Today, we present a virtual roundtable of Dscoop and HP Industrial Executives. They discuss the upcoming event in St. Louis, the value of the global Dscoop community, and the close connection between HP and its users as they transform the digital print industry in 2023 and beyond. 

Participants include:

  • Haim Levit, SVP & General Manager, HP Industrial Print
  • Peter van Teeseling, Dscoop Executive Director
  • Noam Zilbershtain, VP & General manager of HP Indigo & Scitex
  • Annette Friskopp, Global Head and General Manager, HP PageWide Industrial
  • Jon Bailey, COO, Precision Proco Group
  • Rick Bellamy, Dscoop Executive Chair & Managing Director at Inflecton, USA

WhatTheyThink: Thank you for being here today. Given that 2023 is going to be challenging, what value can Dscoop bring to print business around the world?

Haim: Great question! Dscoop is about harnessing the power of community to network, communicate, and innovate to create competitive advantages. Dscoop is HP’s commitment to building an ecosystem that includes our solution partners and allows them to be agile in today’s economy.

Haim Levit, SVP & General Manager, HP Industrial Print

Rick: The Dscoop network goes beyond a group of people sharing ideas, it is an actual revenue generator. Print today is a complex profession that blends technology, craftmanship and manufacturing – it’s unlike other businesses. When I was head of RPI, Dscoop enabled us to diversify the type of e-commerce we provided, and to form strategic partnerships. As a result, our network grew with partners across the globe, all built on our relationships through Dscoop, and our revenue jumped by nearly 8x from previous levels.

Jon: You know, a lot of people are afraid to share, but sharing turns you into a leader. It puts you in the position of always being one step ahead as others are still absorbing and working on implementing your ideas. That’s the power of Dscoop—we are creating a competitive advantage through sharing, and it is amazing to see the various directions and results of these efforts.

Peter: There’s strength and joy in being part of a true community like Dscoop. Dscoop provides value through in-person and virtual events, with a huge variety of educational content and—perhaps most importantly—a large global network.

That network now has 15,000+ members representing 3,200+ organizations and 100+ partners (suppliers). Dscoop is not a single event that takes place once a year; it’s a 24/7, year-round power cord plugging members into new strategies, tools, connections, and collaborations on actual projects that create growth. Our mission is to drive the digital transformation of the print industry together with HP Industrial. 

“That’s the power of Dscoop—we are creating a competitive advantage through sharing, and it is amazing to see the various directions and results of these efforts.” —Jon Bailey, COO, Precision Proco Group 

WhatTheyThink: We are hearing a lot of buzz around the Global Edge St. Louis World Expo in May. This is the first fully global event since the pandemic, what can you tell us about it?

Peter: Yes! The focus this year is on doing things differently to make an impact.

Rick: It’s going to be super relevant to our members. In addition to helping printers grow in key markets, we will highlight topics that go beyond print, such as effective shipping management, implementing sustainable solutions and employee well-being.

Haim: I know you guys are excited about the content and rightfully so, but I think when you hear who the main keynote speaker is going to be, your enthusiasm is going to go through the roof!

Jon: When will you be announcing that? 

Peter: Stay tuned…it’s coming soon. As we prepare to make the big announcement, I want to share that we are emphasizing the attendee experience—a redesigned exhibit space that’s more engaging and exciting and will include HP equipment (including partners that offer pre- and post-print services), excellent education tracks, new partners, and incredible entertainment and opportunities for networking.

Noam: I will add that the atmosphere and energy at last year’s event were incredible and given the creativity that is going into this year’s planning, I expect this year to generate even more momentum. This community is a growth enabler for our industry, and the St. Louis event is a great opportunity for us as market leaders to listen to our customers carefully as we continue to develop and reinvent our products to meet their needs. I’m truly excited for the conference this year!

Peter: We’re creating an event that will be valuable for anyone who works in a corner office, alongside clients, next to equipment, or in front of software. They’ll return to work ready rejuvenated, with new ideas and industry friends.

“Dscoop is not a single event that takes place once a year; it’s a 24/7, year-round power cord plugging members into new strategies, tools, connections, and collaborations on actual projects that create growth.” —Peter van Teeseling, Dscoop Executive Director 

WhatTheyThink: The one thing that all Dscoop members have in common is that they are all HP users. Why is HP the cornerstone that brings Dscoop together?

Rick: It’s pretty simple—HP Industrial is the market leader in digital print. They have the best quality, service, and technology. They have also been a partner to us in some pretty tough situations, and there has never been a time when I couldn’t go to their highest level of leadership and have an open discussion.

Jon: It’s very true, Rick. During the pandemic, things were so rough that it highlighted the importance of having the friendship and support provided by HP. It is meaningful to have partners like HP, which have extremely strong leadership and understand that the definition of value is more than just revenue, but also about advocacy and engagement.

Haim: Wow, to hear how our customers connect to us is incredibly powerful. Our customer feedback is extremely important because we want to know that our technology will take their business to the next level. The partnership we have created with the Dscoop community is like family, and the scope of the network today is very inspiring to me.

“To hear how our customers connect to us is incredibly powerful.” —Haim Levit, SVP & General Manager, HP Industrial Print

WhatTheyThink: Dscoop recently expanded to include HP Industrial Print’s PageWide business. Can you talk about how that will benefit the community?

Annette: We are really excited to be stepping into the Dscoop community. Many of our customers have both HP Indigo solutions and HP PageWide Industrial solutions, so we are bringing the family together, so to speak, and we plan to be good listeners and good partners!

Earlier this year we showcased our PageWide Industrial commercial portfolio at Dscoop Edge Rockies. The response was very welcoming, so we announced at Printing Untied that we are joining Dscoop. The level of excitement and positive feedback from our customers has been amazing.

By bringing PageWide Industrial into Dscoop, we are helping our customers capture new digital printing opportunities and capitalize on important market trends. 

WhatTheyThink: Dscoop is a very much a member-led organization. Why is it worthwhile to be so engaged in this community?

Jon: This is a question I am asked all the time when people observe how much time I spend on Dscoop activities as a volunteer. My value as a head of a company is to deliver insights on upcoming trends. It’s my job to know where the next pain points are coming from and to understand how to generate new pages. This is what Dscoop delivers. For me, the value is immeasurable.

WhatTheyThink: In closing, how would you summarize Dscoop in 5 words?

Rick: Community, collaboration, global, partnerships, friendships.

Jon: Authentic, fun, thought-provoking, humbling, lifeline.

Annette: I’m going to cheat with hyphens to sneak in a few more words! Growth-driver, better-together, customer-led innovation, listening-mode.

Peter: Collaborative community of print mavericks.

Noam: power community, partnerships, solutions, celebration and innovation

Haim: It’s more than five words, but I want to leverage this opportunity to say thank you to the Dscoop board, many of whom are our customers volunteering their time, and doing an amazing. job. We invest significantly in Dscoop because we believe in this community and its ability to grow our customers and the industry as a whole.