It’s been 5 months since the country of Japan was turned upside down by a pair of natural disasters and a nuclear crisis. [See Dave’s Blog immediately following the crisis “The Sun Will Rise Again] While the world headlines have turned their attention elsewhere, the Japanese people are still dealing with the consequences and working on recovery day by day.

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I recently sat down with Tom Tetreault from Digital Output Magazine at ISA and talked about our outlook on the industry. While only parts of this interview are incorporated into the publication’s “State of the Industry” article series, I thought I’d share the entire interview here

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We recently updated the home page of our web site at Roland DGA. It sounds simple enough to do, but the reality was quite different.

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After a break that stretched too many years, I have been riding my bike a lot lately. Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a preachy post about the value of exercise, or good nutrition. There’s a lot out there on that, and everyone should make their own choices in life. No one who has met me would mistake me for a long-lost Schleck brother, and I’ve got a very long way to go before anyone’s likely to ask me for fitness advice.

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Every summer we head to Japan for what we affectionately call, Summer Camp. The similarity it has with most summer camps is that it's typically very hot & humid in Japan at this time of the year, about 85 degrees and 85% humidity!

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In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, Barnes & Noble was commended for their innovation and risk taking in their attempts to revive the struggling book business. They are fearlessly expanding their offering and moving away from selling printed books. The author equates this strategy to that of the dairy farmer who acquires a second cow instead of trying to get more milk out of his single cow. Its the same in durable graphics inkjet printing: if the only products in your catalog are PVC banners and stickers, printing them faster and cheaper won't expand your profits. You'll simply spend more of your time figuring out how to milk the same cow harder and faster while your business (and your profit) shrinks. Simply put, you need more cows.

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It was announced recently in the news that McDonald's had received a letter in the form of full-page ads signed by 550 health professionals and organizations demanding that they stop marketing to kids and retire Ronald McDonald. My overall impression is that we've given up on moms and dads taking responsibility for what their children eat.

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So we were preparing for a show the other day – the Dieline Conference. Our creative team came up with a great design for our booth and Bryan in our service bureau went to work creating it. The design required a second-surface image on clear acrylic. The chosen tool for the job? The VersaUV LEJ-640 flatbed/roll to roll hybrid printer of course. Only one problem. Our VersaUV was out on the road at a few tradeshows. Second choice? Print to high gloss paper and apply it facedown (2nd surface) to the acrylic using an extremely thin, double-sided adhesive, optically clear laminate. Piece of cake!

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Attached is a survey that ISA recently distributed that I think you’ll find interesting, and a very positive outlook for the sign business going forward. It was compiled after ISA spoke to 200+ CEO’s or shop managers at the recent 2011 ISA show.

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Though many consider laminating a dark art, here are a few easy-to-follow best practices for great results.

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