Watch me...

Some years ago, a potential Customer came to us asking us if we could print their logo on a new device called a “range finder”.  The Customer was a construction company and they wanted to give these newfangled devices to 6 of their very best customers.

The problem was that the area where we were to print the logo was less than a half inch high.  That’s bad enough; but the size and shape of these things would make it very difficult to get the printer aligned properly.  All I can see is us spending hours trying to do something that couldn’t be done.  “Leave it, Roger, it can’t be done”  That was a mistake - now it’s personal and Roger loves a challenge.  “We’ll do it” he told the Customer. “and we’ll do your logo in full colour; and we’ll only charge you $5.00 a piece.”

After the Customer left, I asked; “What have you done? It’s almost impossible to get the printer properly aligned – and if you make a mistake, then we’ll have to replace these things” What I got in return was; “Watch me!”

The gauntlet had been thrown down.  Off he went to prove me wrong.

The next day, he had all 6 of these devices with a full colour logo properly printed right in the centre of the tiny print area. They looked really good.  I told him that I knew if I goaded him into it, he would do a good job.  And he told me I was full of crap.  And I told him he was right. 

The satisfied smile came off his face when Roger was putting these things back in their boxes.  The retail price shown $345.00 each.  For a $30.00 order, we had somehow made a $2,000.00 mistake whistle past us.

Sometimes, not very often, when you drop your bread it does land jam side up.

Ugly Babies

When I was a teenager, I made extra money by babysitting.  Don’t laugh; I was actually pretty good at it. 

There was a family that I often worked for who had recently had a new addition.  A baby boy.  Mother was just so happy and pleased and cooing all over the baby.  Everyone was telling her how lovely the baby was.  She asked me for my opinion.  Because of my strong Christian upbringing and having not learned to be the accomplished liar that I am now, I said “It looks like a prune”.

This was like so many other difficult life lessons I've had to learn.  Sometimes it’s better to lie.

As an aside, I did “google” the 10 Commandments and” lying” is not specifically there.  The closest they come is "do not bear false witness against your neighbour."  Looks like those guys back then had already learned that lesson.

Roger faces “ugly babies” everyday.  How do you tell a Customer that their artwork is not very good?  If you criticize it, you will be indignantly told; “It was designed by:  – me  - my wife  – my child  – my sister in art school  – the winner of the design contest  – a very expensive design firm."  Not only will you never get the order, you won’t make any friends either.

You have to give Roger credit.  He will often suggest, if the Customer doesn't mind, that he will bring along samples of our products with the existing artwork and perhaps some examples of different artwork that might be considered.  

In the particular case at hand, Roger was told that the existing art work was what the Company traditionally always used. However, since they were ordering shirts for all their employees, the President and Vice President agreed they would allow each employee to choose if they wanted their shirt with the traditional artwork or the new artwork that Roger had designed.

When the shirts were delivered, 2 had the old artwork and the rest had the new.  Guess who ordered the old stuff?  No friends were made that day.

And yes... After all these years, he DID look like a prune.

A camel is a horse designed by committee

In a previous post, we spoke of having Chris Williams (winner of the Oscar for his animated film "Big Hero 6") working for Exposurbrand when he was a student.  Roger had been asked if he could design a logo for an athletic organization call the "Cougars".  Not what you are thinking - not a bunch of middle aged women but a volleyball team if I remember correctly.

Roger asked Chris to come up with a modern design like a team picture that captured the fun and excitement with everyone gathered around on center court in a joyous celebration after having won a championship.  It took Chris a little longer than usual; but the end product was terrific.  Smiling Cougar figures in volleyball uniforms; some were manly, some were girly, some were studious and some were mischievious.  Some were standing, some kneeling and two were stretch out on either side of a championship trophy that stood proudly in the middle.  It was fabulous.  And it exactly captured the message we wanted to convey.

The only issue was that the artwork had to be approved by a "Selection Committee".

The initial response from the Committee all very positive.  Roger's now thinking he is home free.  But there is always someone who has to sound off so everyone else knows how important they are.  "I think the message would be a little stronger if there was more contrast in the uniforms".  With that, the dam was burst.  Not to be out done, other members of the committee just have to speak up.  The comments and suggestions now come in a flood and are progressively more meaningless and arcane.

When it got to the point where someone recommended that having 2 Cougars lying in front would make people think the Cougars were lazy, Roger knew he was done.  And he was.

"A camel is a horse designed by committee."

Chris Williams

Part of the package that Roger likes to provide for his Customers are design services - either to improve or to create new artwork.  Now Roger has a pretty good idea of what works and what doesn't but to be selling and producing product doesn't give him the time to concentrate on artwork for our Customers.  The result is that Roger is always on the outlook for people who can really design.

We say "really design" as this is an area of human endeavor where "many are called and few are chosen".  Put an ad in the paper saying you are looking for a designer and you get a line up at your door that stretches around the block of people who are great at drawing 3 items - but no imagination beyond that. 

Roger's kids were telling him about a friend of theirs who was a great designer and that Roger should hire the kid.  It's understandable that Roger was skeptical.  The same song he had heard hundreds of times before.  But the kids kept on bugging him.  Roger finally "caved" - if for no other reason than to stop the nagging.

Roger meets this tall "jock" type kid. He's thinking; "What could he draw...."   He says to the kid; "Draw a moose".  ZIP - zip - zip. There it is. And very well done.  Rogers thinking that's 1 of the 3.  "Draw a bumblebee"  Zip - zip -zip and there is number 2 of 3.  But it's really good.  "Draw a friendly alien monster"  Zip - zip - zip.  Number 3 is fantastic.  It doesn't matter what Roger asks for the kid knocks it off in 3 - 5 minutes - any theme, any style, any genre.  Roger asked him; "How many animals can you draw?"  The kid says; "How many are there.... "   Turns out the kid had a fantastic memory for pictures, shapes and designs.

Roger, who is a bright little bunny (well, not so little) in his own right, hires the kid.

Fifteen years later Chris Williams wins an Oscar for "Big Hero 6"

Down the road for Italian

Roger and I try to get down to Toronto (called T.O. by the locals) as often as we can.  We have a number of customers in the western suburbs so we want to touch base with as many of them as we can.  But I hate driving the “401” into Toronto as that trip can take 45 minutes with no traffic or 45 days if it snows – and it always seems to snow.

We usually leave Waterloo around 9:00 AM so the traffic has had a chance to thin out a bit.  When we arrive at a call, Roger goes into the customer by himself and I stay in the car – where I use my ability to fall asleep anywhere at any time.  

It takes Roger about a half hour with the Customer and he almost always comes back with an order.  It’s not that Roger is particularly smooth or efficient; I think it’s just that he has been doing it for so long he sells instinctively.  It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

If I am a good boy, Roger takes me to lunch at the little Italian restaurant that is but a “hole in the wall”.  The food is always very good but it is the woman behind the counter that is the real draw for me.  

She would probably be middle aged and wouldn't be considered particularly pretty, but her smile and positive personality make her beautiful.  She makes every customer feel that they are special.  She greets everyone by initiating some sort of conversation with them.  She is happy and outgoing and she makes almost everyone feel the same.

It’s fascinating to watch.  She proves it's so much easier to deal with people/Customers when the interaction is positive and easy rather than the negative.  Everyone leaves feeling good – and wanting to come back the next time they have to go to T.O.

So easy to do; so why don’t we all do it.

Purposeful Trinketry?

One of the hardest parts of Roger’s job is to find, and source, new items that we can add to our repertoire of products that have a function, are not expensive to purchase and we can print on them.  Roger says we are in the business of “purposeful trinketry”.   Pocket knives, pens, flashlights, pocket tool sets, desk clocks and key rings are pretty much old hat now it would be nice to find something new.

The burden of the never ending search is lightened by the fact that Roger, at his advanced age, still loves trinkets.  And today was a special day for Roger.  Rather than come to work (if that’s what you call what we do), Roger said to drop him off at the Home Hardware semi annual Dealer show is St. Jacobs.  I left him at the show and I dutifully came to work.

Early this afternoon, Roger shows up with a smile on his face and a bag of goodies in his hand.  He has collected samples of various items he thinks may have some possibilities for us.  Roger has forgotten more than I will ever know about the world of trinkets; but, he always asks my opinion of the samples he gleans on his searches.  A couple of "maybe's"....  a special key ring and a tie down cord.  The cost of these would be O.K; but the opportunities to print on them are somewhat limited.

So the search goes on.  Until we find the perfect item, its back to personalized golf balls and dog tags.

Almost forgot...

Note the bandage on my finger.  Dumb is when you poke yoursrlf eith a knife; stupid is when you slice.

- Peter

Nicknames

Roger was working with a grade 5 teacher who I thought had a great idea.

She had already decided that she wanted to do a set of “dog tags” for her class.  The great idea was that before the kids knew there were to be dog tags,  she asked the kids in her class what nickname they would like to be called.  Interestingly, for many of the girls, they chose what they were called by their parents (“Princess”, “Angel”, “Bunny”).  The boys were inclined to pick masculine nicknames or the names of sports heroes.

She passed the list of nicknames on to Roger who produced the dog tags using the nicknames rather than the child’s first name as was usual.

Well, the reaction was fascinating.  We expect a positive response to kids getting a dog tag with their name on it; the kids were over the moon when they saw the dog tag with their nickname. 

- Peter

No good deed goes unpunished

Roger was teasing me yesterday about "no good deed goes unpunished".  I had to remind him about "the Texas incident."

A few years ago, Roger offered to make up dog tags for a good friend who was about to start to teach a kindergarten class somewhere in Texas.  She emailed Roger the names of the kids who were to be in the class and Roger used the list to make up individualized "dog tags" with the Kid's name on one side and the school logo on the other.  He packed them up and mailed them off to Texas where they were distributed to the kids on their very first day of school.

The reactions were varied.  From the kids; absolute delight.  The Teacher was pleased with how much the kids enjoyed their "own" dog tags.  From the parents, an appreciation for a thoughtful idea.  From other teachers, subtle rankor in various forms (bitterness, spite, hate, hatred, resentment, malice, ill will, malevolence, animosity, antipathy, enmity, hostility,acrimony, venom, vitriol).

"Why did you get to do that and we didn't...." 

Perhaps the worst part was that 4 years later, those kids were still showing off their dog tags to "rub salt in the wound".

- Peter

Flash Drives

One thing about Roger - he is always thinking of new ways people can benefit from the printing work he does.

He has a friend that is closely associated with the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League.  That league is for kids on the way up in the world of hockey.  Roger took the logo of the league and printed it on a bunch of 8 gigabyte flash drives.  Then the playing stats of all the players from all the teams in the league were loaded on the flash drives and then these were sent of to various Scouts in the U.S.A.

Nice idea; and the flash drives looked great too.  

- Peter

I should have mentioned...

Roger and I have been friends for 25 years....

Roger and I met playing "pickup" hockey about 25 years ago.  Usually that means there is no hitting or body checking.  Roger is not a small man and he is filled with anger; the same as me. So we agree that we would have an agreement: We would stay out of each others way to avoid any pain being inflicted.

I was busting out from behind our net with the puck on my stick, deked around the fore-checker and met Roger (with a big smile on his face) coming at me like a middle linebacker - as he used to be. He and his smile drive me into next week.

I'm lying on the ice, hurting all over, looking up at Roger.  I said; "I thought we had an agreement...?"

 "I changed my mind." he said.

- Peter

In the Beginning

So let's start with Roger, since the story starts with Roger.

Roger stated out making his living selling class photos and grad pictures, for a company that did that sort of thing.  As time went on, he branched out - t-shirts, sweats - the things that you probably wore in high school to show your "spirit".

He'd even print logos on trinkets and prizes - the kinds that found their way to the bottom of lockers most of the time.  That was OK though - he worked when he wanted, and only as hard as he wanted.

Well, it was mostly OK.  Nobody wants their stuff in the bottom of a locker. Roger knew that if you put someone's name on the trinket, they were far more likely to keep it.  Nobody liked throwing their name away, right?

So Roger went and bought the best colour printer he could find - one that could print high definition images on very small surfaces, as well as any shape you could imagine.  Whatever the trinket, and whatever the size, Roger could put a name on it.

Would you believe that dog tags became the most popular item very quickly?  I mean sure, golf balls with company logos are good, but dog tags with a school logo and the students name were different - they gave each student a sense of inclusion, and the teachers got to say "you're on my squad".  It wasn't a trinket anymore...

It was community.  I know, I know.  It sounds silly, but I've seen it with my own eyes.  A trinket, personalized, that isn't fodder for the bottoms of lockers or the drawer in the desk.

Time takes its toll though, and not all great success stories happen when you're 20.  Roger was always able to show the cohesion he could bring through something so cheap and simple, but time has a funny way of of getting in the way. Roger lost the ability to drive recently.

Makes business tough when your clients are hundreds of KMs apart.

That's where I come in.  I'm Peter.  I've been Roger's buddy for X years, and now I drive him around, and do all the things he doesn't like doing - some administrative stuff, some technical help... but mostly the driving.

So while this account of our day to day activities could be called "Roger and Me", I'm not Michael Moore, and Roger isn't running General Motors. We'll need a better title for this.

Grumpy Old Men?  Nope, that one was taken too.  The Odd Couple?  Odd yes, but also taken. How about we don't worry about titles right now, and we just get on with it?

Peter