Dear ODJ: Thank you for the Carro Ford's August 19th article in On Demand Journal! I have not talked with Kim McBride in years (I lived and sold printing in Lexington for 16 years), but it was a pleasant surprise to read her comments regarding VDP. However, I am not surprised that her company is on the cutting edge of this new technology as she was always ahead of the learning curve. I agree with EVERYTHING Kim said, but two notable points were: 1) "Marketers haven't caught up with the technology yet. . ." We've found that most organizations are still unfamiliar with variable data printing…" So why do we keep hearing (at conferences and seminars) that Variable Data Printing is a "maturing" industry segment? 2) "Printers are in the unfamiliar position of having to explain the benefits of VDP in terms of strategic marketing efforts." I am a "mature" printing veteran who is taking advantage of every opportunity to become a marketing consultant FIRST. The digital/VDP gurus are telling us to hire entry level, tech savvy young reps to sell these services because traditional print sales reps cannot make the transition. I understand where they are coming from, but I'm not convinced that seasoned print reps can't reinvent themselves. After all --it's still about relationship building, learning the customer's business and learning "the new business of printing". If digital services are all I have to sell and I'm helping drive my company to become a VDP service provider, I just gotta bite the bullet and take advantage of all the education and training out there -- and there is plenty to be had. Thanks! Gary Littleton Dir. Business Development Gordon Bernard Commercial 22 Whitney Dr. Milford, OH 45150