We turned 30 last month (Happy Birthday to us) and I was invited to the party! Our 30th anniversary celebration was a week-long, action-packed celebration attended by employees, friends, customers and colleagues held at the company’s headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan. That’s right, JAPAN, also known as “Sushi Heaven” to some of the party-goers! Honored guests included 16 regional finalists from the Roland DG Creative Awards (chosen from the 1193 entries received from 120 countries) as well as representatives from each of the participating Roland DG offices around the world. Altogether, there were about 50 of us.

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Votes have been counted, and samples have been securely packed. While the Roland DG Creative Awards have been closed to entries for months now, final judging hasn’t taken place yet. In the next few days, regional winners from around the world will be headed to our headquarters in Japan for a tour, celebration, and awarding of the grand prizes, which include Roland DG hardware.

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ISA, our biggest show of the year, came early this year and we had a good show! We won 3 awards for top products: LEJ-640 & Matte & Glossy Backlit Film. Attendance was similar to 2-years ago when were previously in Orlando, but we had a bigger booth, more products, got more leads and do what we do best – put on a bigger & better show every year.

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Let’s face it, as hard as we try, we all occasionally mess up. A product doesn’t get delivered on time, or it’s not the item that was ordered. At such times, it’s all too easy to lose a customer, or worse — have the issue blown all out of proportion in social media. I believe such incidents, if they’re handled right, offer an opportunity to actually gain an even stronger customer relationship, one that can result in very positive social media expression.

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The shirt-maker. That’s what we’re calling the BN-20 now-a-days thanks to some recent conversations heard around the office. Turns out the young BN-20 VersaStudio (only 8 months old now) is making a splash in the decorated apparel market as a T-Shirt printer. You should have seen the crowds at our booth at ISS Long Beach last week. Everyone wanted a glimpse and a sample and some more info. They were 4 deep and blocking the aisle!

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Hello, and welcome to 2012! I got a simple email that really got me thinking more about how sign companies can focus on differentiating from the competition. Below is the question, and my response.

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Unless you’ve been meditating on a mountain top in Tibet, you’ve heard about Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant included with the Apple iPhone 4S. Ask Siri to find a restaurant, make a call, or when your next appointment is, and she’ll respond appropriately. Recently, I’ve also had the opportunity to try out Kinect, the motion-sensing input device included with Microsoft’s Xbox console. Both Siri and Kinect offer user interfaces that are charming, intelligent and easy to use.

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Here in the US, the 2012 elections are almost a year away, but you can vote for Roland DG right now in what will also undoubtedly be a hotly contested race. Don’t worry, I’ll never use this space to discuss politics, but Roland DG products have been nominated for the 2012 Wide Format Imaging Readers’ Choice Top Product Awards in 5 categories.

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Well, it’s that time of year again. Among all the shopping, parties, sporting events, and other distractions, here at Roland DGA we’ve spent the last few months forecasting our sales and formulating strategies for 2012.

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We recently conducted a survey of our users who have “metallic capable” devices from our lineup, and we found some amazing nuggets I’d like to share. The survey was sent to 500+ users, with a 29% response rate, enough that the results are statistically significant. For starters, 61% of those units are set up to run our metallic Eco Sol Max inks.

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