#PrintChat Profile: Daniel Scahill

Q1: Who are you, and what do you do? My name is Daniel Scahill, my title is Account Executive at Johnson & Quin, Inc. | A direct marketing company that has been in business in Chicago, IL for 139 years. I started working in the warehouse, and since have moved my way up to outside sales, and business development. I also assist in the social media marketing strategies, as well as assist our Director of Marketing with company marketing projects. I manage and maintain our customer database, and continually strive to be learning more about this complex industry we all know of as “print”.

Q2: When did you know you were hooked on print? I knew I was hooked on print once I walked into our production plant on got that whiff of I swear god only knew what… Turned out it was just ink, and I would get to smell it every day. Never have I came across a smell like that. I knew I was hooked on print, once I found out that it wasn’t SIMPLE! It was a complex living and breathing thing, that needed to be thought out and planned to accomplish the printing effectively. It was so much more than the home office printer. It was advanced, deep, interconnected with everything. Everything I started to look at, I looked right into, and thought how was this produced, how was this printed. I started to learn that different papers, and inks, all had effects on people perception of what they were seeing… at this point I started to really scratch the surface, but understand the power of this process that has been around for a lot longer than me. You can say the combination of all this hooked me in… and that hook is sunk deep.

Q3: What industry trends should we be watching this year? Now I won’t get into this because my company has this capability, but I think the inkjet printing is going to really start to take off this year… maybe not take off, but taxi onto the runway… and start winding up the engines… I think over the next few years inkjet will be making its way down the runway, and eventually the sky will be the limit. I think it is powerful because of it’s ability to leverage the data available to marketers, and bring the high quality mass customization of medium to large volume mailings. Each person can receive something that is determined to be interesting to them… relevant to their interests, relatable etc… To be able to produce high quality images, at a high rate of speed, with 100% variability is new to the industry. My goal is to shine the light on how marketers can leverage this print technology. How they can look at the data they purchase, make better decisions on what they are buying, and put something in front of their prospects that will hit close to home for them. I think production is there, it is time to inform the marketers of the power of this print technology. I think that is a trend to watch for this year.

Q4: What are three resources for awesome industry info – besides PrintMediaCentr of course! Seriously tho… PrintMediaCentr is amazing… I love it. I don’t even want to talk about others… But for the sake of the question, I will. I think LinkedIn is a good tool to look around the industry, and see what articles people are sharing with the community… I think in most cases, it isn’t the individual article that is important, but the overall trend of the messages that are being shared. What is everyone talking about? What is everyone liking. Another is the printing impressions magazine… While at times boring… Some articles in there are really well written, and really put into perspective the different emerging technologies and opinions of others in the industry. This is a large publication, so it does have a place. And finally… #PrintChat… I am hooked. These are people in print from all over the world, joining a simple discussion with others. I can see if people in Australia are having the same feelings as the people in the UK, and in America… I can see if trends are spreading, or if they are segmented to different regions of the world. Everyone has an opinion, and what they say matters… These are people who are enthusiastic about print and their job… These are the people I as a young professional want to surround myself with. I want to submerse myself around people who have decades of knowledge. I can listen to these people, they are experts… I would be a fool not to. I can give my opinions on the questions, and get instant feedback if the majority of the field agrees with me, or are thinking about the same thing. This is powerful. These are people to connect with.

Q5: Why do you #PrintChat? Why should others join in? I think I answered most of this in Q4, but if others are interested in chatting about print, they NEED to join #PrintChat. There is so much more that goes on other than the actual questions. It is an enjoyable, productive hour long conversation with enthusiastic experts.  If someone wants to see what bright people are thinking or talking about when it comes to print, they need to join. If they want to grow their minds, and engage with others who have the same back ground, they need to join.

Q6: How can people connect with you? My cellphone # is 630-336-7800 | I am always up for a phone conversation about printing, direct mail production, targeted marketing, postal regulations, list purchasing etc…

My email is: dscahill@j-quin.com
LinkedIn | Daniel Scahill
Twitter – @4ColorInkjet