As with all things, tradition will always have a place in the rapidly evolving business of printing, even as progress hurtles us toward an unimagined future. But the advent of digital printing as an eminently superior method of applying ink to page cannot be downplayed. Here at CJ, our digital printing division is one of the fastest-growing parts of our business—and we couldn’t be more pleased.
CJ Digital is the newest arm of our company, and it’s been a going concern since it launched four years ago. We just hired two new programmers to keep up with the demand, and to sustain for us the considerable advantage this division confers upon CJ.
Here, we can combine cutting-edge digital printing solutions with a deep well of traditional printing expertise to produce short-run jobs that hit every target. From brochures, flyers, newsletters, business cards and posters to folders, reports, labels, booklets and stationery, we can turn around every project for which timing, versatility and—natch—quality are the order of the day.
Digital printing offers a new ability to print exceptionally small runs cost-effectively, compared to traditional methods. This bit of progress also comes with a lower pricetag than its forerunner, thanks to the elimination of most of the setup time and materials associated with litho. And because there are so few “overs” with this precise printing method, the environment suffers less waste.
Our digital printing equipment is top of the line, and is headed up by our Xerox iGen4 colour digital printer with variable data. This beauty can accommodate—swiftly and impressively—images as large as 14.25” by 22.4”.
We’ve got other toys in our digital toybox, too, including a Xerox 7000 colour digital printer with variable data; specialty variable imaging/data software; a Xerox 470st; a Xerox Nuvera 144; a Xerox DocuTech 6135; Polar 45” and 30” guillotines; a Nagel Robofeeder for Saddle Stitching; a Pitney-Bowes D1950 mail inserter; a BPQ260 Perfect binder and a GBC AP-22 Altra Punch.
Courtesy of our investment into this important evolutionary curve of the printing world, we can provide on-line solutions for clients like never before. Customers need only convert their documents to PDFs, upload them to our site and approve the low-res solutions we produce in response. We’ll have the finished job in their hands in turnaround times no one dared imagine until very recently.
What’s more, our digital printing division eliminates the need for customers to keep printed material in stock. Freed from the restrictions of minimum quantities, useless pallets of out-of-date flyers cluttering up backroom storage spaces are increasingly things of the past. And our variable printing capacity means orders can be personalized magnificently, with text and imaging. Highly focused marketing pieces can suddenly speak to an audience of one, and the return on investment from this targeted, smart marketing is exceptional.
CJ Digital is all about short-run, low-cost, high-quality colour printing across a range of applications. Our customers need only think it up—we’ll take it from there.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wheels down
Lots of skateboarding news under the blazing sun.
For one, a bunch of us grabbed our boards recently and descended on Wakestock 2009 to host a couple of really amazing skateboarding competitions. Held at Collingwood’s Millennium Park this year, this annual festival featured the usual celebration of all things wakeboard, to say nothing of the live music, beer gardens, bikini contests and the like that wrapped around it.
All told, some 10,000 people made the trip to watch wakeboarders rip up the waters of Collingwood Harbour.
But the best bet for my money were the two skateboarding contests the CJ Skateboard Park & School headed up. We set up this amazing skateboard park in the midst of all the action, and doled out a whack of prizes—including CJ decks, t-shirts, stickers and passes to our park—in recognition of some really boss boarding.
Then last weekend, we were very graciously invited to participate in the Hamilton Skateboard Assembly’s 17th annual competition at Beasley and Turner Parks in that city. Our demo team competed impressively, and we came home in the company of a bit of bling for our efforts: On the first day, at Beasley, we won best-trick-over-the-gap and got an honourable mention for old school; on the second day, at Turner, we won first place in the under-15-in-the-bowl contest and third place in the over-16-streets competition.
Material recognition aside, the best thing about being part of the HSA’s amazing event—to say nothing of the chance it afforded us to taste the phenomenal new skateboard park at Turner—was the camaraderie and openness of the Hamilton people. What a great group of participants.
Something there is about a skateboard, methinks, that simply makes the world a better place.
For one, a bunch of us grabbed our boards recently and descended on Wakestock 2009 to host a couple of really amazing skateboarding competitions. Held at Collingwood’s Millennium Park this year, this annual festival featured the usual celebration of all things wakeboard, to say nothing of the live music, beer gardens, bikini contests and the like that wrapped around it.
All told, some 10,000 people made the trip to watch wakeboarders rip up the waters of Collingwood Harbour.
But the best bet for my money were the two skateboarding contests the CJ Skateboard Park & School headed up. We set up this amazing skateboard park in the midst of all the action, and doled out a whack of prizes—including CJ decks, t-shirts, stickers and passes to our park—in recognition of some really boss boarding.
Then last weekend, we were very graciously invited to participate in the Hamilton Skateboard Assembly’s 17th annual competition at Beasley and Turner Parks in that city. Our demo team competed impressively, and we came home in the company of a bit of bling for our efforts: On the first day, at Beasley, we won best-trick-over-the-gap and got an honourable mention for old school; on the second day, at Turner, we won first place in the under-15-in-the-bowl contest and third place in the over-16-streets competition.
Material recognition aside, the best thing about being part of the HSA’s amazing event—to say nothing of the chance it afforded us to taste the phenomenal new skateboard park at Turner—was the camaraderie and openness of the Hamilton people. What a great group of participants.
Something there is about a skateboard, methinks, that simply makes the world a better place.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Making a Bid for Summer
Summer is on its way out. Going once. Going twice. Gone.
Such has been the ephemeral down season of 2009. But it isn’t disappearing without incident.
I’ve been part of a whack of great auctions this summer. Among the best was the Rally for Kids with Cancer, this star-studded gala to raise money for the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Padres Contra El Cancer. Run by Solutions with Impact, out of Toronto, this was a killer sit-down dinner for 500 at a private mansion in Bel Air whose genuine highlight, for me, was sharing the stage with Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives fame) and Adam Rodriguez (from CSI Miami).
At one point, I organized this spur-of-the-moment little comedy bit on stage with Eva and Adam that went over really well with the guests. The crowd went wild.
For this one, I auctioned off various travel packages and one-of-a-kind specialty items, like red-carpet walks for movie premieres, and weeks at interesting houses in exotic locations. When the dust settled, we had raised some $400,000 for this amazing cause.
Then there was the annual oyster festival at Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto. This one’s a fundraiser with proceeds going to Environmental Defence. This year’s event, given a CSI-inspired title, Lemons and Oysters: Special Eaters Unit, included the highlighted addition of a dunk tank. The head of Environmental Defence was one of the guys who got dunked, as was Rodney himself. Twenty people tried before I stepped up and dunked him in one. He hasn’t talked to me since.
I auctioned off different packages for Rodney's cause, including a wine vacation to Niagara-on-the-Lake and a trip to an oyster festival in PEI, with airfare and lodging. More than 700 people came out for it.
The other event was an auction at the Ontario Science Centre—the LG Innovators Ball. The theme this year was Femme Fatale, an Evening of Intrigue. Seamus O’Regan from Canada AM, dressed as James Bond, was the master of ceremonies, and Ben and Jessica Mulroney served as honourary cochairs. There were 464 dinner guests and 845 attendees for the party that followed. We raised over $100,000 for the Science Centre.
I do some 65 auctions for registered charities every year, free of charge. Another among them was this year’s Canadian Film Centre party. Eugene Levy was the emcee and I was the auctioneer (see photo). In his intro, Eugene told the crowd that some 20 years earlier, he emceed an amateur comedy festival in Toronto whose featured acts included Jim Carrey, Howie Mandel and a young man named Jay Mandarino. What an honour it was to share a stage with him—then, and now.
Going, going maybe… But not yet gone.
Such has been the ephemeral down season of 2009. But it isn’t disappearing without incident.
I’ve been part of a whack of great auctions this summer. Among the best was the Rally for Kids with Cancer, this star-studded gala to raise money for the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and Padres Contra El Cancer. Run by Solutions with Impact, out of Toronto, this was a killer sit-down dinner for 500 at a private mansion in Bel Air whose genuine highlight, for me, was sharing the stage with Eva Longoria (of Desperate Housewives fame) and Adam Rodriguez (from CSI Miami).
At one point, I organized this spur-of-the-moment little comedy bit on stage with Eva and Adam that went over really well with the guests. The crowd went wild.
For this one, I auctioned off various travel packages and one-of-a-kind specialty items, like red-carpet walks for movie premieres, and weeks at interesting houses in exotic locations. When the dust settled, we had raised some $400,000 for this amazing cause.
Then there was the annual oyster festival at Rodney’s Oyster House in Toronto. This one’s a fundraiser with proceeds going to Environmental Defence. This year’s event, given a CSI-inspired title, Lemons and Oysters: Special Eaters Unit, included the highlighted addition of a dunk tank. The head of Environmental Defence was one of the guys who got dunked, as was Rodney himself. Twenty people tried before I stepped up and dunked him in one. He hasn’t talked to me since.
I auctioned off different packages for Rodney's cause, including a wine vacation to Niagara-on-the-Lake and a trip to an oyster festival in PEI, with airfare and lodging. More than 700 people came out for it.
The other event was an auction at the Ontario Science Centre—the LG Innovators Ball. The theme this year was Femme Fatale, an Evening of Intrigue. Seamus O’Regan from Canada AM, dressed as James Bond, was the master of ceremonies, and Ben and Jessica Mulroney served as honourary cochairs. There were 464 dinner guests and 845 attendees for the party that followed. We raised over $100,000 for the Science Centre.
I do some 65 auctions for registered charities every year, free of charge. Another among them was this year’s Canadian Film Centre party. Eugene Levy was the emcee and I was the auctioneer (see photo). In his intro, Eugene told the crowd that some 20 years earlier, he emceed an amateur comedy festival in Toronto whose featured acts included Jim Carrey, Howie Mandel and a young man named Jay Mandarino. What an honour it was to share a stage with him—then, and now.
Going, going maybe… But not yet gone.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Staining the Future
It’s easy to paint certain industries with a broad brush. I’m keen to slip out from beneath the one that’s swept across the printing trade in recent times.
Reams of paper, barrels of ink, the two coming together in a spectacular display of wastefulness and environmental irresponsibility. I’ll be the first to admit that the whole printing game doesn’t set a guy up to look like a hero. But once a bad scene does not ever a bad scene make. And an industry with a backwards way of doing things is the most responsive to a turnaround.
CJ Graphics is one of the most environmentally sensitive printers in the world.
Momentarily, we’ll have completed a project that’s seeing the erection of a couple of small windmills out front of our main facility. Working with Village Energy, we’re putting these windmills up to get the power necessary to operate all of the servers inside the shop.
In addition, we’re in the process of testing some inks that contain absolutely no volatile organic compounds. Currently, CJ uses soya-based inks, and these little pots of magic, with their low VOC content, are already better than lots of what’s out there. But the new inks will eliminate the bad stuff all together.
More and more, the paper we use is FSC certified. And we offer customers the option of waterless printing, and at the same price as conventional offset printing.
Waterless printing is a printing method that bypasses the traditional slop of chemicals that’s applied to a printing plate in favour of a printing process that relies on temperature control, instead. The elimination of these chemicals is not only more advantageous for the print quality it produces, but more environmentally kind, too, for the gallons of water it saves.
And there are other rewards associated with engaging in conscientious printing. CJ was just notified that it is one of seven Canadian printers, out of 5,000 entries worldwide, to win a Benny Award, this one for a job we printed for Mercedes Benz—waterlessly.
Reams of paper, barrels of ink, the two coming together in a spectacular display of wastefulness and environmental irresponsibility. I’ll be the first to admit that the whole printing game doesn’t set a guy up to look like a hero. But once a bad scene does not ever a bad scene make. And an industry with a backwards way of doing things is the most responsive to a turnaround.
CJ Graphics is one of the most environmentally sensitive printers in the world.
Momentarily, we’ll have completed a project that’s seeing the erection of a couple of small windmills out front of our main facility. Working with Village Energy, we’re putting these windmills up to get the power necessary to operate all of the servers inside the shop.
In addition, we’re in the process of testing some inks that contain absolutely no volatile organic compounds. Currently, CJ uses soya-based inks, and these little pots of magic, with their low VOC content, are already better than lots of what’s out there. But the new inks will eliminate the bad stuff all together.
More and more, the paper we use is FSC certified. And we offer customers the option of waterless printing, and at the same price as conventional offset printing.
Waterless printing is a printing method that bypasses the traditional slop of chemicals that’s applied to a printing plate in favour of a printing process that relies on temperature control, instead. The elimination of these chemicals is not only more advantageous for the print quality it produces, but more environmentally kind, too, for the gallons of water it saves.
And there are other rewards associated with engaging in conscientious printing. CJ was just notified that it is one of seven Canadian printers, out of 5,000 entries worldwide, to win a Benny Award, this one for a job we printed for Mercedes Benz—waterlessly.
Friday, August 7, 2009
GREAT NEWS AT CJ'S!
Hi Everyone,
Big news!!!
We will be appearing LIVE ON BREAKFAST TELEVISION this coming Monday AUGUST 10, 2009; live from 7:00am-9am here at the park. Anyone that is registered for the camp session August 10 – 14 is welcome to be here at 7:00am and will be on TV with Jay Mandarino and the CJ Staff. We are really excited to have the opportunity to do the show and it will be an awesome time and a great experience. So come on out and be on TV!!!!!
We have a new mural located in the mini-ramp room. It is done by “Bubblz” from the Tribal Bridges Crew. It looks amazing and really gives the space some great color and awesome vibe.
The construction is complete on the snake-run-roller, and everyone has been having a blast on it all week. It really adds a different dynamic to the street course and is fun, but challenging at the same time.
The Video-Replay system should be completed by the end of this week. This feature will allow you to perform a trick, stand clear of the obstacle, and then watch the playback, of your trick, on one of the three jumbo flat-screen televisions.
We are now offering a camp session for the week of AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 4 2009 as there are no other programs running during that week, so we have decided to open our doors and run an additional skateboard camp week to accommodate all your kind requests.
Hope to see everyone at the park!!!!
Big news!!!
We will be appearing LIVE ON BREAKFAST TELEVISION this coming Monday AUGUST 10, 2009; live from 7:00am-9am here at the park. Anyone that is registered for the camp session August 10 – 14 is welcome to be here at 7:00am and will be on TV with Jay Mandarino and the CJ Staff. We are really excited to have the opportunity to do the show and it will be an awesome time and a great experience. So come on out and be on TV!!!!!
We have a new mural located in the mini-ramp room. It is done by “Bubblz” from the Tribal Bridges Crew. It looks amazing and really gives the space some great color and awesome vibe.
The construction is complete on the snake-run-roller, and everyone has been having a blast on it all week. It really adds a different dynamic to the street course and is fun, but challenging at the same time.
The Video-Replay system should be completed by the end of this week. This feature will allow you to perform a trick, stand clear of the obstacle, and then watch the playback, of your trick, on one of the three jumbo flat-screen televisions.
We are now offering a camp session for the week of AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 4 2009 as there are no other programs running during that week, so we have decided to open our doors and run an additional skateboard camp week to accommodate all your kind requests.
Hope to see everyone at the park!!!!
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