Gary Peeling is managing director of Precision Printing Co in London.

Gary Peeling is president-elect of Dscoop, an HP Indigo user’s association. Here he explains the aims of the first European meeting.

November will see a significant landmark in the development of digital printing when Dscoop, the Digital Solutions Cooperative, has its first European meeting in Barcelona.

The conference, Print United, from 7 to 9 November, will bring together digital printers from across Europe in a major expansion of this highly successful organisation.

Founded in 2005, this is an independent community of more than 7000 HP graphic arts customers worldwide. As a not-for-profit cooperative with all revenues invested in education, shared resources, international networking opportunities and promotion for the ‘good of the game’, it is about working together to tackle our greatest challenges.
Its aims range from improving perceptions of our products and services for current and future clients, to increasing profits, developing new revenue streams and opening up new markets to gain business from new regions.

As part of the development of Dscoop EMEA, in 2011, a separate board of directors was established with representatives drawn from large and small print service providers (PSPs) in eight countries. Many of us have attended meetings in the US and experienced the benefits of working with the organisation, so we not only understood the vision but were excited and passionate about creating the same opportunities for printers in EMEA.
Board members volunteer their time and, with a board rotation policy in place, members can be as active as they wish.

Common goals
While the organisation has a number of goals, the main one is creating a community of digital print service providers (PSPs) who can share best practice, technical solutions, marketing advice and experiences.

Membership is for companies and includes all staff. There’s a tradition of inclusiveness: membership isn’t just for managing directors and CEOs; it’s for press operators as well as sales, marketing, technical, and financial staff. The benefit is that there’s no reliance on just
one person from each company.

Members can communicate through webinars, blogs, at conferences or direct. This provides an instant ‘advice pool’ for members wanting to consult on a technical matter, or explore different approaches to handling work.

There’s a successful history of networking and even sharing work. For example, two European companies met at a US Dscoop conference. One was a general commercial printer and the other a label converter. The result was an agreement to work together on jobs they would have turned away because they didn’t have the capability individually.
The Dscoop Online Print Directory, listing all member companies, is available to members.
Events are also often held at major exhibitions, providing opportunities for members to meet, discuss, and view the show together. These gatherings are not all work; many are social networking receptions providing the time to renew acquaintances, catch up on news and enjoy each other’s company.

Practical services
Because it is organised by PSPs, services are practical, focused and designed to deal with issues that many members have in common. The organisation embraces commercial printing, label and packaging, and more recently, members with large-format HP Scitex inkjet presses.

The annual conference is the centrepiece where members meet and share ideas, experiences and expertise. The EMEA Print United conference in Barcelona will be chaired by Jon Tolley, managing director of Prime Group. It will feature presentations by representatives of major brands plus educational sessions in technical, marketing and business development.

Beyond the conference, activities are often web-based. Monthly webinars cover a variety of business and operational topics. These are then archived for viewing by members at their convenience.

Online discussion forums are also very popular. This is the approach most often used by members facing a technical challenge. One of Dscoop EMEA’s first tasks will be to expand the forums and make them available in different languages.

As our name suggests, cooperation is at the heart of Dscoop. With the spread of digital printing, there is a continuing need for reliable information. Informing PSPs who have not yet taken the step into digital is part of our function, as is alerting enterprises to the effectiveness and profitability of short-run, on-demand, versioned and personalised print.
Dscoop EMEA will work to foster these goals, contribute to the knowledge pool, share best practice and develop our businesses and our craft. Print United will mark the opening of an exciting new chapter in the story.

Contacts
For information about Dscoop activities and plans in EMEA, contact Jon Bailey at jon.bailey@procoprint.co.uk.
For information about the Dscoop EMEA Conference, Print United, contact: http://dscoop.org/printunited