Ripon, Wisconsin - How can a printer attract then interact with 33 customers and prospects for an entire morning? The answer at Ripon Printers is to host the world's first Printing for Creatives Seminar to focus on web press production. The series, which consists of events hosted by MAN Roland press users throughout North America, is now completing its third year. The MAN Roland seminars feature presentations by creative production experts that instruct the print buyers how to maximize the benefits of the medium. Web-Based Roadshow A new web press edition of the roadshow was created for commercial printers who run MAN Roland web presses to present the special opportunities the higher volume systems provide. At Ripon, the company's Jason Hauman joined the presenters with a session on "Creating Bulletproof PDFs." Andy Lyke, one of Ripon's owners and its president, sees the MAN Roland seminars as filling a critical information gap. "Creative professionals need to be familiar with what goes into the printing process because they are increasingly involved in what used to be prepress functions," he says. "They now must know more than ever about production to create high-quality, trouble free files for print." Carol Cluppert, Ripon's Marketing Coordinator, appreciates the event's practical focus. "Sharing tips and techniques with the creatives eliminates frustrations and costly rework down the line," she notes. "The more information creative professionals have, the better their print results will be." Building the Brand The event also helped build the Ripon brand, while developing closer relationships with a key group of print buyers. "This seminar further establishes our company as a knowledgeable, collaborative resource dedicated to print excellence," Cluppert says. "In the process, we created tighter bonds and opened doors to more two-way communications that will benefit everyone. The positive feedback proved that the seminar was well received and would be recommended to others." Ripon Printers, one of the country's leading coldset facilities, expanded into the heatset market two years ago, with the installation of a 16/32 page ROTOMAN web press. The eight-unit two-web system is the first stacked conventional ROTOMAN to be installed in North America. It now runs three shifts a day as the centerpiece of a 24,727 square foot annex Ripon added to its main 210,000 square foot facility. Despite the impressive scope of its facility, Ripon took the seminar off-site for the convenience of its guests. "Offering this seminar at no cost and in a location that was close to the participants' offices also helped convey our customer commitment," Cluppert comments. New business could be in the offing for Ripon as the result of the event. "Forty percent of the people who attended our seminar were new prospects," says Lyke. "We believe that meeting with these creative professionals face-to-face and providing valuable tools and knowledge for creating trouble-free print projects will give them added incentive to choose Ripon Printers."