Margie Dana

Profile of an Industry Pro

If ever there was an individual in the print industry who deserves respect and admiration for what she knows, it's Cary Sherburne.

Though I can't quite remember when I first met her, I know this much: Cary's as knowledgeable about the industry as anyone. And when it comes to understanding technology, she aces! That she's a woman is icing on the cake. Printing has been and pretty much remains a male-dominated field. Thank God we have Cary to make a difference. So I interviewed Cary to get the back story.

How did you get started in this business?

Margie, you are entirely too kind with your remarks. Thank you very much.

While I did some bouncing around in the aerospace industry in Silicon Valley in the early part of my career, it all really started for me when I went to work for a previous boss who had started up a company serving the defense industry. I was running the tech pubs group (one lady using an IBM Displaywriter and five guys on drawing boards!). This was in the early 1980s, and when the CIO quit, I took over his activities as well, installing an early 3Com network (what a pain that was!) and trying to transition the engineering group from Apple II's to IBM PCs (good luck there!). We did also have a DEC VAX for the real work. I was assigned the task of finding a solution to our document production needs, and fell in love with the Xerox Star (go figure!). When the boss ultimately wouldn't make a buying decision on the quarter million dollar configuration I designed (he was actually positioning the company to sell and didn't want the expense), I called the manager at Xerox and told him he needed my help, since they were just getting started with PCs. Then I was lucky enough to be involved early in the DocuTech process, which, for me, was a life-changing event.

I came into the industry differently than many others. First of all, I was an end user of the technology; and secondly, I had to learn about offset. All I knew was digital. So it has been an interesting journey, and fun to have been part of the start of all of the digital transformation, from workstations, through DocuTech and on to digital color.

You've been with Whattheythink.com for a long time. What's your role there?

I'm starting on my second decade with WhatTheyThink. Hard to believe! When Randy called me in 2002 and told me three different people had suggested I should write for him, my first response was, “Why would I want to do that?” Kind of the same response I had when he asked me to do videos (see below). But Randy is a great sales guy, and here we are. Although I am not employed by WhatTheyThink, just a contractor, I feel like part of the core team. As Senior Editor and Director of Services, I contribute written and video features, moderate webinars, create reports and white papers, and am called upon to write or edit press releases and other content. It's great exposure and really has been the backbone for much of the other work I am doing.

Nowadays, people (myself included) are “all about the videos.” You, on the other hand, have been doing videos for ages. Do you agree that they're valuable tools for this industry? Any advice?

Videos are a great tool, for customer or employee education, for promotional purposes, or just for fun. I actually have my own YouTube channel (divacary), but it revolves around horses, not print.

I think printers should do much more with video. Some great industry examples (in addition to WhatTheyThink, of course) are Pazzazz Printing in Canada and Mohawk Paper Mills, just to name two out of many. The folks at DME in Daytona Beach, Florida, were also early adopters of video and now have quite a sophisticated studio. I really liked the video you did, as well, Margie, introducing your new business. It came from the heart and people can really feel like they know you.

Videos should be short (2-3 minutes, or maybe 5 minutes if it is a how-to type video), crisp and to the point. They are a great way to get both message and personality across. And there are lots of ways to use them, including in multichannel marketing campaigns. Nowadays with tablets and smartphones, there are more people wanting that interactive content, and even the small screens display video to good advantage. Plan the script ahead of time, but don't make it too formal or canned. Make sure you use good equipment and that the video is stable and sound is good. If you don't have a video editor on staff, hire a good one. These days, getting decent equipment doesn't involve a huge investment. Even something like the Canon PowerShots that field reporters use at WhatTheyThink can deliver good quality. And most importantly, have fun with it!

I see on your website (www.sherburneassociates.com) that you're a researcher, journalist, speaker, book author and communications expert. Do you wear a favorite “hat”?

I have always loved to write but never considered myself a writer. One day, about 2-3 years into the WhatTheyThink experience, I woke up and said to myself, “Hey, I think I can call myself a writer now!” That's what I enjoy most. And although I have written a number of books, for the most part, I prefer doing shorter pieces. I especially enjoy case studies, talking with users of technology that are making a difference, and interviewing industry execs who are willing to share their insights.

I follow you on Twitter and have friended you on FB. You've taken to both channels like a duck to water – and you're active in a weekly Twitter chat on Fridays, correct? Tell me what you make of using these sites for your business.

Since I live out of the country, social media is a good way to keep up with everyone, especially my daughter and her family in California (two beautiful grandkids!). But it is also a rich source of content and ideas—articles, news stories, human interest stuff, new products, new applications. I keep Tweetdeck open on my desktop when I am working at home (so sad that they eliminated the Facebook feed!) and I just installed Facebook Home on my new Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone. Between the social media venues, Google Alerts and Google Reader, I can keep up with news and events without really needing to resort to Television. No commercials! Well, no commercials that you are forced to sit through! (except those annoying lead-in commercials on CNN videos that you can't skip over!)

There are a couple of Twitter chats that are fun to follow, especially #talkprint on Fridays, currently at 9 AM Eastern (operated out of the UK, so timing might change if our DST settings are not in alignment). It's easy to participate, and we sure would like to get more printers in the discussion! Tweetchat is a great tool that lets you follow and easily participate in the discussion. It's a combination of old friends catching up and new learning taking place. Hope to see some of your readers there!

Foursquare is also fun, and I think it is a good opportunity for businesses to promote offers and get people engaged. If I check in at a business or location on Foursquare, it's fun and exciting when there is an offer or coupon, even if I can't or don't want to take advantage of it. It's just nice to see businesses engaging themselves in social media this way. For example, when I checked in at the Navy Pier in Chicago, it suggested that I visit their information desk for some discount coupons.

In your opinion, what cool technology or piece of equipment should we all be keeping an eye on – what's exciting in the industry today?

There are so many! I guess if I had to pick two forward-looking technologies for printing, it would be 3D printing and printed electronics. But what can be done to make print interactive with barcodes or augmented reality is also very exciting. And the ability to convert print to rich media tablet applications as an added value services is also very exciting. I could go on, but …

Outside of business, what do you love to do?

Skype with my daughter and grandkids, keep up with my friends on Facebook and LinkedIn, ride my horses, do needlework, read voraciously, play with the dogs, and I love to cook. I'm always sad when someone says they're bored. There is so much to do, and my days are always full! Oh, and I like to start the day with a gym workout and a sunrise swim.