04.15.14
This year’s theme, “Break the Mold,” was exemplified by a personalized educational environment. Attendees were able to participate in seminars that met their individual business needs and interests.
“Dscoop9 inspired our members to break the mold like never before, while we broke attendance records,” says Gary Garner, Dscoop9 chairman and CEO of GLS Companies. “Every session was designed to be relevant to a particular job function – business owner, sales and marketing professional or operational and production team member – so everyone’s top priorities and challenges were addressed. Members walked away with great ideas and insights from peers and industry experts that they could immediately put into practice.”
Dscoop University, which officially debuted on the first day of the conference, aims to provide members with a year-round educational industry resource. Designed with the input of Dscoop members for their exclusive use, Dscoop University provides industry-specific, personalized education focused on enhancing business strategy and growth.
According to organizers, Dscoop University offers a highly personalized and practical curriculum in a blended learning environment; members have access to online learning, downloadable training materials and instructor-led courses. At Dscoop9, educational sessions were also live-streamed to enable more global members to learn and interact virtually.
A blended learning environment, Dscoop University portal offers 24/7 access to training courses, on-demand content, live-streaming and downloadable resources. The curriculum available is tailored for specific job functions – business owners, sales and marketing professionals and operations and production team members.
Some of the current Dscoop University courses available include, Finding and Retaining the Right Sales People; Solution Selling: Creating New Opportunities; Identifying and Reaching Decision-Makers; Maximizing Production & Reducing Costs by Eliminating Wastes; and How to Increase Productivity, Accelerate Cycle Times, Lower Costs and Improve Bottom Line with EPM.
In addition to the introduction of Dscoop University, highlights of this year’s show included:
- The largest Solutions Showcase in conference history featuring the latest printing technologies and products from a record 100 partners and over 36,500 sq. ft.
- More than 1,100 demos of HP’s Latex 3000 and 260 and Designjet Z6200 and Z3200 presses over the course of three days
- First public demo in the Americas of the HP Indigo 30000 digital press, which enables new carton folding applications
- The announcement of the new Tell Your Story Sales Program, a program leveraging sales techniques, tools, over 100 digital assets, videos and PowerPoints to help HP Graphic Arts business owners to more effectively communicate and partner with their customers to achieve mutual success.
- Two opening keynote speakers: Business consultant Scott Stratten provided his original take on viral, social and authentic marketing, which he calls “un-marketing,” and business thought leader and best-selling author Jason Jennings shared his five growth secrets of the world’s best performing companies and leaders.
- The presentation of the 2014 Jack Glacken Award for outstanding contributions to the Dscoop community to Chris Petro, president and CEO of GlobalSoft Digital Solutions and Mark Sarpa, CEO of Progressive Solutions.
- A closing presentation from Alon Bar-Shany, VP and general manager for HP Indigo Division, who provided attendees with global digital print industry insights.
“Dscoop9 exceeded our expectations, and most importantly, those of our members,” says Mike Fogarty, Dscoop Global Executive Director. “With the unveiling of Dscoop University and the Tell Your Story Sales Program, they left knowing they don’t have to wait for a conference to learn how to succeed in the digital print industry.“