Roger Buck, CDC, director of marketing for St. Louis-headquartered The Flesh Company, started his career in the print industry early.
"My father worked at a local weekly newspaper for 33 years that was all hot type and also had a small job shop. My first job was sweeping up scrap lead from around the Ludlow and Linotype machines. I learned type setting, letterpress, sheet offset, stripping, plate burning and other processes normally in a small job shop," he said. "I moved into business forms in 1971 and enjoyed watching the shifts that have taken place in printed communication."
Here, Buck talks more about the business, his style and the future.
Print Professional (PP): Tell us about your background. Where did you grow up, what school did you attend, your degree?
Roger Buck (RB): I grew up in Girard, Kan. and attended a local junior college.
PP: Describe your business style.
RB: I'm a daydreamer. I like to see what's possible. If a machine does "X," can we adapt it to do "Y"? I consider the words "it can't be done" as a personal challenge.
PP: What do you think is the most exciting, cutting-edge thing your company is doing right now? Why?
RB: We have expanded our offering to include scanning and data capture of printed documents. This is exciting as it makes us "cradle to grave." In the past we have designed and printed business documents for medical, education, financial and other markets. Now we assist these same markets in eliminating executed documents by scanning to a digitized format, then providing security destruction of the documents. A company survives only when [it is] willing to stay abreast of the customer's needs both now and in the future.
PP: What do you think will be the printing industry's biggest challenge in the next few years?
RB: Channel education. Print solutions providers have increased their awareness of how their printed products are used effectively in the end-users' hands. We are quickly learning how to make those documents work more efficiently. Delivering this information through the various channels to the end-user is critical so maximum ROI can be achieved. There are tremendous opportunities for those willing to take on the challenges of relevant communication tactics.
PP: What is the best part of your business day?
RB: When a client needs a solution. In the past, I loved getting calls from a client who needed three business forms and a label designed into a single document. Creating the design using multiple production processes was exciting. Today, the format has changed; however, the excitement is still there. Instead of designing a form and label business document, we may be asked to help a client perform a customer segmentation model to be used in a cross-media marketing campaign utilizing direct mail and other media. Or a request to use various covert and overt security processes to protect a document from being counterfeited or providing a means of authenticating an ID card. Regardless of the required process, having the opportunity to work with a client to provide [his or her] customer with an effective solution is still a great feeling.
PP: What would people be surprised to learn about you—hobbies, special interests, etc.?
RB: In the late '60s, I had hair down to the middle of my back and played guitar in a rock band. My wife has been in the print industry for over 30 years. Her father had a print shop across the alley from the forms plant where I worked in 1972 (she would have been 10 years old). Twenty-seven years later, we were married and work together every day. I enjoy metal detecting and collect old music on 78, 45 and 33 rpm records from the early 1900s to the mid '70s with a current collection of around 5,000 records. By far the most important things are my wife, my three daughters and four grandchildren.
- People:
- Melissa Busch
- Roger Buck
- Places:
- Girard, Kan.
- St. Louis