Bryna Blum

Make plans to provide customers serving the travel and hospitality markets with business-boosting printed documents and promotional items. The travel and hospitality industries were hard-hit by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but business is now back on track, according to manufacturers and distributors. "I think 2004 will be a far better year," said Bryna Blum, president of WCBS/E.H. Bickett & Co., Palm Desert, Calif. After Sept. 11, her business—which is 100 percent devoted to travel and hospitality vertical markets—nosedived 70 percent. Many clients were placing only small orders for stock business forms, unsure of how long they'd stay in business. By

BFL&S talks to distributors about being compensated for their contributions to the value chain. Forget religion and politics. Money is the subject for stirring things up, especially when salesmanship is the source of that money. Consider the reader response to Editorial Director Bill Drennan's editorial in the April issue of BFL&S, which looked at Landy Chase's views on the questionable contributions of seasoned sales professionals. Comments ranged from relief that it was being addressed to outrage that it was even an issue. This is proof that sales is an elusive and hard-to-define craft. Not surprisingly, deciding how to compensate for the skill

Women continue to make important gains By Carol Katarsky The days when women were just token members of the work force, particularly in management, are long gone. A number of highly qualified women have risen to influential positions in some of the printing industry's leading companies. Despite the very different paths the following women—and many others like them—have taken, they all demonstrate that the keys to success are hard work, determination and a belief in your own abilities. Growing Gracefully Into a New Role When West Coast Business Systems & Supplies (WCBS) was first founded, Bryna Blum, was not in the picture—and happily so. "The business was started by my