Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC between 1973 and 1974, co-invented by Robert Metcalfe, David Boggs, Chuck Thacker and Butler Lampson. Today, we’re accustomed to being able to navigate from one site to another and download and upload files quickly, but this infant Ethernet wasn’t very fast. Luckily for us, the speed has increased by an order of magnitude about every 10 years or less: 10Mbps in 1973-83, 100Mbps in 1993, 1G in 1998, 10G in 2002 and 100G in 2013. Does that mean we’ll see Terabit Ethernet in 2023? IEEE (standards organization) recently launched a study group to explore the development of a 400Gbps Ethernet. So, if the current pattern continues, we can expect to see terabit Ethernet ratified in 2023-24 after a new study group forms in 2019-20…and then 10T Ethernet 10 years after that, then 100T, and then Petabit Ethernet 40 years after Ethernet’s Gbit 40th Anniversary! Today, it’s hard to conceive what it would be like to navigate at that speed, but in a handful of decades, it may very well be just as expected as 100G is today.

Want to know more about Xerox PARC’s accomplishments? Check out these links:

Content-Centric Networking Protocol

Flexible and Printing Electronics, FPE (Speaking of the future, who knows, maybe XMPie will print personalized computers on iGENs!)

Enjoy!

Its only been a year since XMPie released their video personalization solution and changed the way service providers and their clients use 1:1 cinematic-quality movies to deliver rich multimedia content to desktop and mobile devices. Now, industries such as the automotive, financial services, education, non-profit, and travel and hospitality industries have taken notice and are engaged in on-going campaigns using XMPie-driven personalized videos. Response. Results. Rewind.

The time is right now to learn more about personalized videos and why marketing service providers, ad agencies and enterprise marketers are embracing and investing in this new media. Don’t’ miss our Webinar on May 21st @ 11 am EDT on Video Personalization. We will show many campaign video samples — even ones with personalized maps, too.

Nirvana is only a click away. See the registration link below.

http://bit.ly/11MpHo3

Adobe recently communicated a strategic decision to accelerate their shift to Creative Cloud (CC) solutions.  With these latest announcements some of our customers have had questions regarding the ability of XMPie products to continue to integrate seamlessly with the Adobe Apps.  With the introduction of Creative Cloud, Adobe has effectively launched a new software versioning and licensing system. The purpose of this communiqué is to offer some clarity regarding this new model of software delivery and how it may impact XMPie customers.

Adobe Continues to Support CS 6
Currently Adobe is continuing to sell, support, and maintain CS 6 in their traditional “pre-cloud” mode. Therefore, we want to reassure you that Adobe’s move to CC does not currently impact your ability to use our software together with theirs, if you are using CS 6 and XMPie version 6.0 or higher.

Some General Facts on Creative Cloud
Adobe CC has been in the market for a year now and thus far, we have found no negative impact to our customers.  Although these are “cloud-based” Apps, Adobe CC members still download, install and run them as desktop applications on their hard drives.  The current version of CC is, in fact, CS 6, so again – there should be no impact to our customers, even if they choose to use the new Adobe CC.

We are aware that going forward, Adobe software updates will be more frequent.  As was the case with all new versions of Adobe CS software, XMPie will endeavor to keep a cadence of releases that will enable customers to take advantage of more frequent CC updates, while still assuring a high level of integrity and reliability with the XMPie software suite.

The Adobe InDesign Server software, which is included with some of our server-class products, is compatible with the currently shipping version of InDesign, InDesign CS 6.   When InDesign CC becomes available, we will continue to coordinate with Adobe with regard to handling compatibility.

It is worthy to note that updates of the Adobe CC software are not automatic. As customers use CC software, they will occasionally receive Adobe notifications that a newer version is available and it will be up to the users to decide whether they want to download it or not. XMPie will find the right mechanism to inform customers whether a new version is supported or not.  An advantage to the new CC is that downloading a newer version does not eliminate or disable the previous software version.

Our Commitment to Customers
The latest Adobe strategic announcements have been kept confidential, hence we, and you — our customers, partners, resellers — heard of the change at the same time. Therefore, there could not have been any preparatory action or communication from us to you, prior to their statements.

That said, we are continuing to keep on top of all the possible implications of Adobe’s announcement.  With our strong Adobe partnership, and deep commitment to our customers, we are confident that XMPie will be able to adapt to this new model of software delivery and continue to assure a high level of customer satisfaction.

Like all great innovators, he was a person of vision, driven by relentless ambitions to manifest it, even if it meant challenging the prevailing norms of the industry. As testament to his innovation and entrepreneurship stand two of the companies he founded: Scitex and EFI.

The story of Scitex’s inception, a company that redefined the pre-press and graphic arts industries launching them into the digital age, revolves around Efi’s brilliant way of identifying opportunities for innovation in places where no one else did.

Efi noticed that the Color Separation Scanner consists of two tightly coupled, yet functionally different devices: a scanner, which converts the input color slide to a digital image; and a plotter, which prints the individual separation films (one each for C, M, Y, and K). Efi ingeniously concluded that by decoupling the scanner and the plotter, they could be connected through a general purpose computer; the computer, in turn, would read-in the scanned image-data, process it, and drive the plotter to create the color separation films.

By transforming the Color Separation Scanner into a system with a computer, a scanner, and a film output device, Scitex led the industry out of the dark rooms and into the modern era of computers. Films, glue, solvents, and fumes were replaced by color bitmapped displays and interactive image editing software. The black art of adjusting the knobs of the Color Separation Scanner was replaced by interactive color correction software and a suite of human-friendly software tools. Film output was now independent of the scanning process, allowing for unprecedented workflow and efficiency improvements across the industry. All of these innovations paved the way for the desktop publishing revolution.

In the late 80’s Efi Arazi left Scitex and founded Electronics for Imaging (EFI). Efi understood that several key innovations — the Mac, the Laserwriter, Adobe Postscript, and Aldus Pagemaker — could be used together to replace, in effect, Scitex’s systems. Although, at that time, desktop publishing was only used for entry-level applications, Efi knew that eventually it would become a disruptive threat to the company; nevertheless, he felt he could not cope with it from within Scitex, and therefore decided to move on.

Behind EFI’s commercial success lies, yet again, Efi’s unique way of discerning where innovation could be leveraged. Canon’s CLC 500 was branded, at the time, as a high-end color copier.  Efi, however, quickly realized that the CLC 500’s scanning and printing units are connected through digital data and control paths. Decoupling the two, inserting a general-purpose computer between them, and connecting this computer to the desktop publishing network, would transform the CLC 500 from a copier to a high-quality color-printer. And thus, the Fiery was born, EFI’s greatest commercial success.

Efi’s grand vision for EFI was Color Portability: to take the idea of WYSIWYG, the hallmark of desktop publishing, and make it valid for color. As it turned out though, Color Portability was commercially less successful. Yet, indirectly, it was the instigator of the award-winning Cachet Color Editor. It also served as the cornerstone from which key investments and business relationships were built, such as with Adobe, Apple, Canon, Xerox, Kodak, and others.

Efi was a master of creating and leveraging patents. His ability to maneuver between business contentions and collaborations with equal finesse, was remarkable. At the early days of EFI, seeing Efi doing everything by himself — without secretaries, administration, or marketing personnel — was a telling experience. After all, just few months back he was the guy running Scitex, a company with a turnover north of $0.5B, and more than 4,000 employees world-wide. His willingness to regress to start-up conditions — going to Kinko’s and making copies of a presentation before going to meet Steve Jobs to “educate” him about Color Portability — was indicative of his audacious mentality. Efi had it – that inexplicable quality that separates the truly brilliant, game changing pioneers, from your run-of-the-mill entrepreneurs.

Efi Arazi was indeed a daring innovator; but for me, as I’m sure for anyone who had worked with him, he was also a teacher and a mentor. Through him I was exposed to the epicenter of the industry, the place from which the desktop publishing revolution had sprung. I watched him closely as he came up with and pursued ideas, and pushed himself and everyone around him to fruition. When I went down my own path, and founded XMPie, I cannot help but feel that perhaps a fraction of his vigorous spirit had rubbed off on me, and helped me through the trying times of a company’s formative years; and I’m sure my experience is not unique. In a way, Efi had influenced the generation of high-tech innovators that followed him. We can only  hope to do the same for the next generation and carry on the Efi Arazi legacy.

He will be dearly missed.

- Jacob Aizikowitz

We all know that greeting cards have been around since the early days of printing. And at this time of year, we all receive them in one form or another. But for those companies that have the capability of using customer and company data in unique ways in print and cross-media campaigns, the holidays provide a “not-to-be-missed” opportunity to demonstrate the true value of personalized communications—to their customers.  And this year, we are excited to bring our North American customers a special program to add personalized video to their XMPie-driven holiday campaigns. 

Among the print and marketing service provider community, the story of the shoemaker who never has time to fix his own shoes is more apropos than ever. While XMPie users develop the most attention-getting, lead-generating campaigns for customers of all types and sizes, they seldom turn those skills upon themselves. For those few who do, self-promotion campaigns have won awards, praise from the industry, and most important, generated leads that have turned into new business. But many users – you know who you are – forget that when it comes to selling 1:1 multichannel campaigns, you need to  demonstrate, not just talk about your ability to create “disruptive,” memorable campaigns.   

Your customers are the most important ingredient for your continued success. So, it makes sense that this year you invest time and resources to deliver an engaging experience for them in your holiday campaign. For those of you with our uDirect solution, keep in mind that our Marketplace library has many wonderful holiday-themed  uImage templates that can be easily incorporated into any campaign. You can also print personalized messages on specialty media and add customer-specific data in the gloss layer of your printed piece. Be inventive and your message will break through.

For our PersonalEffect and uStore customers, the opportunity for you is clear. At a time when companies are investing heavily in new media marketing, and the buzzword on everyone’s lips is “multichannel,” this is the ideal time to pull out all the stops on your holiday campaign.  Use print, of course, but also incorporate the use of other media in your messages. Let a print piece start or contribute to the conversation of “thanks,” but also bring them to your Web or mobile site with additional content that reinforces and enhances your messages.  Develop a campaign for a local store or restaurant with QR codes to add value to your words of thanks. Provide calendars and other products that will remind them of you and your value to them throughout the year. This may even spur them to look at putting a calendar app on their Facebook page.

Mail getting through the clutter is sometimes difficult, but using multiple channels for your message ensures arrival. Many customers will have their tablets with them and phones, and not be at their desk. Why wait to reach them when they return from where they are? Make sure your campaign is as portable as they are.

Enter Personalized Holiday Videos!  For XMPie customers that want to demonstrate the newest capabilities in multichannel communications, and generate exciting  new business opportunities in the coming year, we are offering holiday video personalization services through DME Studios, an advanced XMPie video technology provider. This video component, created with the new XMPie uDirect Video solution, is intended to supplement your existing cross-media campaign with PURLS that bring your customers to engaging, musical, multimedia videos, sending your personal “Thank You and Best Wishes in the New Year.”  

These engaging, 3D animated videos can be accessed on a Web page or via QR codes to mobile devices. By adding this element to your print or multichannel campaign, you not only strengthen your messages of “thanks,” but position your firm as a leader in new media marketing.  And if you do land a personalized video project (which is very likely), XMPie will support you all the way. If you want to know more about our holiday personalized video services, contact me at larry.zusman@us.xmpie.com.

As the title says, “it is time to show off” what you can do for your clients. Time to get those creative juices flowing – or find someone that can do that for you. Time to delve into the full capabilities of XMPie, if you have not yet done so. Time to get the word out there on how you can generate more response for your clients. Time to use new media to forge new opportunities as the communications landscape evolves in front of us. And lastly, time to take all that unique one-to-one power of your solution and put it to the best use possible: thank your customers for their support of all the great work you do for them.

Just over a month ago, the annual XMPie Users Group Conference was held in Boston. 189 people attended (up 23% from last year!), representing 13 countries, including USA, UK, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, and Sweden. Women attendance was also up 50%, and there were over 35 sessions presented by Adobe, Xerox, prindoz, NEPS, VDP Success, PB Systems, InfoTrends, Traffic GMBH, and XMPie. In talking with some of the attendees, it was obvious that they were very pleased with this year’s conference. Frank Romano even stopped by and had some very positive things to say! Check out the video here.

I myself enjoyed the opportunity to learn and network with our customers. One story I’ve been meaning to share is that of this year’s Xcellence Award winner – AlphaGraphics North East. Stephen Jones was there to represent the Stockton, U.K.-based company and present the innovative marketing campaign that scored the most votes among attendees.

The campaign, referred to by AlphaGraphics as their ‘Contact Toolkit,’ has become an essential marketing tool for their internal and external sales teams to communicate with clients and prospects in a professional manner, sending out personalized, targeted and highly memorable information across multiple media, including email, SMS, direct mail and websites (Personalized URLs). Standard communications, such as a follow-up to a sales meeting or a request for product information, all receive a personal response, tailored to the customer enquiry.

The results of the ‘Contact Toolkit’ campaign demonstrate how AlphaGraphics’ competitive and innovative use of XMPie software works. A massive 100% of customers read through their personalized emails, and 99.3% clicked through to their Personalized URL, a response rate that speaks for itself. AlphaGraphics also greatly improved internal productivity levels and streamlined the overall sales process with this application.

AlphaGraphics North East prides itself as the most technologically advanced firm in the region, and is now offering this ‘Toolkit’ service to local and national businesses. So, a big congratulations to them, and thanks to Compu-Mail, Stoque and NEPS – three great customers who also submitted their work for the awards competition!

I had a chance to sit down with representatives from all four companies at the conference. Watch my interview with Stephen Jones, below, and hear more about AlphaGraphics’ winning campaign. A case study with more details will be coming soon, as well as the video clips from my other customer interviews, so stay tuned!

By the way, the XMPie Users Group in Germany will be holding their 4th conference November 20-21. Interested? Register here.

In the coming month, XMPie Users will be gathering to learn the latest knowledge and trends within cross-media communications at the XMPie Users Group Annual Conference in Boston. Will you be joining them? It’s not too late to register for this exciting event that brings together the best in the industry.

Register Today!

XMPie Users Group Conference

September 9– 12

Boston, Massachusetts

Conference Highlights 

• Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox Chief Technology Officer and President of the Xerox Innovation Group, will deliver a keynote session, “Knowledge Work in 2020: Are You Ready?”
• Three educational tracks for technical, design, and marketing professionals
• Sessions featuring the XMPie management and technology teams, Adobe, InfoTrends, fellow customers, industry professionals and partners
• Networking opportunities to connect with other XMPie users and customers
• Pre-conference tutorials providing deep-dives on programming and designing with the XMPie solutions
• Picking up where the Best of the Best Awards left off, the Xcellence Awards will be presented at the conference, showcasing attendees’ marketing campaigns that display the best practices and growing trends within cross-media communications

Download a copy of the agenda to review all of the great sessions planned!

Registration

Non Member Registration Rate: $895 USD

BEST VALUE! Member Registration Discounted Rate: $595 USD

Additional Pre-Conference Tutorials: $249 USD

Reserve your spot today to meet, interact and learn from the best!

Accommodations

Join us at The Revere Hotel Boston Common and take advantage of our discounted room rate of $209 a night if you reserve by Monday, August 27^th. To receive this special attendee rate you must book online with the code “XMPie,” or call the hotel directly at +1 855 OREVERE (855-673-8373).

For more information on travel, transportation, local attractions and weather, click here.

We look forward seeing you in Boston!

“We have exciting news to share: Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox Chief Technology Officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group, will deliver a keynote session, Knowledge Work in 2020: Are You Ready?, at the 2012 XMPie Users Group Conference! Dr. Vandebroek is responsible for overseeing Xerox’s research centers in Europe, Asia, Canada and the US as well as the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC Inc.).

During this session, Dr. Vandebroek will discuss how a confluence of multiple trends is quickly changing the nature of knowledge work. Businesses and individuals must adapt rapidly to succeed. A new framework and several scenarios of knowledge work in the year 2020 that go beyond the typical considerations of automation and globalization will be presented. The evolution of four dimensions is described: (1) technology, (2) information, (3) people, and (4) organizations. This comprehensive perspective helps analyze all aspects of knowledge work: sourcing, organization, training, execution, management, and evaluation.

As these aspects change, both businesses and individuals will be faced with new challenges and opportunities. Will they be ready? Some adaptations will come naturally; others are more counter intuitive and will require conscious preparation. Examples will be discussed which are already observable today and give advice on how one can prepare for the future.

Other exciting sessions scheduled for the 2012 conference include:

• XMPie President’s Keynote Address and Technology Update –  Dr. Jacob Aizikowitz, XMPie Inc.
• Adobe Creative Suite 6 and Cross Media Campaigns – Adobe
• The State of the Multi-Channel Market: How Mobile, Social and Cloud Computing Drive Marketing Forward – Stephanie Pieruccini, Senior Research Analyst, InfoTrends
• XMPie New Products Session – XMPie Products Team
• Adobe PDF Workflows and Imaging in Support of PDF/VT – Adobe

Register today to ensure you do not miss this opportunity to hear from Dr. Vandebroek, Dr. Jacob Aizikowitz, Adobe, the XMPie experts, and your fellow customers!”

So, what are you waiting for? Or if you’re already registered to attend, what are you looking forward to most?

Even though QR Codes have been around since the mid 90’s, their adoption rate has only recently taken off. This is due in part to a larger population of people toting smartphones with higher resolution cameras, larger screens, faster Internet connections, and lower data rates. Between July and December 2010, QR Code scanning increased an astonishing 1,200% across North America, according to a report from mobile payments and marketing company Mobio Identity Systems Inc. Additionally, a separate study found that 57% of Facebook and Twitter users said they have scanned a mobile barcode at least once in the past year, while as many as 40% had done so 5 or more times in the past year. Considering the Facebook population surpassed a staggering 900 million active members earlier this year, that is a lot of people scanning a lot of QR Codes. Now that QR Codes have gone mainstream, the challenge is to utilize them in new and creative ways that engage customers and allow them to interact with brands in a whole new way.

I am frequently asked by customers, “How can I use QR Codes in my marketing campaigns?” The real question is, “How can you more effectively use QR Codes in your marketing campaigns?” It is not enough to simply slap a 2D barcode onto something; you need to thoughtfully incorporate QR Codes into each touch point; use one to link to online content, use it as a vehicle to interact with customers, or create experience around your brand. Personally, I don’t like answering a question with a question; however, so I’ve written 5 tips to get you thinking about how you might integrate a QR Code into your next campaign.

1. Make a QR Code part of the call-to-action. I’m more likely to make the effort to scan a code if I know it might lead me to a personalized coupon, contest, game or something that is out of the ordinary and unique. I might even scan a code to reveal a surprise, but it better be good. It’s always a good idea to offer a strong motivator to entice your target audience into scanning your QR Code.
2. Use QR Codes in your signage and displays. I’m a foodie. Consequently, I frequent a lot of wine and cheese shops, and other specialty stores, to learn about and buy the products they sell. Even though I like learning about the products I choose to spend my money on, I don’t like stores that litter the shelves with information about each product. Displays should have just enough information to draw me in and use QR Codes linking to supplemental information, such as varietal information, tasting notes and food pairings.
3. Use QR Codes to save your customers time. If you are inviting your loyal customers to an event, use the code to add the event to their calendar with all the relevant details. If you are prospecting to new customers and want them to visit your brick-and-mortar, use the code to give them a map with door-to-door directions. QR Codes can contain up to 4,296 alphanumeric characters, so use them!
4. Make it easy for your customers to give you money. Like many of you, I get countless donation letters from every not-for-profit under the sun. The vast majority of them expect me to fill out a form, write a check, and worst of all, find an envelope and stamp. I’m sorry, but that takes too much of the precious little time I do have, and chances are I don’t have a stamp. I think I am still using the same book of forever stamps I bought years ago. Give me a QR Code I can scan that links to a personalized site with all my information filled out and a place to enter my donation and pay with PayPal, and you’ll get my financial support.
5. Give your customers something they can keep. Sometimes, after a long day at work, the last thing I want to do is spend the next 1-2 hours cooking dinner. So, I turn to my restaurant drawer, which is stuffed to the brim with to-go menus that are typically hand-folded photocopies of photocopies. These notoriously poor reproductions of the normal menu are my take-away impression of the restaurant. What a lost opportunity to ‘wow’ me. Restaurateurs, if you are listening, use a QR Code outside your establishment, which links to a PDF of your menu that I can download and keep on my phone. Now I can have your menu instantly accessible anytime I feel like going out for a bite to eat.

However you choose to use a QR Code in your next campaign, make sure you leverage what you already know about your customers and give them a personalized experience. And if you don’t know anything about me, use the QR Code to get me to a page where I can tell you a little about myself. If I think there is something in it for me, I’m liable to give up a little information.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the Xerox Focus Forward event in Orlando. This is one of many that are being conducted around the country, and the audience is split between print and marketing service providers and those interested in enterprise managed print services. About 140 customers attended this event. The good news is that I came away feeling like I was NOT at a typical industry event. This is a different type of venue than I have seen in the past – and to be honest – it is a very refreshing change.

The day started out with a keynote from Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company. Bill stood in front of the audience – all 140 people – and did not use ONE PowerPoint slide, ONE video, ONE picture. Nothing! It was just Bill, talking to folks about why originality, creativity and innovative thinking are what make the difference between great companies and not-so-great ones.

As is the case with every speech from the movers and shakers in the industry, there were a couple of phrases that carried the day, and stories that will resonate with me and others for a long time. One of those was that R & D, according to Bill, stands for “Rip-Off and Duplicate.” The point he made – namely that R & D must create new ideas, new ways of doing things, and that original thinking needs to be a fabric of the company, its employees, marketing, sales and, of course, branding – is an important lesson for an audience of print service providers looking for a way to differentiate themselves and gain competitive advantages.

To make the point, he told the story of DaVita, a company that started as a stodgy kidney dialysis company, like others, and reinvented itself into top condition (while significantly increasing its bottom line) – a vibrant, unique, customer-focused, employee-loving firm that truly embodied its new name that means in Italian “to give life.” When he finished, everyone got the point that the way to bring a shaky, less-than-well company to sustainable, good health, is with original, out-of-the-box thinking.

Once Bill was done, the audience was divided into the production and managed services tracks. I attended production, and it was in this session where I was introduced to a new way to liven up a day-long event. Since you are going to have various guests with different topics, and are planning on sprinkling in company commercials and videos from your guests, why not borrow The Tonight Show’s format? After all, there are guests, and each one comes with a video trailer for their movie or TV show. So that is exactly what Xerox did. And they did it with no PowerPoint slides of any kind. At first, it felt like some strange alien planet where the word Microsoft is unknown and the inhabitants actually engage in interactive dialogue. But after about five seconds, I got very used to it – and enjoyed every minute afterwards.

Industry experts provided their industry expertise (it’s what they do). Xerox partner companies talked about the importance of workflow (it’s a critical part of printing]. And well-thought-out customer panels with the folks that are realizing success were interspersed throughout the program, offering insights to print providers on how to effectively move from PSP to MSP, value price their offerings, and grow their business with new services like variable data print and one-to-one cross-media marketing. I was fortunate enough to be part of one of the liveliest panels of the day focusing on the newest applications. It included a demonstration of the power of printing digital photos with Xerox presses in personalized calendars and wide panoramic image books; how Web-to-print solutions specially designed for print providers can link Facebook pictures and other data with print; specialty media applications, such as  personalized FunFlips™ and AccordianPix™, and how the new XMPie video personalization solution can literally be the “icing on the cake” in a multichannel campaign.

Also introduced on this panel was a short video, for those who could not get to drupa, of the new XMPie Circle™ Software as a Service solution. This interactive, digital storyboard for planning, building and reviewing a campaign is designed to help everyone sell, create and implement cross-media campaigns. For a moment (a very brief one), I felt like George Clooney introducing the trailer to his newest picture to Jay Leno.

The content sounds like a typical event, but with the talk show format where the very talented Brian Walsh plays a fun, engaging and appropriately self-deprecating host, it makes for an entertaining afternoon – which by the way is pretty darn educational, too. The only thing missing is Johnny Carson’s “Carnac,” who, if you’re old enough to remember, you will know really was the best host ever. The rest of the hosts are really into “R & D.”

However you want to define it, Focus Forward in Orlando was a day to move forward and focus on what matters most, namely business creativity, knowledge of the market, and making the right solution choices. And that means that you need to get to one of these as soon as you can, instead of holding up envelopes to your forehead for the right answers.