Woody is the production and graphics editor for the Indiana State Medical Association (ISMA). The association includes 8,000 member physicians from the state of Indiana and offers them representation in the legislative process, legal and insurance assistance, and practice management advice, among other services. Woody's main responsibility is the layout and design of the ISMA Reports, a bi-weekly 4-page newsletter. The association also demands the completion of many brochures, promotional pieces, web graphics, as well as most everything else that needs an Adobe touch to it and will be sent out for printing. Woody, do you order most of the print work for the association? I handle 90% of the marketing pieces that are sent to outside vendors and 99% of the creative stuff we send out. Basically the project specs are sent to me for layout and once given the ok from the powers that be, I send them to the vendor with the best quote. I currently have a file of about 6-7 vendors that I regularly work with, and I feel confident that any of them will do a good job with most projects I send. Others in the company may send out basic, camera-ready artwork for forms or something boring - which is fine with me. Does the spending on print vary much from year to year? The spending here at ISMA is pretty much standard year-to-year. We print many similar projects each year with different themes. Have you been approached by vendors about using the Internet to help automate your print production process? I've seen ads for on-line quotes, though I've never used it. My current vendors have never suggested it. Any ideas or lessons learned that you could share with other subscribers who order print related materials? Basically I'm a graphic designer who enjoys the design part, but is also forced to deal with the production part. I type up a list of specs for a specific project, fax them to the vendors, and wait for them to call with questions. I guess an obvious lesson that I've learned is to always keep a good paper trail of the project on file for at least a couple years. Also, rarely would I print a job without some sort of proof - blue line or digital copy. But that one seems pretty obvious. As a designer, are you happy with your set of print vendors? The relationship is very good with all of them. I've learned that these printers really want my business and are extremely helpful and friendly whenever I may need advice on how to pull something off - like a goofy fold or strange die-cut. You mentioned that the association uses several vendors. Are you aware of their strengths? I typically will fax 5-6 vendors for any specific job and take the lowest price. I pretty much now know who's better at certain types of jobs and who would have a hard time meeting a deadline. When I started here about 2 years ago, there was already a list of vendors that were relied on. Others I picked up after a sales call, a winning quote and a good job. We've had problems with a couple vendors which makes me look bad, so I put them on hiatus for awhile. I then ease them back into the fold beginning with them quoting only the "easier" jobs. I have no problem adding a new vendor to my set fax list, but if they are late even once in returning a quote or are extremely high in their numbers, they're out. Woody, thank you.