About 100 people attended the Opportunities Lunch Panel at Graph Expo Oct. 27.

The Opportunity Panel, from left, Dr. Joe Webb, Gina Testa, Larry Zusman and Gavin Jordan-Smith.

Traffic at Graph Expo in Chicago was a little slower than in recent years, but nearly everyone visiting the Xerox booth was a highly qualified customer or prospect. Apparently, those who made the investment to attend the show were the serious customers in search of opportunities in our suddenly shaky and unpredictable economy.

And the place to learn about opportunities at Graph Expo was “The Opportunities Panel” — billed as a “power lunch with Xerox and the PIA/GATF” — on Oct. 27 at the McCormick Hyatt Regency adjoining the show. About 100 print providers packed the room to hear the thoughts of a panel of experts led by Gavin Jordan-Smith, Xerox vice president, Commercial Print and Prepress Segments.

The panel reprised a session we held at On Demand with the same panelists: Dr. Joe Webb, industry consultant and director of WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center; Larry Zusman, manager, Worldwide Marketing, XMPie, Inc.; and me. I manage Xerox business development programs.

Of course, circumstances were very different this past spring. At that time, said Jordan-Smith, “We knew a recession was coming, but we didn’t know if would be this bad. The question is, ‘How do print providers adjust to find the opportunities?’”

My view is that crises typically present some of the greatest opportunities. As I said on the panel, we don’t like to change unless we have to. A crisis can make people re-think and re-strategize their business, and to invest in areas that lead to growth, rather than being complacent. The three areas where our industry has the greatest opportunities to improve are with lean manufacturing to eliminate waste, MIS systems to get a better understanding of their profitability, and by marketing themselves.

Dr. Joe brought an economists perspective. “It’s easy for people to become obsessed with the economy,” he said. “But you don’t do that for yourself, you do it for your customers. Few times come along like this, when you can lift an organization’s burdens and help them. The economy is something we navigate, not something to fear.”

Larry Zusman reminded us to continue tracking new technologies for opportunities. “We have to get smart about what’s going in the under-25 world,” he said. “From a teen’s perspective, Facebook is like what Google is to us,” and as the new generation enters the business world, they’re likely to bring Facebook with them. “You can’t ignore it, because it’s not ignoring us,” he said.

Our consensus: The low hanging fruit may have been picked, but for those who prepare, strategize and continue to invest, many opportunities remain.

Gina Testa
Vice President, Channel and Customer Business Development
Production Systems Group, Xerox Corporation