BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER: ABGPrint.com Launches Salesforce.com
Advanced Business Group Inc. happily announced today our launch of Salesforce, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software package that will empower ABGPrint.com to work even better with our partners. ABGPrint.com joins the illustrious ranks of industry leading companies like L’Oreal, NBC Universal, and GE Capital by adopting this state-of-the-art, cloud-based software package that ranks #1 on Forbes Magazine’s “Most Innovative” List.
ABGPrint.com has further migrated to the Salesforce “Sales Cloud,” used by Commonwealth Bank, Wells Fargo, and Sprint, to continue to seamlessly create superior printed marketing materials that exceed our customer expectations every day.
So why did ABGPrint.com choose Salesforce?
1.) Help ABGPrint.com serve our clients BETTER. Salesforce is an industry leader, and the clear CRM frontrunner. ABGPrint.com’s clients are the best, and so deserve the best. Salesforce will help solidify our status as the #1 New York City 24 hour printing service by improving our efficiency and responsiveness to new heights.
2.) Help ABGPrint.com serve our clients FASTER. With Salesforce’s new cloud capabilities, ABGPrint.com can track client jobs anywhere and at any time, making our employees across all shifts more available than ever. ABGPrint.com’s four hour turnaround timeframe for Manhattan digital printing is already unrivaled, and with Salesforce on the team, we will become even more nimble to enable clients to have final printed documents in their hands in under four hours. Now that is fast.
3.) Help ABGPrint.com client confidentiality become even STRONGER. ABGPrint.com specializes in confidential data distribution, and with Salesforce behind us, customer document security gets that much stronger. All customer data is protected by industry leading data encryption, user authentication, and application security. ABGPrint.com is now more vigilant than ever, further guaranteeing our customers the peace of mind they have come to count on for the past 23 years.
Adaptation and customizing Salesforce to fit the needs of the company and its customers has been an exciting journey for the staff at ABGPrint.com. As the team preps for launch, anticipation is thick in the air as they reflect on how adding Salesforce.com as a business tool will help take customer experience to the next level. The future is bright as ABGPrint.com grows ever onwards and upwards!
Yves Saint Laurent is Chic this Fashion Week with Ready-to-Wear Books
New York Fashion Week Begins on February 7th 2013
What do Nautica, Tommy Hilfiger, Nichole Miller, and Michael Kors have in common, besides being among fashion’s biggest names? They are all gearing up for New York Fashion Week 2013! Twice a year, instead of venturing to the European fashion capitals Paris and Milan, fashionistas, retail buyers, and designers converge on the Lincoln Center to watch fierce models work the runway and show off New York City’s finest couture styles.
As the premier houses prepare for the fashion industry’s “Super Bowl” equivalent to start on February 7th 2013, independent designers and major labels alike are hunting for bold and exciting ways to stand out without breaking the bank or losing their minds.
ABGPrint.com to the rescue! This season, ABGPrint is working with fashion industry’s leaders, including the brilliant Parisian design house, Yves Saint Laurent, to create customized look books, brochures, accessory books, and buyer’s guides. The company also specializes in printing catalogues that feature ready-to-wear collections of accessories and clothing for the next season. ABGPrint.com’s facility is equipped with numerous security features to guarantee that YSL’s 2013 collections straight from Paris were completely confidential during printing and permanently deleted after delivery.
ABGPrint.com’s client services team has been trained and battle tested in the fashion industry’s specialized needs. Does your couture collection need to be printed on special European sized paper stock? No problem! Need your programs delivered and distributed to chairs at the site of your fashion show? ABGPrint has your back! Need to keep your Spring 2013 sketches safe from prying eyes? Print with confidence with our totally secure facility!
ABGPrint.com, NYC’s go-to printer
Keeping our clients calm with trusted, quality printed material is ABGPrint.com expertise, built on more than 23 years of experience. Situated in the heart of the NYC’s Fashion district, we can anticipate your business needs and save you time, headache, and heartache during the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2013 dash to the finish line. Discover what our partners Yves Saint Laurent and Hugo Boss already know: ABGPrint.com’s printed materials rule the runway.
ABGPrint.com Attends the Reserve Aid Gala, 2012
On October 17th, 2012, the ABGPrint.com team attended the Seventh Annual Reserve Aid Gala at the iconic Grand Hyatt hotel in Midtown. The event marked Reserve Aid’s seventh year anniversary since its inception in 2005, and showcased the vision and dedication of the young charity. ABGPrint.com was happy to donate graphic design, printing, and binding for the event and continues to support Reserve Aid in its campaign of generosity and service for America’s heroes in need.
“Reserve Aid Gala” by K. Beard of ABGPrint.com
The evening began with a silent auction organized by Mori Gonzalez of JP Morgan that featured stunning items like a signed Warren Bennis jersey, jewelry designed by David Yurman, and Caribbean vacations. After the cocktail hour, guests were invited into the main ballroom for dinner and were greeted by Reserve Aid’s Chairman and Founder, Mr. Lucas Detor of Morgan Stanley. Lucas shared a few words in which he expressed his passion and commitment for the work being done by Reserve Aid to provide financial assistance to the families of Reservists and National Guard service members who are serving or have recently served in full time deployment. While he celebrated the determined efforts of the charity and its benefactors over the last several years, Lucas was also careful to point out the growing needs of service members throughout the country and abroad. One heartbreaking statistic that Lucas mentioned compared the number of United States combat casualties to the number of post-deployment suicides that have occurred over the last seven years. According to the numbers, there have been just over 3,600 deaths in Iraq since the war began, compared to a staggering 2,700 suicides over the same period of time. “Seventy percent of veterans suffer from some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and there have been almost as many deaths from suicide as from combat,” he said.
“Reserve Aid Cocktail Hour” by K. Beard of ABGPrint.com
The chairman’s sobering remarks were followed by a presentation from Reserve Aid’s board member, Mr. John Withrow of Macquarie, who showed guests a video testimonial of Sergeant Justin Garcia. In over twenty years of military service Sergeant Garcia had served two deployments in Iraq. During one of these deployments, Garcia was severely injured by a roadside bomb and suffered a traumatic brain injury along with PTSD. Upon returning home, he was unable to return to his job as a city bus driver and found himself in unforgiving circumstances. It was through the help of Reserve Aid and its financial support that Sergeant Garcia was able to pull himself back onto his feet and overcome his PTSD. Garcia’s testimonial was followed by footage of the most recent Iron Man Championship Triathlon in New York – one of many fundraisers that Reserve Aid has participated in to help raise money for its cause.
The evening culminated with a beautiful speech from the featured guest, Vice Admiral Robin Braun of the United States Navy. Vice Adm. Braun has been a naval aviator since 1981 and has been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Battle Efficiency Award, and CNO Safety Award. In August 2012, Vice Adm. Braun became the Chief of Navy Reserve on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations in Washington, D.C.. The Vice Admiral expressed her tremendous gratitude toward Reserve Aid, and noted that Reserve Aid is the only organization that provides grants and financial support to Navy Reserve service members. In her own words, “The immediate financial assistance that you all provide, with childcare medical bills, you name it, it goes so much farther and means so much more than the numbers on the check, it means someone cares.”
“ABGPrint at Reserve Aid Gala”
After the Vice Admiral’s speech, Executive Director Polly Weidenkopf presented Miss Robin Braun with a United States flag that had been planted in the summit of the historic Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, along with sand from “Black Beach”, where marines had landed in 1945. As the evening drew to a close, Colin M. Adams of the Board of Directors gave a few closing remarks in which he recalled his friend Lucas Detor’s vision for Reserve Aid at its founding. Seven years later, Reserve Aid continues to dramatically affect the lives of the men and women who have voluntarily put themselves in harm’s way to protect our freedom. In its continued support of local humanitarian institutions, ABGPrint.com congratulates Reserve Aid on its seven-year anniversary and the far-reaching success of its compassion and generosity.
To find out more about Reserve Aid and to donate to soldiers in need, visit: http://reserveaid.org/donate
5 Client Tips for Prepress Success
ABGPrint.com prides itself on being New York City’s top 24 hour printing service. The stellar staff at our Midtown West facilities is here to help you around the clock, on the dot. Working with ABGPrint.com is simple, just upload your print-ready PDF file to ABG’s cloud-based printing service and we will print, bind, finish and deliver your documents in less than 24 hours to within just 4 hours. But what if there are issues with your document’s formatting? We have that covered too! Our highly trained Graphic’s Department will help you with proofing, formatting and document sizing. Quick changes are totally doable, but we can make the process even faster with the help of our clients.
Our excellent Client Services Team has made a list of a few simple steps to make sure that your files are perfect for our presses!
1. Create prepress files with the right program.
Always use prepress software such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign to create prepress files. Using Microsoft PowerPoint or Microsoft Word to create a prepress file for printing professional marketing materials such as brochures, catalogs or direct mail can, and often will, lead to disastrous results.
2. Send the proper file type to the printer.
Different printing companies will have different requirements for the type of file they want to use. Some printers will want a high resolution PDF file, others want the original Illustrator or InDesign file, and others may prefer something else entirely. It is always a good idea to talk to the printing company you will be using before starting the project to prevent having to redo any work.
3. Be aware of printing limitations.
While many printing companies are similar in many respects, their actual equipment can vary dramatically. Some printers with smaller presses may not be able to print a given project as well as a printer with a larger press. Some printers may be better equipped than others to handle complex folds or running a fifth or sixth color. Be sure to check your printer’s capabilities before you send over the prepress files for printing.
4. Outline all text.
Outline all text within the prepress file so there are no font issues. Font files may work fine for you while working on the project, but there can be problems with the fonts printing correctly when pre-press files are sent to the printer. By outlining all text in the prepress file, you eliminate any need to send font files with your job and all text will print correctly.
5. Convert all RGB files to CMYK.
A common problem printers have is that they receive a file that is set up for four-color process printing (CMYK), but the support files they receive (such as photographs) are in RGB format. This discrepancy will create delays in printing, additional costs to convert the file to the proper format, may lead to problems printing the project, and can affect the final document’s outcome.
ABGPrint.com’s Look Books Rule the Runway at New York Fashion Week, Fall 2012
After New York Fashion Week Fall 2012 came to a close, ABGPrint.com began to reflect on why the world’s top fashion houses choose ABGPrint, time and time again, to produce glamorous look books, mailers, catalogues and programs:
Could it be that ABGPrint.com operates fast?
Photo by K.Beard of ABGPrint.com
We demand the highest standard of quality from our printing. Like a model backstage at a fashion show, the fashion industry moves swiftly and can change on a dime. Good thing we are equipped for all of those last second changes needed in a ‘New York minute’! ABGPrint.com can help its customers print, bind and deliver books to their final destinations in as little as 4 hours. A perfect fit for the fast paced and high stakes fashion industry.
Is it because of ABGPrint.com is located in the heart of New York City’s Fashion district?
All of ABGprint.com is located at 266 West 37th Street in Midtown, from the sales team to the press machines. Rest assured that with ABG your documents are not being outsourced to some shop far from Manhattan, but are produced at a strategic location near most major conference centers, hotels and event spaces. ABGPrint.com delivers on site to places including the Lincoln Center on 70 North Broadway and the W Hotel on 541 Lexington Ave. We are also blocks away from the Jacob Javits Center on 655 West 34th Street. ABGPrint.com takes the worry right out of rush printing, binding and delivery in New York City.
Or could it be because of our top quality products?
Just like the high stakes world of fashion, beauty and elegant perfection is what we strive for when bring fashion photographers and graphic designer’s vibrant visions into the tangible world. Our customers agree that our state-of-the-art digital presses create look books and line sheets that are sleek, colorful, and make a big splash at events. ABGPrint.com’s clients have used our products at all of the major events and shows this fall season, from Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week to Fashion’s Night Out.
We make it easy to print with ABGPrint.com
Our clients call us to speak with a printing expert 24 hours a day and 7 days a week at 212-398-1010. You can call us or submit a request though our website to request a quote. Customers can easily submit their print ready PDF files for printing, binding and delivery around the clock. Need a proof at 2am? ABGPrint.com has you covered. With solutions including overnight printing, rush printing, and many others, it is easy to see why ABGPrint.com is New York City’s leading 24/7 printer for business.
For more information or to begin printing today visit www.abgprint.com or call 212-398-1010 today.
ABGPrint.com Proudly Partners with its Midtown Neighbor, the New York Public Library
ABGPrint.com is excited to announce its involvement with the New York Public Library as the institution prepares to exhibit the lifetime of artwork produced by world-renowned theater photographer Martha Swope. The exhibit, entitled Martha Swope: In Rehearsal, is set to premier in October and will present Swope’s contribution of over a million priceless photographs. This collection offers the public a firsthand glimpse into the private world of many of America’s seminal theater productions. ABGPrint.com is glad to take part in this historic cultural event and to support the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, a collection of art scholarship and archival materials that has remained one of the world’s largest since its inception nearly half a century ago.
Photo by K. Beard of ABGPrint.com
The origins of the Library for the Performing Arts (LPA) date back to 1932, the year that the chief of the Music Division of the New York Public Library, Carleton Sprague Smith, spoke to the lack of “A Worthy Music Center for New York.” Four decades later, on November 30th 1965, the Lincoln Center branch of the New York Public Library opened its doors and invited New Yorkers for the first time into the “Library and Museum of the Performing Arts” – the fruit of Smith’s lifelong ambitions.
In its younger years, the LPA was divided into separate reading rooms for Dance, Music, Sound Archive, Theater Research, and Children’s Performing Arts, the latter including “The Hecksher Oval,” an enclosed space designed specifically for children’s story-telling. Over the years, renovations and generous contributions from benefactors have transformed the Library many times over. Today, the Billy Rose Theater Division, Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound bear the names of masters of their craft who have all made invaluable contributions to both the archives and to the art world at large. The Music Division remains the Library’s largest, and features sound recordings in formats that themselves trace the history and development of audio technology to its earliest origins.
Rehearsal for Don Quixote, 1966 © Martha Swope, Life Magazine
Martha Swope’s donation in October will constitute nearly a quarter of the Library’s photographs overall. These breathtaking images constitute a timeline that tells the story of the growth of Theater in New York City, and of the creative geniuses that enriched our lives and culture with their impassioned works. In 2004, Swope received the Tony Honor for Excellence for her career’s worth of photographs ranging from the 1950’s to the 1990’s.
ABGPrint.com is certainly excited to lend a hand to its Midtown West neighbor by providing printed programs for this historic exhibition. As New York City’s leading printer, we are very proud to create business partnerships that support historic institutions like The New York Public Library, which have defined New York City as the artistic and cultural capital of the world.
Be sure to check out “Martha Swope: In Rehearsal” exhibit at the New York Public Library. Details are listed on the Library’s event page.
Printing 101: Baffled by Binding?
Baffled by Binding?
Who are you going to call?
Sometimes terms used in the printing and binding industry seem like a foreign language. Here at ABGPrint.com, you can call us anytime day or night with your questions at 212-398-1010, or contact us on our website.
In the meantime, our client services staff compiled a selected vocabulary list of commonly used binding terms so you can get exactly the type of book you envision, around the clock, on the dot.
ABGPrint.com Binding Options Defined
Wire-o-binding
Using spiral metal wire to hold pages together (Ex. Look book)
P-coil binding
Using a plastic spiral to hold a book together (Ex. Pitch presentation)
GBC binding
Using a plastic comb to hold a book together (Ex. Proposal Document)
Perfect binding
A soft cover book held together by hot glue (Ex. Bank Books)
Saddle stitch
A folded book with staples in the thin edge holding it together (Ex. Magazines and catalogues)
Side stitch
Staples on one side of the face of a book (ex. Newsletters and publications)
All these services and many more are available at ABGPrint.com. If you need a custom book printed and bound now, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, who are you going to call?
Lessons from the World’s Digital Engine: ABGPrint.com Visits Google New York
In July, Michael J. Mulligan of ABGPrint.com was invited to the Google offices in New York City. As a lifelong student of leadership and corporate culture, Michael was excited for an inside peek at one of the world’s most successful digital enterprises.
“Michael J. Mulligan at Google NYC”
Photo by ABGPrint.com
Michael visited several of the departments that make Google a household name, including the Ad-Server team, Publications group, and Google Earth team. He was deeply struck by the famously unique atmosphere of the office; Google works hard to provide for their staff with gourmet meals catered by in-house chefs, a highly creative environment, and even a company masseuse! However, Google demands much of their highly talented and driven personnel in return – to build best-in-class world shaping products that affect the lives of billions. Their engineers develop innovative initiatives like Google Services for Nonprofits, which provides the best technology to organizations like the UK based, WaterAid. Google’s applications enable WaterAid and countless other non-profits to touch as many lives as possible. Google employees are not simply motivated by their office space, but they are driven by their mission to connect and empower the globe with the internet.
“I was impressed by how flexible, supportive and nourishing the office seemed. It was crystal clear to me that a culture of collaboration of smart people will drive innovation.”
Michael observed several parallels between his own business and identified opportunities for continued growth during his visit to Google. “It is important to always keep an eye on the corporate culture and motivation strategies of highly successful businesses. Lessons can be learned from their success.”
A characteristic Google and ABGPrint.com share is that they both strive to select top talent from the world’s best institutions; one both have drawn excellent staff from is New York University. Both companies also challenge their employees to achieve high performance standards and reward superior accomplishment.
Selecting the best and brightest people for their positions and setting the bar high for them has been central to Michael’s business philosophy since he began ABGPrint.com. “It’s important to energize people and to make them feel like they are contributing. We want to engage our customers, but it starts with engaging our staff.’”
Michael also took away some additional managerial strategies from his Google visit, “A manager should place a priority on creating a collaborative environment where people can completely invest their energy and talents to growing the business.” Working as a team and reinforcing a positive attitude never fails to bolster productivity and stimulate creative and original solutions to client problems.
Now if only we could invite guest chefs to cook lunch for ABGPrint.com as well…
Michael says he’s working on it.
Names with Faces – Meet Anthony
Meet Anthony Natoli, ABGPrint.com Blog Contributor
Photo by Katherine Beard of ABGPrint.com
Hello readers! My name is Anthony Natoli, I am a recent graduate of Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. I will be contributing to ABGPrint.com’s blog from time to time. Before I get started on my first project, I’ll be detailing ABGPrint.com President & CEO Michael J. Mulligan’s enlightening journey through China, I’d like to introduce myself and to thank Michael for his generosity and refreshingly human approach to business.
In the short time I’ve been at ABGPrint.com, Michael has proven to be exceptionally pleasurable to work with and has welcomed me more graciously than any previous employer I’ve had. Within minutes of submitting my application to write for the ABGPrint.com, I got a friendly call from him to chat about what ideas I might have and for the blog and how to add my voice. We talked at length about his love of quality writing, especially the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and about what his business means to him.
The latter is what impressed me the most. I was immediately struck by Michael’s philosophy that business is about dealing with people, first and foremost; therefore is should be a personal experience. Later, while in a meeting, he would remark that he doesn’t see his company as primarily a print resource, “What I tell people is that we’re not just in the printing business, we’re in the customer care business.”
Even over the phone, I could tell that Michael was a person who prioritizes connection with people over profit, a trait that is often lamentably scarce in the modern workplace. He is friendly in a way that takes all the stress out of working with him and his method is as genuine as it is well intentioned.
Michael’s bright and welcoming attitude extends to all of his employees and every facet of his business. Everyone I have met here has had an honest interest in who I am. It’s clear that Michael both attracts and inspires his staff members, who make every effort to introduce a healthy amount of humanism into their relationships with clientele and with each other.
So thank you Michael J. Mulligan and ABGPrint.com for the warm welcome and for letting me be a part of a company that has a good proverbial head on its proverbial shoulders. Now it’s my turn to add to and express the energy of this place!
When the Heat is on, Who are you Going to Call?
It’s summer in the city, sweltering and sticky. Manhattan professionals, cooped up in towering glass fishbowl skyscrapers, start to dream of vacation. Some may visualize clear blue swimming pools, creamy ice cream at the shore, or children tromping through backyard sprinklers on school break, but they all know that work doesn’t stop when the mercury reaches the top of the thermometer.
Good thing ABGPrint.com doesn’t stop this summer either. We are printing from Memorial Day to Labor Day, on the 4th of July and the dog days of mid-August, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are always at our best so you can spend less time worrying about printing and more time hitting balls down lush fairways, enjoying festivals like Shakespeare in the Park, and jet setting to exotic locales.
Whether you’re printing vivid mailers, glossy magazines, or insightful bank books, whether your budget is hundreds of dollars or tens of thousands of dollars, you will always get our complete attention. When you call ABGPrint.com, 24/7, you won’t have to worry about talking to some mindless machine or careless call center. You will find a real printing expert at the other end of the line who will help you with every step of the printing process.
CEO Michael J. Mulligan and the ABGPrint.com team have been constantly honing perfection for over 22 years. We are fuelled by a passion for the superior 24 hour printing experience – from printing to binding to delivery, room set up to confidential shredding sweeps. We are never satisfied until you get the best.
When work turns up the heat this summer who are you going to call?
‘Summer Taxis’ Photo by K.Beard of ABGPrint.com
ABGPrint.com Blog 