Recent articles and blog postings bemoan the fact that kids aren't going to 4 year colleges to get degrees in some area of printing or not considering printing as a career. This is not really new. Printers have long told me their biggest challenge is finding good people who are interested in the business. That's a common story in many industries. And to be honest, "printing" sounds pretty boring to your average teenager--I have two of them, so I know. And after all, plenty of high school and even college kids don't know what they want to do.

There are a couple of issues with the paucity of young people entering the printing business. One is making it attractive, which requires an industry-wide program to change the image of printing. This requires a multi-year commitment from a lot of organizations based on proactive thinking and a broad commitment to making the business more attractive. There are lots of elements to consider.

The other, and maybe somewhat easier to address, is the kind of education kids need. If you haven't already, read Pete Rivard's recent column in On Demand Journal to see how his school, Dunwoody College of Technology, is changing the way kids interested in printing and graphic arts are learning. While the program Pete refers to is relatively new, it seems successful and is worth examining as a model for how printing and graphic arts can be taught--and made exciting.

The analogy to plumbing in Pat Henry's blog entry here on the PrintCEO Blog is an important one. Printing has always been a craft, a trade. While digital technology has changed that, getting the most out of computer-based design tools and digital presses is still a function of skill and training. Make that technical skill and training.

I liken the aptitudes needed for kids entering the printing industry today to those needed by automotive technicians. They are decidedly not "mechanics" any longer. Most have extensive training in electronics and computer diagnostics, not just twisting wrenches. The good ones know how systems in modern vehicles interrelate and how to solve problems. But they generally don't go to a 4 year college. They go to a vocational school or a 2-year tech college and supplement that with on-the-job experience and training from car manufacturers. In fact, Toyota and Honda have invested in programs at technical colleges around the country. The kids graduate with the basic certification needed to work on Toyotas or Hondas and that feeds the entry level jobs at dealerships. Sort of a farm system for dealer technicians.

Imagine if the digital press manufacturers did the same kind of thing, and showed not only how to run a NexGendigo 9000 but the elements of how to prepare and produce cross-media campaigns, direct mail, trans-promo and other key applications. It would teach skills in all the areas needed to produce the types of documents that printers need to deliver if they are to remain competitive while providing a stream of press operators already trained--maybe even certified--on key digital presses. Correctly marketed it could even help bring kids into the industry.

For example, there's a vocational school in Massachusetts that has arrangements with Cisco, Dell and others to train and certify students on their technologies. It makes for a nice transition from school to work. Maybe it's time for printing equipment and software vendors to look for ways to develop deeper partnerships with voc and tech schools in key markets to do the same kind of thing for future digital press operators as one way bring new blood into our industry.

It's up to our industry to keep itself relevant in a changing world and that includes how we attract new people and how they are trained. We need some new approaches. Maybe we can start by learning what the kids who are coming into the industry find attractive.