In this interview with thINK’s newest board member, Todd Roth, Vice President-Core Publishing Solutions at Thomson Reuters, gives his views and perspectives on the community and upcoming conference.

What prompted you to join the thINK board?
I’ve been involved in other user groups, so I know the power of bringing people together and sharing information. With inkjet, we now have this cool technology that opens up shorter run lengths and faster turnaround times at increasingly high-quality output.  There’s an opportunity and a real need to share information and learn from each other as we drive inkjet forward. This is a very exciting time in the print Industry with the move to digital and now inkjet. I’m glad to be a part of this community.

How has the move to digital affected you?
At Thomson Reuters, we were early adopters, having used digital web since the late 90s. Last fall, we upgraded to inkjet for web as well as purchased an Océ VarioPrint i300.

As the runs have gotten shorter and the technology has grown, it put pressure on us to diversify and reduce cost per unit. We responded by growing and diversifying our customer base to more than 100 publishing customers today. For midsize and smaller publishers we can be a one-stop shop, providing digital cutsheet, digital web, conventional web, warehousing, and fulfillment. 

How will your background in book production help you on the thINK board? 
I’ve spent my career in book. I know the challenges, not just ink on paper, but also on the finishing side, which is so dynamic for the book industry. I can speak for a portion of the industry and bring that perspective to the board as we plan the thINK conference and develop future educational content.

One of my goals is to further the conversation of connecting book publishers and printers in how we can best use inkjet printing systems like the Océ VarioPrint i300 and ColorStream 3900 series to provide value to our customers.

What kinds of educational sessions would you like to bring to thINK 2016? 
I think Dave Johannes, thINK conference chair, made a very sound point. There’s a piece beyond traditional case studies that would allow us to share what we’ve learned about inkjet through our own trial and error and exploration. For example, at Thomson Reuters we are working with both color and lightweight single color. We could be talking about some of the work we’re doing with the i300 with lightweight paper. Someone in commercial might discuss the implications of using different tools within the workflow. I think that discussing our challenges and sharing our successes provides that practical knowledge that moves us forward faster. 

What was your biggest takeaway from thINK 2015?
What struck me most was that no matter what area of the organization you came from – whether business owners, sales, production, or technology – there was something of value. It also made me see the potential and importance of connecting at multiple levels within a corporation, building those relationships and seeing how far we can push the technology.

I enjoyed hearing from business owners and learning how they justified bringing in equipment. Those decision-makers are important, but it’s the technology group that makes a dynamic user group. When they start learning from each other, that’s when businesses really get a return on investment.

The way thINK is developing the program will ensure relevant content for both the technical and the business side of our organization.  Based on what we saw last year, and what we are planning for thINK 2016, I expect both will leave with individual strategies that will benefit them—but collectively it will be our overall business that will benefit.

I encourage business owners to think about who else on their team should go to thINK 2016. Then get them registered at thinkconference.thinkforum.com.

Todd is Vice President-Core Publishing Solutions for Thomson Reuters, which specializes in short- and long-run, high-quality hard-cover book production. He and his team have been instrumental in shaping Core Publishing Solutions, creating production flexibility and scalability for the new digital environment and extending its services and solutions to a growing list outside publishers.