Datasets:
nrbhole
/
llm-dataset

Dataset card Data Studio Files Community
2
text
stringlengths
14
897
Talk about humanizing AI. I also love the fact that they're built his business based on relationship and continues to do that. He's not trying to automate everything to the point where it becomes antiseptic. He believes in running through a wall for his community. And I think that kind of embraces the mindset that we have in our industry.
And so, while, again, we all may be a little bit nervous about AI. I think nothing that is focused on the customer, relationships in general will never go out of style. Right? Having the ability to build deep, meaningful connections, listening. That simply is the only sustainable advantage going forward.
And so, I was super excited and, and, and it was really refreshing to hear Derek talk about that. Because look, AI does make me nervous, makes a lot of people nervous, and you wonder what we should do. And the bottom line is we need to wrap our arms around it and figure out if there's any play for it. But remember that still that human connection is critically important. So, my thanks to Derek for taking some time.
I couldn't be more excited that he spent some time with us. And my thanks to America's print show for once again sponsoring our podcast. They are really aiming to do some wonderful things. I know I'm going to see you all there on Wednesday, May 8th and Thursday, May 9th, 2024 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio. Go to America's printshow.com to learn more.
These guys are putting together a really cool event. They had their first one under their belt in August 2022. And now they're moving it more towards this intimate setting. I do know that they have signed up some significant significant exhibitors. So, essentially, best in class.
So, it's, this is not only is this going to be the best of the best in terms of exhibitors, suppliers. But they are going to be relentless in their pursuit of creating great conversations, great presentations, thought leadership, bringing conversations and presentations around AI to you. And so, I think you're going to be super excited. That'll be again May 8th and May 9th, 2024 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio. Thank you, America's print show.
Thank you, Derek Chu. Thank you for all of you listening. Can't tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity to bring thoughtful content to you, all of you, and continue reading Canvas. Obviously, in the meantime, be the Buffalo. Take care.
Transcript of 'Brush Strokes Episode 89': Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Brushstrokes, a podcast powered by Canvas magazine. Today's episode is brought to you by my friends at America's Prinshow 2024. They will once again partner with industry manufacturers, associations, industry influencers, printers, you name it. They're bringing in the who's who to Cleveland, Ohio, specifically on Wednesday, May 8th, and Thursday, May 9th, 2024 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio. I have told you this before, America's Prinshow is dedicated to reinventing our industry's trade show.
They are focused on creating a level of intimacy that has been missing and talking about the most compelling and emerging trends in our industry. Things like AI, right? How is that affecting our business? Along with the disruptive technologies on the production side. They've got some amazing vendors already signed up.
The lineup of content is better than anything you've seen and it's going to be a lot of fun. I expect to see you there. I will be there. You need to visit America's Prinshow.com to learn more. Now, onto my guest today, who is actually going to be a part of America's Prinshow and his name is Travis Molokar.
He is the president of Millcraft. If you know anything about Millcraft, you know that they are a fourth generation family own paper company and I think it's super compelling because they have stood the test of time. If you listen to Travis, you'll hear why. It really goes down to the core of what our industry is all about. He talks specifically about relationships.
He talks specifically about doing the right thing. It's really refreshing to hear Travis speak. This company Millcraft was founded all the way back in 1920. They're actually headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Like I said, a family owned merchant that they've served, paper, packaging, graphic arts industry.
But they have a national customer base and they have been dedicated to the commercial printing and office papers business for a very long time. But what really makes them stand out is that mantra of family owned. It's kind of a lost art in this day and age. And like I said, I was super refreshed to talk to Travis. So I think you'll get a kick out of my conversation.
He does talk a little bit about last year's moratoriums on the paper and how it's a complete opposite this year. I know you guys are going through some of that. But I think his guiding principles are also a lessons for us as we navigate the tumultuous waters of the world. So without further ado, why don't you give my conversation with Travis Mlocca, a quick review. What's the view from a paper distribution business today in 2023?
How is it a little bit different than last year? Last year's view, how to be like my head spinning kind of, right? Last year's view was, you know, you went from a world where there just wasn't enough to satisfy the needs or the demands of customers. And it was interesting because at least from Bill Cracked, you know, as a family business, we kind of view that our job is to help our customers grow their business. And so when all of a sudden you're not able to throw an up fuel on the fire to keep them growing and you realize that they're losing out on opportunities because you don't have a supply base, you know, it's a difficult proposition.
So you're scrambling to figure out how can you keep these businesses going and make sure that they can grow the way that they need and want to. And, you know, we come off of that. And I think there was a lot of panic buying and there was a lot of people scrambling to get tons because they thought it would guarantee them print jobs. And I know, well, all that's happening. I think what was really happening underneath and none of us saw was an economy that was, you know, slowing down interest rates or rising.
A lot of uncertainty. People start pulling back and I think you saw demand now this year plummet. And so all of a sudden you got interest rates or printers are sitting on the mouths of inventory that, you know, they didn't have before they all of a sudden realized we don't want to pay interest on that stuff. And so, you know, it's crammed in every nook and cranny they're building or in third party warehouses that they're paying for. So ordering stops and demand plummet as people are working their way through their ballot sheet and it works down the chain.
So the printers have cut back on what they're buying from a merchant, merchants overstocks so we stop buying. And, you know, the mills then and the manufacturers who left in a situation where they really ignore. And so they've gone many of them are down operating at 50% operating rates which are worse than when you've coped it. And, you know, some of the manufacturers have taken more downtime just this year so far than they have in years combined. Wow, I didn't know that.
I know that. It's really a dire situation for the mills right now. They are a long, you know, a very, very difficult pace. And, you know, I think the concern that we have is, as you and I were talking kind of offline is, you know, as a merchant, you're sandwiched between everybody, right? We've got the manufacturers and we're trying to make sure that we're, you know, responsible for them and, you know, allowing them to have a certain market position and helping them connect with customers.
And then you get customers and they're in a challenging environment where postage increases are going out. You know, there's lots of cost increases in print and so they're trying to figure out how do we bring the price of paper down? Many of the factories saying, well, we're taking all this downtime and if the price of paper falls, you know, it's an exponential hit for us. They won't make it. There will be some.
It will just shut their doors and we'll see more machine closures or conversions. And long term, I don't think that's a good thing for our industry. I mean, a shrinking supply base is a big challenge. And we saw what happened last year when, you know, you don't have enough domestic supply and you've got to rely on imports. And so they're the balancing act that we've got to figure out as an industry.
You know, where do we strike that balance so that, you know, everybody can survive and be a long term sustainable player. So it's an interesting era. It's just, yeah, I mean, it really is because, you know, having history in that world and looking back, I, you know, like you talk about moratorium and allocation, I remember way back in the day, you know, that didn't, that was a long time for that to come around. So last year was nuts, right? And, and, and prices skyrocketing and, and, and so you've got a lot of people that probably don't even have a lot of history dealing with all that stuff.
I mean, there wasn't so called experts in that. So in, and printers, like you said, kind of stocking up and, and so are you having those conversations with the leaders of these manufacturers? Do you have conversations on both sides? I mean, is there a lot of powwow is about this to say, you know, because it's one thing to say we should, we should really talk and figure out what we're doing for as an industry collectively. And that's another thing to actually do it.
Yeah, I mean, we certainly have the conversations. I think that, you know, what we've seen is lots of people have short memories. And so I think that the manufacturers last year had short memories of, you know, kind of how, how the business has been previously over the last decade. And, you know, they're desired to get additional tons. And, you know, we saw this massive pricing increase.
And they thought that was never going to end. And we kept saying, you know, this too shall change. And on the customer side, you know, last year, you know, you had a lot of people scrambling for additional tons and they were excited to get it. Now this year, you've got some slack in the chain. You've got a lot less demand out there.
Certainly a lot more supplied and we have demands of prices. In some cases, there are some upper fee for lower prices and you get people jumping for a little price. And at some point, you know, all of this is going to, I don't know, come to fruition or come to roost and we're going to have to wrestle with, you know, how do people take a long-term view and not just jump at the opportunity that today offers. But, you know, what's right over the next two and three and four years? I mean, that's a big question.
That goes beyond the paper industry, right? I mean, I don't think that we have. I don't think we have leadership in general that is asking those questions. You know, I've used the analogy so many times. It's probably getting a little bit old.
But if you remember the first Jurassic Park where Jeff Goldblum is the scientist and the old Colonel Sanders looking guy says to him, well, what do you think? He says, you know, you're so busy asking how we do this that you never step back and ask if you should, right? And so we get into this progress and so it's, that's a kin to these paper companies at some point going, wait a minute, right? You know, we need to be thinking and not just that. But collectively, are we thinking about this?
I worry about our industry in general on multiple levels. One, it's so, our industry is amazing. And with the digital fatigue in the world, the constant digital technology, you can stand out digitally, right? You see, it's a blanket in the eye. You and I can delete a million emails in a few seconds.
It really has, I was just done, we just before we started this cast, I was talking to somebody about the value of print, the ROI of print. But collective, we all need to kind of embrace that. And I wonder, so when you talk to all these other leaders, do they share in that, that concern that we're not doing enough to say, you know, our industry is unbelievably positive for anybody marketing. So we need to think about our long term sustainability. Do you have any of that going?
I certainly think the industry, the industry's got a great story to tell from a sustainability perspective. I think we all recognize that. I think the question that we've got to get our hands around, it's the same question that everybody is. What's the right price, right? And the right price is not always the lowest price.
This is a graphic communications comment. This is a, well, this is a global comment. What's the, we all want lower gas prices. Is that the right price, right? At what point do we have to accept the fact that there are decisions and choices that have costs?
And those costs need to be factored into those decisions and choices. And you know, you get that, again, not to be pulling the goal, but you could talk about that in terms of the greenhouse gas discussion and what are we doing to the environment? But you can also do that on the sustainability of your partners. I mean, at what point do we all drive down either the value of print or drive up the cost of postage to the point that it's not sustainable? At what point do we drive down?
How much will it pay for a printed piece to the point that a printer can no longer make money and make investments in new technology and the things coming out? And I think that that's the question that folks need to start society asking, what's the right price? What's the right value? Yeah, I like that. I like that.
I like that. I've lost. Yeah. No, I agree with that. And I, because it is hard, right?
Because then you become a little bit of Don Tio Di, fight windmills and, you know, you're right. Absolutely right. But we live in this world where, you know, few of us can sit there and go, what is the right price or what is the right way? What the cat's out of the bag? You're right.
I mean, it's the small men that's going on and how do you do that? And I worry that there's a bigger issue in terms of just taking the human, humanness out of stuff. So if everything goes digital, if everything is going to the lowest common denominator, then we're literally taking away what makes us unique, right? And I mean, I don't mean it, I don't want to get too philosophical, but on some level, our industry does have just the haptic nature of print in general. It connects to the sense that we interpret the world the most through, which is feel.
And to take away that is there's a bigger issue. So you're, you're, you guys, always owe all a paper company. You know, they're dealing with some major stuff in their questions, amplified or what the world are, should be talking about. Don't you think? So I mean, you raised, living the point that you raised, which is a great one, is that I go back to, you know, the value of print, right?
And somebody said the other day, you know, a stamp is up to 66 sets, right? Okay. You know, that seems like a lot of money. Until you watch somebody sit down with the male and grab a piece of male that's handwritten, open it up and realize that it's a card from a worker or a friend or a family member. And it's a handwritten note.
When you watch their body language change, you watch their emotion change. That communication is at a whole nother level and going through a hundred emails and saying, okay, okay, okay, delete. You know, it is the haptic piece. It's watching people go through their male and, you know, maybe they're tossing the trash and all of a sudden they grab a piece with soft touch, awkwardness coating and you watch them stop and feel it and flip it over. That's slowing our world down.
It's us taking a moment to recognize what's going on and that's the true value that I think our industry brings to the table. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. And, you know, we're not doing enough to, to trumpet that. There's multiple levels. We're not bringing enough people in that's been, that's been, we're going to talk about that for decades.
We're not bringing enough young people in and everybody looks at this industry. And then when we, we talk about, anytime we talk about paper, for example, we talk about all sustainability of forests, it's a heart, it were harvesting, you know, the problem with that is it's defense. Sure. It's almost like the, it's like the got milk campaign, right? You, you, you sit there and you go, you're pushing milk, well, you were never going to compete with all these monster drinks and red bowls and all of them.
And they're coming and that it is what it is. So why talk defense? Why talk about why defend the things that you're projecting onto the world? Oh, they think papers is bad, right? But bad conversation is wrong for our industry because no matter what, it's already from a defensive posture.
When what you were talking about earlier is the ROI of print. And, and I still believe that people want to do business with people that they have a relationship with, that they feel some sort of connection with, that they make sync better, make them sync better. And, and I just, to me, it's frustrating because you look at this world that's going down this really antiseptic pond and whatever things go in digital and you're, and you're going, but I still want to buy from people I like. I want to be able to talk to them in our industry. That's kind of the cornerstone.
And so I imagine your, your, your sales people are still, still take pride in the fact that they have real relationships, right? Oh, there's no question. I mean, you know, a lot of our folks they've been doing this, you know, 30, 40 years. We just retired. Celity has been doing it for 50 years.
And they have worked with generations of my family. And I talked to one of his customers at his retirement and he called on three generations of his family at that cuff. And you know, so those relationships are still incredibly important. And, you know, I think we're, you talk about being defensive for an industry. Now, to me, you're right.
We should be out singing phrases of our industry. And I don't know why we have it. I don't know if it's, you know, as the industry is changing, that we haven't been able to seek rule where the evolutionary curve is going. But you think about this industry. If I'm a young person coming into any industry, this is the industry I want.
It's one of the largest manufacturing industries that's out there. It's graphic. You know, it's tangible. You look at it and you think about all the technology that printers are using today, whether it's, you know, digital, would you allow them to get it at database, or web-to-print solutions, or following up with QR codes and doing statistical research and analysis of how well different campaigns work and why and A and B testing on this substrator, that substrates this color profile versus that. The whole idea that you could be involved in communicating and building a brand and bringing that to life.
It's not just on screen, but, you know, true physical, tangible form. I wouldn't want to be in that. If you're a gear head, you could press, you know, I mean, there's so many things to do in our industry. And it's still an industry that people matter in relationships matter. And that's that are an industry.
Yeah, no, I'm with you. That needs to happen. And it can't be just two guys talking. There needs to be conversation around some initiative. And it's not some broad-based, you know, let's go to the masses.
And the industry's kind of done some of that. It's got to be grassroots stuff. And it even has to go down to the conversations that your sellers, your marketers, your print sellers, print marketers, there has to be a deeper conversation about that. Maybe there's some stuff going on, but you can't go to the masses and broadcast that. I mean, you really got to start with the grassroots kind of stuff, which, you know, our industry's all about, let me switch gears on you and talk about, so talk about no crafts longevity.
I mean, obviously, generations of, you know, there's beauty in that family structure. There really is. And it's a lost, unfortunately, it's a lost art in our world these days. But if you had to kind of say, how the hell of you guys kind of continue to thrive over the years, what kind of philosophies are at the core of that? No, it's a great question.
And I think it's the one that everybody wonders, what is the magic sauce? I mean, we're fourth generation, 102 year old business. Now, how do you get there? And I think it goes to, you know, one simple thing. And it's, we take the long term approach, you know, it's not, we're not worried about what our, you know, performance looks like today or this quarter.
We care about what's our performance look like over the course of a relationship? What's the lifetime value of a particular customer or supplier or partner? And I think staying focused on that aspect and really recognizing that, you know, lots of things change. I mean, our business today is much different than it was in 1975. And certainly, you know, different than it was in 1921 when we opened up as our wedding, you know, wedding invitation and stationary company.
That's all we were. We're very different company today. But one thing that hasn't changed is valuing people relationships and taking the long term approach. And you do that and you don't cut quarters. You know, you can develop a solid foundation where people grow to rely on you.
And I hope that that's kind of been our, you know, our magic sauce that's kept us around for as long as we've been here. Do you think that those that have, because there's been the merchant distribution business in certainly in the paper side is the number of players have shrunk over years. I mean, do you, do you feel those that are gone or who have struggled, have tried to cut those corners? The mistakes they made were completely opposite of what you guys have done. So I think that the mistakes you make are when the business evolves around you, are you evolving as well?
And there's no question, you know, what I got involved in the business, you know, I've been here 21 years, but even before that as a kid, our value proposition was we represented certain paper belts and the mills that we represented were very different than some of our competitors who existed at the day. So your background, you were at Fox River. So we were a Fox River merchant and we might have brought Fox River to the table when another merchant had, you know, Gilbert or they had, you know, a different mill. And so on the printer, I had to work with many different merchants just to be able to understand what are all the competitive options that are available. Well, the number of paper mills has consolidated.
What happens now with many merchants carry a significant portion of, you know, all the franchises and manufacturers that are available. And so now you don't really have to go to merchants to test pricing on different grades. One merchant can do that for you across, you know, not only North American made grades, but also those made or sees whether it's Europe, South America or Asia. At value proposition of bringing different, you know, different paper mills to the table, only different today. Now it's about how can I be more efficient?
How can I recognize that you as a printer are probably struggling with employment and the number of people that you have in your organization and how do you make them as efficient and effective as possible? And so it's, we reduced data entry for you. How do we make it easier for your material handling process? How do we get involved in your lean workflows to make sure that we're out of the solution not part of the problem? And so I think it's developing a value proposition that's different today as a partner that it was 30 years ago and the value we brought were different supply options.
Yeah. Well, that's the world, right? I mean, the whole, we've moved, I mean, the industrial age is long gone, right? It gave way to the information age and you could argue the information age is over. I mean, we're in something different and we're in the life cycle curves of these ages are all shorter.
And so it's all about, you know, it used to be. Here's what I did, right? I built this. This is how I define myself. My product was X.
And so that, like you said, no longer exists. And I remember thinking to myself, you've got these bigger organizations that are making all these decisions in the boardrooms and, you know, there's no one listening to the client. And there's not, right? And so, you know, family owned, intimate, there's something to be said for that. And even in 2023, you guys have the ability to, your relationships allow you to listen.
And so now you are talking about, yeah, I can get you the supply. Let's not worry about that. We get to talk about so much, so much more. And it sounds like, I mean, it's interesting to hear paper merchant talking about, look, you know, I know my printer's deal with staffing issues and, and which they all were, right? And so it's really refreshing that you guys are taking that time to listen to them and say, look, we can, you know, we are, it sounds like what you're telling me is your purpose is, is them, right?
It's, it's, and I think a lot of places have, have lost that. Yeah, my dad used to tell me that, you know, he said to me, he goes, just remember, you're not a distributor. A distributor takes something and pushes it into the market. So you're a merchant, go to the customers, find out what they need, then you go find it. And so the wonderful thing for us and our business is everyone worries like, what's the future going to look like?
And how do we need to change our business to be a value? I said that the future is fantastic. And if you want to know what it looks like, who caught your customers? How are you changing your business? What does that look like?
Where are you investing? Oh, you're getting an inkjet technology or you're getting into packaging or you're looking at, you know, disublimation and getting into a parallel decorating. Fantastic. How can we be part of that? What, where do you see challenges?
Do I need to hire people on our staff who are structural engineers or who truly understand packaging design so that you have additional resources to help you as you evolve your print company? Or if you're getting into, you know, leveraging jet technology to get into, you know, whether it's an inkjet web and digital technology, how can we hope with that? Or if it's developing technological solutions, do we need more, you know, coders on staff and developers so that we can develop APIs to integrate our systems together? Or do I need people selling equipment that can help you choose where best to make your CAPX investments and making sure that you've got a partner that's, you know, able to support that with tech support and service and next day availability on what you need? And so that to me is, yeah, that is really, and so you've done that.
So you, I mean, in terms of your offering, because I used to say that the warehouse doesn't have fairly discriminate, but you got to know, right? And you got to understand what they're needing. And so, well, they're so fun and refreshing to talk to you. But at the same time, we need more of this. We need to collectively get more of this.
Let me finish up with and say, so let's crystal ball. What do you see, you know, you're listening to the clients, you've obviously adapted it. But any forecast you see with thinking of them and what you, from your perspective, what you see in the horizon for them and you. Yeah, so we believe that you have to become hyper focused on the customer. What are all the things that our customers need and want?
And then how do we make sure that we can deliver those? And that, you know, that's from paper, whether it's offset or, you know, web sheets, whether it's digital, to packaging grades, to many of our printers are in fulfillment businesses. So what can we do? Not just on corrugated and tape and those types of things, but also material handling equipment. Do we need tech support staff to be able to support them in that area?
Do we need to expand our warehouses to help them with overflow space to support their growth? So I think you've got to really look at your customers and completely reengineer your business around that. And then we believe that technology is going to be a huge differentiator in the future. As our skew, you know, have proliferated in terms of what we stock. And we sell 35,000 different skews right now in a business where 70% of our orders come in between two o'clock and five o'clock today and they need to be delivered tomorrow.
How do you manage that? This AI explosion is exciting because I think that integrating that technology will allow us to serve us people better, particularly as we're dealing with a supply base that it's ever changing and, you know, decreasing domestic supply, increasing imports, how do you manage, you know, a six month supply chain coming in for next day availability. And so you're going to see, I think, huge investments in the IT infrastructure. For the partners that are going to be able to truly support businesses going forward. And, you know, how are we streamlining the entire channel?
And I think that's my crystal ball of how we're going to redefine things where people are no longer going to be a customer or a supplier. You're going to be partners. And I'll tell you about it. You'll take this portion. But, you know, look, success only exists if you continue to grow your business.
And you're the people that are doing that. Yeah. No, I think it's great. I mean, Travis, I really, it's refreshing. And because a lot of people look at AI and they're fearful.
I'm actually headed to Cleveland next week to this marketing AI conference. And because I'm not just, you know, what's embrace it, right? We think about middle crafts. Think about the industry. And all the people decades ago, we're talking about, we're going to be in a paperless society.
It's all digital. It's all social. And, and I don't know, we're keep going. And like you said, there's some real value in doing stuff in print. And, but you have to have this positive push forward mentality.
And, and that's really refreshing. Let me ask you before I let you go. So do you guys still, I know, I know Terry. So I do, are you still doing stuff? And do you partner with printers beyond upstream?
Are you still doing spec work? Are you still going up into the brand owners and the marketers and saying, you know, you really need to look at your marketing supply chain. And we can talk with, let's have a conversation. And are you doing that? And I have to be successful.
Well, absolutely. I'm doing all the time. It's a different conversation. You know, today it's around ESG. It's around the environmental platform of the supplier, the urban footprints.
It's around, you know, are there alternative substrates to go to that are a little lighter and that can reduce postage costs? You know, so that there's a lot of that. It's, it's doing due diligence on suppliers and talking about, you know, what is their energy platform look like? How can a brand owner incorporate the sustainability initiatives of a manufacturer into the ESG initiatives that they have at that brand level? And so I think they're deeper, better business conversations and some of the design work that it used to be.
That's still part of it and still incredibly important. But today I think we have to bring brands to life in a much more thoughtful, deeper holistic approach than maybe we did in the past. Yeah, yeah, that's great to hear. I do some working in the in the higher education segment and, you know, talking with them, they're all looking at their vendors, right? And there are all these certainly ESG is there at the top, you know, but little DEI as well now and they're all looking back.
They're all saying, look, we're aligned in this supply chain with people and so, which underscores what you were talking about earlier is that relationships are still important. Like you got to have those conversations and you can't make those adaptations unless you're having those conversations. So, you know, that's super cool. Well, let's say I just can't thank you enough. I'm thrilled that you spent some time with me and we need to do it again because I think your message, your whole mantra is a little infectious and we need that, you know, we need more of this industry, don't you think?
Actually, well, Mark, look, love talking to you and been a big fan for a long time. So, I mean, I'm humbled to be here talking to you. So just thank you for making it. Well, I'm not far. I'm in Pittsburgh, so I'll come see you and at the same time, we'll be seeing each other certainly as the American is a print show.
And you know, we'll get together with Jim and, you know, grab a beer with him and I'd love to, we need to steal away and just sit around some of these ideas. All right, cool. Sure. Excellent. Travis has been great, man.
Well, guys, I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Travis Malakar. I thought you would really get a kick out of it. It's refreshing, right? In this day and age to hear someone talk about relationships and doing the right thing and maybe a bigger picture of it all. It's also kind of fun to remind everybody the power of print and the fact that we collectively need to go tell the world that the ROI of print is enormous, that we suffer from digital fatigue, that if you really want to stand out, go design something and print it and embellish it and make yourself stand up.
Tell the world through print that you actually care. I think that was super, super cool to talk to him and I, and my thanks to Travis, I just, I can't thank him enough and we'll look forward to seeing him in Cleveland on May 8th and May 9th, 2024, an America's print show. My reminder to you that this episode of Brushstrokes was brought to you by America's print show and they are once again going to parlay the success they had at August 2022 into this event in 2024. It is May 8th, May 9th, 2024 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, Ohio. Go to America's print show dot com to learn more of my thanks to them.
My thanks to all of you for once again listening. I really appreciate it. Canvas is always dedicated to bringing the most compelling content in the industry. We have been overwhelmed with people who have said over the last 15, 16 years that Canvas magazine is the best of the best that we write the stuff that matters and we've actually taken the opportunity to design a magazine that we hope lets you know that we care. So I'm really, really appreciative of it and sometimes pinch myself that it's, it's done so well.
So again, my thanks to you. We look forward to the next episode of Brushstrokes and until then, be the Buffalo. Take care.
Transcript of 'Brush Strokes Episode 90': Hey guys, I'm Mark Potter. Welcome to a new episode of Brushstrokes, a podcast powered by Canvass Magazine. Guys, today's episode is brought to you by the Prince Smart Summit, which is set from May 7th, 2024 at the Huntington Convention Center in Cleveland, Ohio. I am jacked up about this guys. I think that this is going to be a pivotal event for the commercial printing industry.
We're going to address the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on our industry. It's dedicated to demystifying AI and showcasing its potential for all of you to revolutionize not just operations, but sales and marketing strategies. I feel like there is a community of us that is a little bit nervous about AI. What's its impact going to be on our jobs and what our role is going forward? So why not bring in a bunch of speakers that can help us feel a little bit more confident, a little bit more comfortable, and learn how we can kind of embrace this whole thing.
I am so thrilled at the lineup we put out. I'm actually kind of shocked that we could do it. We got people from Google, we got people from IBM, I get the CEO from Pandata, which we'll hear from in subsequent episodes. But our keynote speaker is our podcast today, and that's a gentleman by the name of Mike Kaput. Mike Kaput is the CCO of the Marketing AI Institute.
He's a globally recognized marketing AI expert. He's an author and speaker. And as the chief content officer at Marketing AI, he's helped some of the world's top companies build competitive advantages with AI. He co-authored the book Marketing Artificial Intelligence. And he's the co-host of the Marketing AI show.
I'm super super excited that he took a few minutes to kind of preview a little bit about what he's going to be talking about at the Prince Smart Summit on May 7th, 2024. He is uniquely qualified on multiple levels. He was a journalist, but he began his career in print. And so what is super super cool about him is that he's not just gotten into the AI thing in a major, major way, but he kind of comes from where we are. And so he's uniquely qualified to speak to us on May 7th.
And I am super super excited that he took some time. I wanted to start off and talk to him a little bit about his background. And here's what he had to say. The funnily enough, I started my career way, way back when in print magazines and journalism. I used to be a journalist.
I was freelance writer for a while. I also lived in Egypt for a few years. I was the editor at magazines there. So I started out in that whole world. I've always been a writer by trade, by my first love and during love.
And you know, way back when I kind of made a transition into the world of marketing, working with Paul Ratesor, who is the current founder and CEO of marketing. I do where I work today. And I was hired by Paul probably about like 12 years ago, at this point to work at his marketing agency that he owed at the time. And it was a full service digital agency, but a big focus on inbound marketing and content marketing. They were actually hub spots first ever agency partners and kind of made this big back on marketing automation really, really on in that space.
And just from kind of this background of being a strong writer, really loving storytelling, marketing copy in my freelance work. I tend to learned every in and out of the marketing industry in the agency world. So I was on the leadership team at a marketing agency. A small one for about a decade at that point. And as part of that journey, all was heavily investigating all the way back in probably 2011, Artificial Intelligence.
So what was possible in marketing after I think the kind of culminating moment was seeing IBM Watson beat a human competitor on jeopardy. And so all at the time was starting to write his second book. He enlisted me to help him write the chapter on AI. That's how I started kind of going down the rabbit hole tie around, I'm gonna say like 2013ish. Sounds about right.
And then from there, me and Paul were just on, yeah, I'm a huge science fiction fan personally. Let's grew up reading every of any science fiction book movie show you can find. So Paul and Paul's always been kind of forefront of technology. So we spent years researching theorize trying to figure out what was AI is anything going to do to the marketing industry to the agency business and also how could we actually use this stuff for our clients. And long story short, we got to this point where we felt like we had just started sharing what we were learning.
We spun up a website called marketing institute in 2016. Just got to shit. It seems a lot longer ago now. Though it kind of started out as a website to share what we were learning big questions. We had very quickly kind of outgrew that and a grew into today media and education.