details will be announced in the upcoming weeks.”

Although attendance was on par with the 2014 event, first time and international attendance rose. Approximately 38% of Xploration® 15 attendees were first-timers and 18% of attendees came from outside of the United States. International attendance included delegates from Columbia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Netherlands, and Sweden.


About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Connect with Xplor on Facebook  or Twitter.

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
Chad@xplor.org
+1-813-949-6171

An Interview with Mike Jackson, CEO of eLynxx Solutions

By: Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International

I was recently introduced to Mike Jackson, CEO of eLynxx Solutions and although I was not familiar with eLynxx, Mike certainly had some interesting insight on some of the relevant issues in our industry.

I decided to go back to Mike, ask a few more questions and share them with the E-Document News audience.


Skip: For our readers who are not familiar with eLynxx, give us your 15 second elevator pitch.

Mike: eLynxx Solutions provides cloud software that serves a very specialized need in the marketplace. Our software is purpose-built to help organizations plan, source and manage the acquisition of custom marketing materials such as direct mail, publications, POP signage and all things print. Our platform connects stakeholders and coordinates all steps from planning to payment. In short, it strengthens the marketing supply chain by bringing complete order and transparency to a process that’s usually managed through a maze of emails and spreadsheets.

Skip: Can you tell us about eLynxx itself and perhaps a short history?

Mike
: I’ll try to give you the short description of a long history since eLynxx has been around since 1975. Throughout our forty year history, we’ve helped buyers and producers of custom print work more effectively together to the benefit of both parties. We have extensive experience and expertise working initially with printers to help them compete for GPO projects and later expanding our focus to work with private sector print buying organizations.

A pivotal point in our history came when we invented and patented a method for sourcing custom print. This method solved the so called iron triangle, allowing print buyers to achieve required product quality, on time delivery and lowest price – all at once. Conventional wisdom had previously been that you could only achieve two out the three at any given time.

Today’s eLynxx is principally a software company offering the most robust cloud software available to help print buyers and their organizations achieve cost and operational efficiencies.

Skip: From a positioning stand point, where do you see your products and services in the industry?

Mike: When it comes to buying and managing custom print, organizations have to decide whether they want to have responsibility for it or if they’d rather have someone else do it for them. If they want a third-party to take everything over, there are plenty of capable firms but that’s not our business. When an organization wants to maintain full control of everything and manage it themselves, we can greatly assist them with a solution that’s rather unique in the market.

The concern over working with a BPO or broker that I most often hear in the market is that it requires relinquishing control. Decisions over critical elements like what vendors are used, how much is paid and so forth, are placed in someone else’s hands. Depending on the arrangement, there may be limited transparency or access to information. But on the surface, the business case may look attractive because their buying power likely brings economies to the table.

When organizations maintain control by employing people to directly source and manage projects, they have the benefit of being in charge of everything but typically lack tools made for the job. Too often it’s a highly manual process that relies extensively on spreadsheets, memory, and email. That’s where we come in. As a purpose-built tool built for print buyers, eLynxx software positions organizations to have the control they want and the economic benefit they need. It’s not one or the other.

Unlike third-party arrangements, eLynxx has no print capabilities or vendor relationships. Our clients use our software to empower their own people, streamline their own process and work more effectively with their own trusted vendors. When working directly with print vendors, the inherent profits of the broker model are eliminated. And when our patented sourcing method is applied, the cost of print is reduced to levels that are often favorable to what the third-parties achieve through volume discounts.
So in short, we’re positioning organizations to have the best of both worlds – full control and the most competitive cost. We sum it up as your people, your process, your vendors, better results.

Skip: Let’s talk a little about the technology. How can enhanced workflows change an organization?

Mike
: When it comes to custom print, every organization has some level of prescribed or required workflow in the lifecycle of a project. The stages typically begin with planning and then move to sourcing and production management before concluding with approvals and payment. When they’re planning they may be going to vendors for budget pricing. When they’re ready to buy, they may do so under a contract, through a competitive bid and award process or they may even hand it to their favorite vendor without competition. And once a job is in the hands of a vendor, someone has to monitor whether the project is being produced on time, at quality standards, and ultimately ensure that the vendor is paid the right price.

The steps that happen along the way usually involve a lot of people and there are often change orders after the project is in production. So there are a lot of moving parts. When you are in the spreadsheet and email world, you rely heavily on people’s gray matter to insure that details are cared for, that boxes are checked, and that things are done in accordance with policy. Technology can effectively deal with all this complexity and transform workflow. For example, our eLynxx software allows organizations to streamline complex workflows and dependencies in a way that creates full accountability, transparency, and record keeping without adding friction. This allows our clients to embrace the complexity and deal with the workflow in a way that assures compliance. When people are freed from chasing tactical details, they’re able to focus on strategic actions.

Skip: Two questions that are somewhat related. First, what impact is the cloud going to have on how we do business and second, how will the cloud affect communications management?

Mike: The cloud is having a bigger impact on business every day. One obvious attraction point is that organizations don’t have the traditional investment in infrastructure and support costs. One common concern is that their information is being stored somewhere outside of their own four walls, so to speak. But we see a growing number of organizations, even ones who not long ago were averse, coming to embrace cloud-based solutions.

From an operations standpoint, I think the fundamental opportunity with the cloud is that it provides a means to access information, execute actions, and collaborate from anywhere, at any time. With our software, for example, all you need are internet access and credentials to login. This means people are no longer tethered to their desks or phones. The ability to see and do things from anywhere at any time makes people more productive.

Skip: Do you believe that more companies will be looking toward the software-as-a-service model?

Mike
: Absolutely. I think that not only will more companies look toward it, but those companies who are already using it will look to do more things with it. I foresee a day, not too far out, where the majority of activities are happening through cloud software.

Skip
: Compliance is a major issue for organizations. What challenges do organizations face and how have you been able to help them?

Mike
: In print procurement, the biggest challenge I see with verifying compliance is that it’s usually done on a spot-check basis. If an organization wants to pressure test whether they’re meeting compliance objectives, they have to pick random samples of jobs. The next step involves grabbing data in many forms from a lot of disparate systems. This often includes auditing email trails and may even require doing interviews to document recollection of phone conversations. So when compliance is monitored through a manual, spot-check process it’s time consuming and by definition incomplete.

What we have done with eLynxx software is insure that all jobs are managed through the same system allowing all activities, communications, and approvals to be indelibly captured in one place. Whether metrics or actions are based on time, quality or cost, our clients always have an up to date single repository. This not only affords uniform compliance monitoring, but it also means you can proactively see when a job is about to go out of compliance. It’s a very powerful business tool.

Skip: What is the importance of balancing compliance with operation efficiency?

Mike
: Getting back to my example of a more manually driven environment, if you want 100% compliance, the only way you get to that is by sampling 100% of the jobs. That means you have to add more personnel in the form of analysts and auditors. All that adds excessive administrative cost to the point where you can’t afford to get to 100% compliance. Compare that with using a purpose-built platform that automatically monitors and measures compliance as work is being done, not as a separate effort after the fact. Not only can balance be achieved, the return almost always exceeds the investment.

Skip: If I am looking for software, should I build it, buy it or both? What are the pluses and minuses?

Mike: I meet many organizations that have progressed beyond using spreadsheets to procure and manage custom print projects, often by creating an in-house system. The thing they have in common is they believe that if they build something they will get exactly what they want but not have to pay for things they don’t want or don’t need.

Now, if you’ve ever been involved in one of these projects, and I have, what you find more often than not is that, they take longer than anticipated to build, they end up costing more than expected, and you never end up with everything you’d hoped for. There’s also a requirement for operational people to be heavily involved in the design and acceptance testing which detracts from their ability to do their core jobs. So organizations typically end up dealing with trade-offs anyway, so what they get in the end is something that is less than 100% of what they wanted.

Assuming you get all this right in the first place, more unforeseen issues loom on the horizon. If they haven’t made a commitment to continually support and upgrade the software to meet their changing business needs then it will start to fall out of phase with requirements on day two. I have met organizations that are working with 10 year old home-grown systems and tell me that because it was never updated they’ve had to create numerous manual workarounds. It’s a back to the future scenario.
I think the advantage of buying it is that you are typically dealing first of all with software that was purpose-built for solving the common problems of many organizations. This brings broader perspective. And because the software is the core business of the provider, they are always looking to innovate and keep pace with changing market demands. Access to these upgrades typically comes at little to no cost to individual clients because the burden is shared across the provider’s entire client set. In the case of eLynxx software, for example, upgrades are included in the subscription price so our clients are always using current software.

The benefit in this regard, with eLynxx in particular, is that our software is designed to be tailored to fit each client’s specific business. By that I mean clients don’t have to change the way they do business to fit our software. Instead, our software is configured to fit the way they do business. That’s one of the many things that make eLynxx software unique in the marketplace.

Skip: Mike, thanks for taking the time to speak with me and share some additional thoughts and insights. Anyone wanting to learn more about eLynxx can go to their website at www.elynxx.com or can reach Mike at michael.jackson@elynxx.com.

Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award and Xplorer of the Year Presented at Xploration® 15

Lutz, FL — April 21, 2015: Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today named the recipients of the Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award and Xplorer of the Year. The two Xplor awards recognize individual contributions to the association and the industry in general. Both awards were presented at Xplor’s Annual Conference, Xploration® 15, on Tuesday, April 14.

Tweet this: Xplorer of the Year and Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients Recognized at Xploration® 15 http://ow.ly/LVCLm #Xplor15

The Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2007 and is given to an individual whose efforts and contributions have significantly changed the course and development of the digital document industry. This award is open to Xplor International members as well as non-members.

This year’s Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award goes to two recipients, both very different in terms of their accomplishments and contributions to the industry:

Malcolm Keif, PHD is Professor and Graduate Coordinator for the Printed Electronics & Functional Imaging program at Cal Poly State University Graphic Communication Department and Denise Miano, EDP, is President, CTO, and Founder of NEPS LLC.

“I am honored to present the Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement Award to these two outstanding individuals” says Skip Henk, President & CEO of Xplor International. “Both have provided unique contributions to the industry which if expounded upon would necessitate a small book.”

The Xplorer of the Year Award is one of the association’s most prestigious recognitions. It honors an individual’s outstanding service to the Association, dedication to the Xplor mission and notable achievements promoting the interest of the electronic document systems industry. Only current members of Xplor International, who are not on the Association Board of Directors, are eligible.

This year’s Xplorer of the Year is Roberta McKee-Jackson, EDP. “Roberta has been involved with Xplor since 1984 and has been involved both as a staff member and for many years as a volunteer” says Skip Henk, EDP, Xplor’s President and CEO, “Her contribution to the association over the years have been responsible for the success and expansion of many Xplor programs.”

Other Xplor annual awards, recognized and announced at Xploration® 15 include:

Application of the Year Award
Winner: Crawford Technologies and the City of Glendale
Honorable Mentions: BlueToad Inc and Canon Solutions America

Technology Application Award
Winner: GMC Software Technology
Honorable Mentions: Ultimate TechnoGraphics/Ultimate Bindery and AccuZIP/LIVINGMAIL

Chairman’s Award
Winner: The Xplor International Staff


 

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. Further information is available at www.xplor.org.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

Xplor Announces 2015 Technology and Application Award Recipients

Award Recipients to Be Recognized in Orlando at Xploration® 15

Lutz, FL — March 25, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced the recipients of its 2015 Technology and Application of the Year Awards. The awards will be presented at a ceremony Tuesday, April 14, 2015, during the Xploration® 15 event at the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive in Orlando, Florida.

Tweet this: #Xplor15 Tech & App Award Winners: @CrawfordTechInc @gmc_net @BlueToadinc @Canon_Solutions @accuzip @PrintImposition http://ow.ly/KGOex

Application of the Year Award:
The Application of the Year Award is presented to an individual, a company or an organization to recognize outstanding achievement in the imaginative application of current technology and/or unique implementation of existing document and communication systems. This award is open to members and non-members.

Xplor will award two honorable mentions in addition to the 2015 winner.

  • The 2nd Honorable Mention is being awarded to Bluetoad, Inc., an Orlando based digital publishing software company, for utilizing their digital publishing platform that assists the healthcare industry in delivering personalized digital editions of customer-facing documents.
  • The 1st Honorable Mention is being awarded to Canon Solutions America’s published “Designers’ Guide to Inkjet”. The guide is a comprehensive resource for agency and in-house designers that provides guiding principles, best practices, and real-world recommendations related to the exciting world of inkjet.

The winner of the 2015 Xplor Application of the Year is the City of Glendale and Crawford Technologies. Utilizing Crawford’s RIPTIDE product, the City of Glendale was able to automate the distribution and output management of case files stored in the repository.

In the words of the Glendale city government project manager, “the RIPTIDE solution made all the difference, changing ‘days and hours’ of work into ‘minutes and seconds’” as the tasks of copying, collation, and hand stamping were eliminated. One of the key results was that staff was able to be reallocated to more productive tasks. 

Technology of the Year Award:
The Technology of the Year Award honors an individual, company or organization that has conceived and developed an original concept leading to a significant advancement in the industry.  This can be a new program, product, or technology that notably enhances the capabilities of document and communication systems.

Like the Application of the Year award, Xplor will present two honorable mentions, in addition to the winner of the award, due to the large number of submissions.

  • The 2nd Honorable Mention for the Technology of the Year Award is being awarded to Ultimate TechnoGraphics/Ultimate Bindery. Ultimate Bindery provides a unique and new value to document production with software dedicated to bridging the gap between prepress and printing processes with the final stage of production.
  • The 1st Honorable Mention for the Xplor Technology of the year award is being awarded to AccuZIP/LIVINGMAIL. LIVINGMAIL allows mailers to send automatic voice messages, texts, and/or e-mails to the mail recipients with customizable scheduling. All of these communications are triggered off of an IMb and/or QR code on the mail piece.

The winner of the 2015 Xplor Technology of the Year is being awarded to GMC Software Technology for their Inspire Dynamic Communications. Inspire Dynamic Communication enables the creation of immersive, digital customer statements that deliver intuitive and attractive charts, graphs and other graphical representations of customer financial information.

Inspire Dynamic Communications fully addresses the rapidly-growing demand for relevant information while on the go, delivering optimized and abbreviated experiences based on user context.

“Once again the Awards Committee had the difficult task of selecting the companies and individuals to be recognized as each submission represented compelling technologies and their use.” said Skip Henk, EDP, President and CEO of Xplor International. “We thank everyone who submitted a nomination as well as the efforts and commitment of the Awards Committee.”

Xplor International will also be announcing the recipients of the Xplorer of the Year and Brian Platte Lifetime Achievement awards at Xploration® 15 on Tuesday, April 14, 2015

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world. 

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:

Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org

After 5 … People Do Amazing Things

Submitted by Skip Henk, EDP, President/CEO of Xplor International
March 19, 2015

After writing about technology I decided to deviate a little and talk about some of the amazing people in our industry that do amazing things, for others, after 5 (and on weekends).

A few weeks ago I was honored to speak at the Neopost USA sales kick off meeting in Dallas, Texas. I spent three days with hundreds of people from across the country, observing first hand who Neopost was, their culture, and the people that drive the success of the company.

Mike BogadAfter 5
At the end of the day a group of us met in the pub to relax a bit which is when I met Mike Bogad, Director of CCM Channel Development.  After talking about his role in Neopost, our conversation drifted from work to our families and onto the things we do outside of work. Mike spoke passionately about his support of The St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a volunteer-driven charity committed to funding the most promising research to find cures for childhood cancers, providing survivors long, healthy lives.

His involvement started when a high school friend invited him to a “shave event.”  His friend’s son played hockey with a boy named Dawson who died from childhood cancer. Mike is on one of the hundreds of teams across the US who help raise money for childhood cancer research. His team, Dawson Hairless Heroes, is based St. Louis, Missouri.

What differentiates being a member of the “Dawson Hairless Heroes” is that some of the more daring ones volunteer to have their head shaved by participating in “the shave event”. Mike is one of those daring individuals.

Amazing Things
Already in his fourth year, Mike’s goal for 2015 was to raise $7525. He finished at $8750, 121% of his goal and secured the #4 spot in fundraising out of 613 “shaves”!  Their event raised 500K. On Saturday, March 7th at 4:45 pm, he stood in solidarity with kids being treated for cancer and had his head shaved!

In Mike’s words, “When I started 4 years ago, I never imagined we could surpass $3000, now we’re over $8,000! My involvement is because of a friend who invited me to a shave, I knew I had a lot great friends that would help!  Since then, families we know and love have been impacted, thus pressing me forward to remain involved.”

This year’s event is over but the need still exists. To learn more about St. Baldricks visit www.StBaldricks.org or if you would like to visit Mike’s site go to http://www.stbaldricks.org/participants/mypage/739394/2015

To Mike Bogad and all the others in our industry that do great things after 5, thank you.

Next up …. Ken Leslie, (Former Xplor Chair) and founder of 1Matters.org ,whose mission is to house as many homeless veterans nationally as they can, as fast as they can


skip_Henk_Photo_2011

 

Skip Henk, EDP
President/CEO
Xplor International

Xploration® 15 Expands Vendor Forum Participants

Thirteen New Companies Join Xploration Vendor Forum

Lutz, FLMarch 18, 2015 – Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association, today announced the addition of thirteen new participating companies as part of the Xploration® 15 Vendor Forum. Xploration® 15 is being held April 14-16, 2015 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive.

The Xploration vendor forum has sold out the last four years and currently has only one remaining booth available.

Joining Xploration for the first time in 2015:

  • 360 Advanced
  • Accuzip, Inc.
  • BCC Software
  • B.L. Fletcher & Associates
  • Business Forms Management Assoc.
  • BlueToad
  • Ecrion
  • Indellient, Inc.
  • Level One
  • PDF Associations
  • Satori Software
  • Ultimate TechnoGraphics

“The electronic document and customer communication industry continues to change, driving the need for Xplor to expose our members and the industry to the latest in technology and best practices”, said Skip Henk, EDP, President and CEO of Xplor International. “Our new Vendor Forum participants support Xplor’s expansion of our document and educational space and represent a broad and expanding offering of products and services.”

Returning to the Xploration Vendor Forum:

  • Bell and Howell
  • Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
  • Canon Solutions America, Inc.
  • Crawford Technologies
  • Doxee
  • Eclipse Corporation
  • Essociates Group, Inc.
  • FIS
  • GMC Software Technology
  • HP
  • ISIS Papyrus
  • Mail-Gard
  • MPI Tech
  • Neopost USA
  • NEPS, LLC
  • Oracle
  • Prinova
  • RenderX
  • Ricoh Americas Corporation
  • Riso, Inc.
  • Sefas
  • Solimar Systems, Inc.
  • Transformations
  • Xerox Corporation

Registration to the three-day event (April 14-16) includes access to all 60+ educational sessions, panels, keynotes, general sessions, and daily networking events that include two lunches and a breakfast on Thursday.

For more information, or to register to Xploration 15, please visit the conference website: www.cvent.com/d/l4qklv

Vendors interested in sponsoring or exhibitor should contact Xplor’s Director of Sales, Deborah Green at +1-770-444-3845 or deborahgreen1@earthlink.net.

About Xplor International
Xplor International is a worldwide, not-for-profit professional association that consists of thousands of users and suppliers of the products and services that create, modify and deliver customized information using a wide variety of document technologies. The association provides educational products and programs for its members and the industry at large through conferences, meetings and annual events. Xplor International has its worldwide headquarters in Lutz, Florida, with affiliated offices around the world.

Facebook: facebook.com/XplorInternational
Twitter: @Xplor_Int

Xplor International Media Contact:
Chad Henk, EDA
Marketing Coordinator
+1-813-949-6171
Chad@xplor.org