Tis the Season 
for Giving —Cagle
It is that time of year once again when we disregard our own troubles and stop to consider those poor souls who are far less fortunate than us. In turn, we can be grateful for the blessings we do have in our lives while reaching out to make someone's darker days a little brighter.
During the month of December, I would like to post the charitable efforts from our printing industry fraternity in a blog or blogs. Send them along to my attention at ecagle@napco.com with a quick explanation of what you did and who benefitted from the effort.
We know you're busy, so don't bother with a formal press release. A simple e-mail saying, "Hey, we raised $2,500 for the local soup kitchen with an all-night bowl-a-thon" will suffice. We'll call if we need more information.
Why highlight charity now? In the words of Charles Dickens, Christmas is a time when want is keenly felt and abundance rejoices. And frankly, a little happy news wouldn't hurt. It would be a pleasant diversion from the tone of our news pages during 2010. I've never seen so many printing stories involving litigation in one year.
Please send us information regarding your charitable initiatives. We'll start it off with one:
DocuSource of NC sponsored the inaugural Triangle Game Initiative's charity golf tournament. The event, held Oct. 15 at Eagle's Ridge golf course in Raleigh, NC, raised more than $1,000 for the Eastern North Carolina chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The funds will go toward granting the wishes of two local children.
DocuSource provided all of the printed materials for the tournament. It has long been a supporter of community events in its home town of Research Triangle Park, NC, backing the Boys and Girls Club of Wake County, Meals on Wheels, the Women's Center of Wake County and Durham Rescue Missions, to name a few.
Let's celebrate the spirit of the season with some more news of good deeds done for those who need a helping hand.
TAKIN' IT TO THE STREETS: With a 35-mile, one-way commute to the offices of North American Publishing, there's ample opportunity to see a lot of things, some of which can't really be discussed in a B2B context or a family magazine. And, we like to think of our little slice of publishing heaven as a family. But now and then, I'll stumble onto something print-related during my tortuous trek.
Eyeing a Ford Mustang GT on the highway, my attention was further grabbed by the door cling advertising Speedpro Imaging (www.southjerseyspeedpro.com), a graphics company that specializes in providing wide-format digital printing for exhibits, banner stands and trade shows. Clearly, vehicle wraps, interior/exterior displays and point-of-purchase (POP) pieces fall into Speedpro Imaging's sweet spot.
My only criticism is the long name. I nearly rear-ended a Kia Sorrento trying to jot down the entire Website address, and I'm sure the driver of the Mustang must have felt I had some kind of issue. Prolonged staring at another car is never advisable and, in the Delaware Valley, it's a particularly egregious offense.
Long name notwithstanding, the wrap was certainly an attention getter. The good folks at Speedpro must have known this, given their tagline "Made you look." Just don't stare for too long.
STAY OUTSIDE: The power of outdoor signage is undeniable, particularly with highway billboards that reach out to captive audiences. But, it only takes a slight misspelling to turn a sporting offer into too much information.
A super-sized advertisement in Salford, England, had to be torn down shortly after its debut promoting a sports facility. The display was supposed to have read "indoor bowls hall." Bowls, or lawn bowls, is popular in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. It's a second cousin of bocce ball, I believe.
Well, the monster poster only underscores the notion that if you refuse to proofread your copy, disaster will surely strike.
The gaffe version of the poster read "indoor bowels hall," which, to Americans, might seem like another nutty way for the British to reference a rest room—what the heck's a loo, anyway?—but the printing company owned up to the error and the poster was removed.
The sports facility has a slogan of "discover what's inside." For anyone who saw the incorrectly worded version of the display, the answer to that offer is a firm "noooo thank you!" PI
—Erik Cagle
