International Print Day is on 8.10.14. Get involved!

Calling all printers and designers of Australia, it’s time to celebrate paper and print on a world stage. On 8 October 2014, share in the trans continental love using #IPD14 via any social media platform. If you’re not on the social scene yet, now could be a good time to start! You can share pictures, tips, hints, stories and more. Visit the dedicated FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn pages and learn more about the day here.

We recently (virtually) caught up with Deb Corn from PrintMediaCentr in the U-S-of-A, the lady behind the idea. If you haven’t discovered PrintMediaCentr yet, take a look. It’s a treasure trove of good stuff about printing. Deb introduced us to the wonderful Stephanie Gaddin from DolphinWorxs who is the local contact and we also spoke to Kellie Northwood from Two Sides Australia/VoPP who had this to say: “The Australian print industry has a lot of great stories to share and learn from. Our industry is an effective and powerful media channel and we can use events such as International Print Day to share knowledge, embrace different thinking and continue to challenge and grow our industry for the future.” We concur and good segueway.

Us: Where did the idea come from?
Deb: Like all great concepts this one evolved over time, had several iterations and input from many dedicated members of the print and integrated marketing community who join in my weekly #printchat on Twitter (we HIGHLY recommend getting involved with this even though it’s a 6am start. It’s a great beginning to the day!). The current format was my suggestion, but without everything that came before it, it wouldn’t have been possible to get here.

Stephanie’s Aussie spin: I was also part of these discussions. The response from printers the world over was instant and loud. I would be very sad to see Australia miss out on the positive drive that this will create in the local industry.

Us: What’s the purpose behind having it?
Deb: To provide a space where the global community can come together and learn from each other, without the barriers of location and time. Using #IPD14 for one day allows people and companies to share their knowledge, products and services under one banner, and people interested in that information to find it ALL in one place! And better still, the purpose (or the hopeful side-effect!) is that #IPD14 will trend on social media and attract the curiosity of those outside of the industry to take a peek at some of the really cool and amazing things we do and can do, connect with us and want to learn more.

Us: Why social media?
Deb: Social media seemed the best channel to deliver content since it has few limitations as far as sharing goes. Social allows participants to use paltforms they’re familiar with, and network and grow their connections where they are, versus where we want them to be. It’s also important to show all the print industry social media nay-sayers (yes, they are still out there!) that there is power in these platforms and they aren’t just used for sharing vacation photos and updates about family pets. With a little effort and relevant content you can literally reach the planet.

Stephanie’s Aussie spin: There is so much to be positive about, it’s not all doom and gloom! We should celebrate that and we should show the world what we’re proud of.

Us: Who can participate? What do you need to participate?
Deb: Everyone can. You just need a social platform and some time. I would imagine that Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, G+ and Pinterest will be the most popular. Twitter in many ways will be the most important to achieve a documented world-wide trend, but #IPD14 used as a tag is searchable throughout the internet and within most of the social networks.

The concept is to attach #IPD14 to any and all information you share through social media related to print and integrated marketing on 8 October 2014. I encourage everyone to also add the tag to any relevant information they see in their streams and send it back out into the socialverse! Think of it as one big global game of TAG! And along those lines, the exponential possibilities are really huge… a post you create and share could be shared hundreds of times, in hundreds of cities across the planet – growing your reach and expanding your community along the way. Seems like a WIN for everyone!

Stephanie’s Aussie spin: Anyone can participate. More than anything else you need a positive attitude to participate so sooks and whingers, we give you permission to stay home for the day!

Us: What is a ‘social hot spot’ and what would be involved in being one?
Deb: In the spirit of community we are encouraging participants to have local meet-ups/tweet-ups, which is just another way of saying open your doors, invite your friends, customers and prospects to join in the fun. We want to help spread the word about those events and we will add them to our website.  Please contact us with your information so we can follow you and your event – and of course turn around and share it with everyone else!

Stephanie’s Aussie spin: We have a hot spot ie a regional social account in Australia @IntPrintdayAus which is followed by a small number of Aussie printers already. If anyone is interesting in being involved, like manning the decks on October 8, all the help we can get is welcomed with open arms. I am all about sharing! Also, DolphinWorxs is hosting an open webinar discussion all about print, your earliest memories of print and anything else that pops up during the chat. No registration necessary as soon as the meeting is scheduled in our webinar software we’ll post the meeting ID up. It’s an open event so please visit the website for more info.

That’s it folks. It’s a no brainer to get behind this one. You have nothing to lose and you can do it from the airport lounge, your bed or desktop. Too easy.