About PICA

From the Chairman of the Board

October - November, 2009

Recently, I was in the company of some long time friends enjoying the obligatory libation following an afternoon of what some would call golf, when one of them said “Does everyone here realize that of 16 of us at this table, only one of us produces a tangible product”.  We were all momentarily puzzled until some of us realized that he was referring to me and the printed products that my company produces.  The rest of the group were all lawyers, doctors, real estate appraisers, insurance salesmen, etc.,i.e., “service industry” professionals.  

That observation on the part of my friend spurred a lot of conversation around the table about the quantum shift in the economy of the Carolinas and the nation in our lifetimes.  And it particularly got me thinking about how proud I am to be in this time honored profession that does indeed produce something – possibly the most influential tangible product mankind has ever produced – “the printed word”.  From the cave man who scrawled on rock, to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, to Gutenberg, Mergenthaler, letterpress, offset, “cold type”, and on to now the digital world we live in, human history is the history of the printed word, in spite of the copy machine and the internet that all the pundits forecast would spell the end of our craft and profession.  

Well, it hasn’t happened, and it won’t happen.  There is no substitute for holding that piece of paper in your hands as you read the words, or enjoy the art.  A computer monitor lacks that tactile sensation that seems to be a need that people will always have.  I’ve read that recent studies prove once again that print outsells all other media by a large margin and many ad agencies and marketing departments are redirecting their budgets in our direction.  As Mark Twain so famously said and could be applied to our industry many times over thousands of years, “The rumors of my recent demise have been grossly overstated”.  

My point in all this is to ask you to stop and reflect on the heritage you have and hold in the printing industry.  I know it’s hard to see it that way when you’re putting out fires and wearing many hats all day, everyday, but it is truly a noble profession, and one that deserves our best efforts to promote it and pass it along to future generations who just don’t “get it”.  We’re no longer a “heavy industry”.  We’re on the cutting edge of technology and innovation today, and we need to tell that story.  Chances are that some older person took an interest in your learning about printing, as I know my father and grandfather did for me, and I hope you will take the time somehow to pass that knowledge and that pride in your profession on to a younger person who will one day also realize what a noble profession ours truly can be.

I hope to see you all at Pawley's Island in November. Call the PICA office today and sign up. I promise you won't regret it!  

Ralph C. Moore

Chairman, PICA Board of Directors

Commercial Printing Company

rmoore@comprintco.com

(919) 832-2828