Sunday 5.18

8pm
Opening Reception
the skinny from How: After the Opening Keynote, head to Hall A (plaza level) for the Resource Center Opening Reception. What better way to explore the booths than with live jazz, wine and cheese—there’s even a free drink ticket behind your badge. And don’t forget to stop by Mohawk’s photo booth for some nifty Conference mementos (you’ll find it near the band). Sponsored by Mohawk Fine Papers

Hosted by my friends (and upstate NY neighbors) Mohawk Fine Papers. Most designers know how serious Mohawk is about using design to market their paper, but you might be surprised how committed Mohawk is to environmental issues as well. I’ve asked Marketing Communications Director Jane Monast of Mohawk if she had a few minutes for some questions, and she graciously agreed. I’ll post that interview asap.

The scene here is an absolute madhouse. The opening keynote presentation let out a sea of hungry/thirsty designers who descended upon the opening reception in a hoard. In order to reach the promised land of live jazz and cheese/crackers/drinks, everyone had to run the gauntlet of paper merchants, design school exhibitions, t-shirt giveaways, etc… The masses are now burdened with multiple bags of design goodies from Neenah Paper, Wacom, SCAD, etc…

Laura Shore of Mohawk Paper (and AIGA National Board Member) meeting the HOWies and delivering the goods.

This image is for my co-worker at id29 (and tablet fiend) Bryan Kahrs. It’s Wacom’s new Cintiq screen tablet. Why work on a tablet, when you can work on the actual screen? Totally awesome.

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7 Questions with Jane Monast: Marketing Communications Manager, Mohawk Fine Papers

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Doug Bartow: Jane, can you give me a brief history of your career at Mohawk Fine Papers to date?

Jane Monast: I started with Mohawk in 2000 as a project manager. (Coming from the direct mail industry, my idea of good paper was 60 lb. bond.) I learned the premium paper industry while coordinating swatchbook reprints and code book redesigns. As Mohawk grew, so did the marketing department and my responsibilities including taking on product launch materials, supervision of additional personnel to the department, and budget management which increased with our acquisition of the International Fine Papers division in 2005.

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DB: Mohawk is widely known as a supporter of design at almost every level, routinely using some of the best known designers and firms for your promotional materials. How did you go about deciding to invest the time and resources required to use design to help market yourselves as a category leader? Was there c-level ‘arm-twisting’ required?

JM: We are lucky to have an executive management team that sees the value of design, not only in the specification process but also from a marketing standpoint. To appeal to the design community, we must understand it, be very involved with it, and take advantage of the value that great design thinking and execution brings to Mohawk promotional materials.

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DB: Other than front of mind awareness for designers and other professionals who spec paper, what do you as Marketing & Communications Manager at Mohawk see as the major benefits of sponsoring events like the How Design Conference?

JM: In addition to getting the Mohawk name in front of 3500 customers in two days, HOW is a chance to sit in on sessions and see what designers are concerned about, interested in, and working on. We can talk one on one with designers we might never meet otherwise. We also get to see what other vendors are promoting and how it’s being received. It’s concentrated market research. We gather feedback about products and promotions that help craft our marketing going forward.

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DB: In 2005, Mohawk purchased Strathmore, Beckett, Via, and BriteHue (among others). You’ve integrated Via and BriteHue under the Mohawk moniker. Are you planning to do the same with Strathmore and/or Beckett?

JM: No, we feel that Strathmore and Beckett both have fantastic brand recognition and bring distinct product attributes to our offering of premium papers. We strive to maintain their personalities and expand the product lines in ways that make them more appealing/useful from a printing/applications perspective. For instance, we’ve added more environmental attributes and digital print ready items into the lines we’ve re-introduced since the acquisition.

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DB: What one thing do you think most graphic designers who regularly spec paper don’t know about Mohawk Fine Papers?

JM: The most frequently asked question from designers is, “How do we get to work with you?” The easiest way for a designer to come to our attention is in the Mohawk Show design competition. We look at every entry and attend the judging with world-class designers. We have hired new designers based on the quality of their Mohawk Show entries. The deadline for this year’s show is May 31!

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DB: In 2007, you announced that some of your Beckett and Strathmore papers were being made carbon neutral, and you were offsetting your electricity use with wind power and beginning to use biodiesel in your fleet trucks. Do you see green initiatives and FSC certification in the paper industry as good marketing tactics, or as requirements for doing business moving forward?

JM: At Mohawk, environmental responsibility is not a new concept or recent practice. Our commitment to sustainability is comprehensive and completely woven into the fabric of our corporate culture. We believe that business and industry have the creative capital and financial incentive to find the most innovative solutions to resource depletion, climate change, alternative energy development, and waste management. In the past, interest in the environment seems to have been cyclical. Now it seems like it’s here to stay. It’s not only the right thing to do, it’s also been good for business. Our 100% recycled grades and FSC certified papers have grown significantly over the last five years.

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DB: Your online ‘Paper Selection Tool’ at www.mohawkpaper.com is one of the most detailed and comprehensive tools I’ve seen for researching/ selecting paper, and allows users to drill down on your paper lines by environmental specifications as well. Do you see carbon friendly www sites (such as yours) replacing the traditional carton of swatch books on designers’ shelves in the future?

JM: I hope that carbon friendly sites with lots of information will decrease swatchbook usage over time. We produce 50,000 swatchbooks per year for our major grades and I think many of them are used once and recycled. However, I think most designers still want to feel the texture of the paper and see an actual shade. Color representation technology is getting better all the time, but there are still times when you order a dusty green shirt from an online catalog and it is really chartreuse when you open the padded shipping bag.

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DB: Thanks, Jane.
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6:30pm
Opening Keynote
Speaker: Jeremy Gutsche
founder
TrendHunter.com
Toronto, ON

How speaker link
How session link
Jeremy Gutsche’s homepage
Jeremy Gutsche’s www site

from Jeremy’s www site on this particular keynote topic:
“CREATING A CULTURE OF INNOVATION & CUSTOMER OBSESSION - In a world of increased competition, intensified customer demands and shifting employee demographics, a culture of innovation is more important than ever before. Jeremy’s Culture of Innovation framework exposes the audience to ground-breaking ideas related to perspective, customer obsession, tolerance for failure and creativity. In these categories, he provides examples that prove you can’t just check the box, you have to be revolutionary. The presentation provides a toolkit of ideas and examples of how leading innovators are changing the game to cultivate organizations that win.”

Exhibit Hall A is big, and probably 30 feet high, with a balcony around 3 sides opposite the stage. How editor Bryn Mooth has taken the stage and is reminiscing about the last time How was in Boston in 1994. They had 1000 attendants then, 4000 now. Not bad. I took a picture of her taking a picture of us. I arranged to meet Bryn a bit later tonight at the opening reception, and will ask her a few detailed questions about the conference.

Jeremy is talking about viral marketing, Wei-Ji, and current culture eating strategy in today’s business spaces. He’s a very animated speaker, and has obviously given this presentation before. One of the points of focus is on the Don’t Mess with Texas anti-littering campaign, and how it’s makes a cultural connection. The results: 72% less littering in 2 years.

He’s leading the group through an exercise where small groups in the audience are working in sort of a charette, coming up with cool ideas for hotel design based on in-room luxury, the humanization of pets, viral youth targeting, and renting cultural experience. A couple of the audience-generated ideas: a high-end nature based hotel for quilters, and a pampering spa for dogs with a doggie brothel. Ruf!

The crux of his discussion is infectious marketing: the Miss Teen South Carolina 2007 USA YouTube video is a good example of this. 25 million hits and still counting…

Q: “What is a viral message? What is a compelling story?”

Examples: a $5000 hamburger called “The $5000 Hamburger,” and a 5-layer super fat burger called the “quadruple bypass burger” served by a waitress in a nurse’s uniform. Hilarious, and above all, very hard to forget…

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4:30pm

Networking Kickoff

The skinny from How: Join your fellow attendees in Hall C (second level) for a little networking. The Creative Group has planned an ice-breaking game to get you started—bring plenty of business cards for your new friends and contacts. Sponsored by The Creative Group

A 10 minute walk from my hotel through an indoor mall with way too much jewelry shopping, and I’m at the conference. Registration was easy, I now have a lanyard and badge with a few free drink coupons in the back (nice) and an ugly black bag (aka man purse) with a binder full of detailed session info and a beautiful cover (I think it’s a Clif Stoltze design.) Appropriate.

The Creative Group is sponsoring this cocktail party and they’re handing out diecut old school mobile phone game cards as an icebreaker. The objective is to meet people who “drive a hybrid car” or “have been to an Aerosmith concert” (who hasn’t) and get them to sign the card. Then you submit the completed card at their booth and you could win something. It seems to be working, as the room is beginning to fill…

Update: the die cut cards were printed on what appears to be 12pt C2S. The pens they handed out were like Pilot Rollerballs. Mismatch.

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3:30 PM

Just drove in to Boston past a packed Fenway Park on the Mass Pike near Boston University. Boston is a crazy sports town today, as the Celtics are playing the Cavs in game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semi-finals. Somehow I don’t think the game will be on at conference check-in, however. I’m headed over to the Hynes Center now…

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