New
Laws Will Impact MD Members
The General Assembly of Maryland passed
810 bills this year. Which new laws will impact your business?
Find out in PGAMA's annual recap of local legislative sessions, the e-newsletter "Print
Politics." Among the summary of laws passed you will find out
about those that will:
- Prohibit drivers (including your delivery
drivers) from using a handheld phone while vehicles are in motion
- Change your company Unemployment Insurance
payment structure
- Give you $5,00 tax credit for each new employee
hired between March 25, 2010, and December 31, 2010
Look for full details on these and other
legislative actions in the 2010 edition of Print Politics, coming in May!
10
Things to Ask in A Telephone
Reference Check
As
business activity begins to pickup, some firms are looking to hire
employees. Here are some tips from Printing Industries of America's Jim
Kyger, which can be used for telephone reference checks. After
confirming the identity, dates of employment and relevant experience of the
individual, these are the most important questions to ask:
- What was the employee’s last salary? Did he or she always receive
merit increases? Did his or her salary include bonuses, incentives, or
overtime?
- Is the employee honest in your opinion?
- Was it easy to replace him or her?
- Since he or she was such a good employee [if, in fact, that is the reference],
why didn’t your company try to keep him or her from leaving?
- Given that none of us are perfect, what would you say his or her shortcomings
were?
- Did the employee get along with all of his or her coworkers? If not,
what factors led up to the conflict?
- How did the employee come to work for your organization?
- Can I take a moment to read you the part of the employee’s resume
that describes his or her job with you? [After reading the section] Is
that a correct description?
- Is this person eligible for re-hire?
- Does this person have disciplinary memos in their file? Can you
disclose the topic? Did the employee correct the issue to the company’s
satisfaction?
What
Does FedEx Save You?
Thanks to your PGAMA membership, you are eligible
for special savings on
FedEx Shipping Services. But what are the hard numbers of that
savings? Here is a sample of the cash you keep:
Service |
|
|
|
| FedEx Priority Overnight envelope |
$15.35 |
26% |
$11.36 |
| FedEx International Priority envelope |
$37.25 |
18% |
$30.54 |
FedEx Ground
35 lb. package |
$9.54 |
15% |
$8.11 |
*Rates do not include pickup fees or other surcharges.
Rates assume that shipping does not qualify for daily pickup.
Not yet signed up for your FedEx discount?
Call
PGAMA for an enrollment form, 410-319-0900/877-319-0906.
A
$500,000 Lesson
Printing can be dangerous work! Consider
this story of a job gone bad from a member of another
affiliate. The member prints a promotional piece that contains
a typo which promised more than the client intended. After
the original mailing went out, the client decided to send
a coupon worth a dollar to the 500,000 customers who received
the errant promo piece, and then the client demanded that
the printer pay the $500K!
Could this happen
to you? You betcha. The printer in this story had no clear
evidence that the client had read and approved the first
piece. More importantly, conditions of sale excluding consequential
damages had not been established by the printer and properly
communicated to the client in advance. So the lesson is,
establish terms and conditions of sale NOW. A good starting
point is the Best Business Practices outline posted in the
Members Only section of pgama.com (http://pgama.com/members/pdf/2009%20Best%20Business%20Practices.pdf. Member
login and password required.) After you've customized them
to fit your business, notify all your clients in writing
about their existence with a note that explains you want
to avoid misunderstandings and conflicts. The terms should
also be incorporated into your credit applications and quotation
forms.
Finally, be sure to obtain Errors and Omissions Insurance
(E&O). Even careful management and proper documentation can't
fully protect you from major problems, so if you want to sleep
at night, E&O coverage is a must. PGAMA partner Utica Insurance
offers this type of protection. For more information, call
Vinny Allen, 703-518-1308, cell: 240-271-2516.
Don't
Play the Blame Game
If you’ve got a "blamer"
on your staff, watch out. This type of employee
not only wastes valuable time and has trouble learning from
mistakes; but could also infect other workers with the blaming
mentality. A recent study by USC’s
Marshall School of Business professor Nathanael Fast and
Stanford business school professor Larissa Tiedens found
that blame is highly contagious, and exposure to a blamer
makes the rest of the group likely to follow his or her lead.
Fortunately, there’s a way to keep
finger pointing from spreading among your
staff. Executive coach Barbara Roche suggests using the 'Appreciative
Inquiry' approach — a process
that builds organizations around what works, as opposed to
fixing what doesn’t. She gets team members talking
about each other’s unique strengths and attributes.
Then she asks each to explain what they need to do their
jobs. Significantly, she doesn’t ask anyone to list
what others lack — a question that could lead to blaming.
To
foster a culture where blame isn’t welcome, begin with
yourself. Acknowledge your mistakes publicly. Everyone makes
them, and your team may as well learn from yours, as well
as their own. Ban public blaming (if someone really screws
up, discuss it with them privately). But compliment generously.
These practices up the odds that your employees will feel
safe enough to accept responsibility when things go wrong — and
productively move forward.
Article excerpted from "How to Stop Employees From Passing
the Buck" by Adriana Gardella, first published on bnet.com.
Coming
Soon to Adobe CS5
A
future version of Adobe Photoshop CS5 could have some rather
eye-popping technology for synthesizing texture. Basically,
the new tool will allow designers to alter or create reality
in photographs as easily as selecting an area and running
the feature. Talk about a 'healing brush!" Check out the
amazingly easy effect in a sneak peek demonstration at
the unofficial Adobe CS5 blog at http://cs5.org/?p=624
Member
News & Activities
The Baltimore Business Journal hosted its annual Green Business
awards luncheon April 15 at the Marriott Inner Harbor to
recognize local companies embracing green policies and procedures.
Among the companies recognized was Harris
Lithographics, which earned a first place award
in the Green Entrepreneur category. Congrats to all of the
staff!
Whitmore Group has
become a sponsor of The Print Council, citing the need
to raise awareness of print’s effectiveness and sustainability.
According to company President Jay Goldscher, the company
became a sponsor to help battle "...the general public’s
misinformation about the value of print and its impact on
planet earth.”
Congratulations to DirectMail.com.
The company is celebrating its 40th anniversary
of founding and continuous family ownership.
Automated Graphic Systems
(AGS) plans to install a Kodak Prosper
5000XL press at the company’s facility
in White Plains, Maryland. The equipment will enable
AGS to market full-color, on-demand publishing to its
current commercial printing customers.
Upcoming
Events
| April 29 |
Webinar:
Avoiding Combustible Dust Citations, 2:00-3:00pm.
A new National Emphasis Program (NEP) by OSHA
focuses specifically on combustible dust hazards
for general industry, including printers, and
has been triggering numerous OSHA inspections
and citations on printers under a variety of
standards including general housekeeping, hazard
communication, and hazardous locations. OSHA
citations have been issued for operations with
dust accumulation exceeding just 1/32 of an inch!
This program is designed to help printers understand
the scope of the new program and how to avoid
falling victim to citation and penalties. Presented
by Rick Hartwig, Environmental, Health, and Safety
Affairs Manager for Printing Industries of America.
Cost is $99 for members/$199 for non-members.
More details and register at http://www.printing.org/node/6034. |
May 16-19
Baltimore Show! |
2010
PIFE Spring Conference, Baltimore
Hilton, Baltimore, Maryland. Come meet and
network with other finance professionals, plus
find out about the latest technologies and
keys to profitability to help successfully
manage your company’s
finance and administration functions. PIFE
meetings provide continuing education credits.
Learn more at http://www.printing.org/event-calendar/5642. |
May 17-19
Baltimore Show! |
2010
Offset & Beyond,
Baltimore
Hilton, Baltimore, Maryland. Attend
to get the resources, tools, and connections
you need to succeed. Offset & Beyond
offers topics that cover business opportunities
and trends, comprehensive technology, production,
digital, sales, marketing, and financial sessions
via leadership, operations, and production
tracks. Learn more at http://www.printing.org/offsetandbeyond |
May 17-19
Baltimore Show! |
2010
BIA Mid Management Conference, Baltimore
Hilton, Baltimore, Maryland. The BIA Mid-Management
Conference brings together mid-managers from
trade binderies, graphic finishing, information
packaging, custom loose-leaf manufacturing,
and the suppliers to those industries. Be prepared
for a blitz of information, new products and
ideas, as well as unparalleled networking with
your peers from around the world. Plant tours
featuring PGAMA members, too! Learn more at http://www.printing.org/event-calendar/5946. |
May 24-26
Baltimore Show! |
PSDA
Print Solutions Conference & Expo, Baltimore
Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland. The
Print Solutions Conference & Expo is the
only national trade show focused on supporting
printing professionals who buy print and print
services for resale or distribution to an end-user
customer. In the mix of large trade shows held
throughout the year, this is the only show
targeting this specific niche of printing professionals.
The Print Solutions Conference & Expo
is for anyone directly responsible for buying
or influencing the buying of print. Learn more
and register to attend at http://www.printsolutionsshow.com/ |
June 14
|
PGAMA's
5th Annual Golf Outing, at Crofton
Country Club in Crofton,
Maryland. PGAMA’s annual golf outing
is the perfect place to make contacts with
fellow members and other professionals. There’s
also excellent food, awards, and cash prizes*
so recruit a foursome, polish your swing, and
prepare for a challenging game on this Arnold
Palmer course. *Prizes are given for Longest
Drive, Closest to Pin, Hole in One, and Putting.
Register by May 7 and pay $135 per
person for golf, breakfast & lunch. After
5/7 pay $150 per person. (Lunch/awards only
is $45 per person.) To Register: Call the office,
410-319-0900/877-319-0906. Sponsors
Welcome! Call PGAMA for more info, 410-319-0900. |
|
