What’s Happening January 7, 2020 reports on major personnel changes at both Shutterfly and FastSigns. In addition, the first edition of the year covers new large-format printers from Canon and new Click software from Mitsubishi. This entry also takes a look at the recent grand reopening of Mimaki USA’s New Jersey Tech Center.
What’s Happening January 7, 2020
New Shutterfly President & CEO: Hilary Schneider
Shutterfly’s board of directors appointed Hilary Schneider as president and chief executive officer, effective January 15, 2020. Schneider succeeds Ryan O’Hara.
Schneider has 20+ years of experience leading consumer technology companies. Since January 2018, she served as CEO of Wag!, a large on-demand mobile dog walking and dog care service. Previously, she was president and CEO of LifeLock, a leader in identity theft protection. In addition, she served in a series of executive positions at Yahoo! from 2006 to 2010.
“We are delighted to welcome Hilary to the Shutterfly team; we are confident her management and technology experience make her ideally suited to lead the company forward,” said David Samb ur, chairman of the Shutterfly board of directors. Sambur is also co-lead partner of private equity at Apollo.
“I am honored to lead this pioneering company as we continue to enhance our brand to drive sustainable growth,” commented Schneider. “Through our Consumer, Lifetouch, and Business Solutions divisions, Shutterfly remains at the forefront of a fast growing photo and personalized products industry. Together with our thousands of talented employees, we will build on Shutterfly’s strong momentum by continuing to introduce new technology; expanding our product offerings; and increasing customer engagement with innovative options for preserving and sharing photos.”
Sambur added: “On behalf of the board, I thank Ryan for his contributions in leading Shutterfly’s transition to becoming a private company.”
The company also appointed Dwayne Black, Shutterfly’s senior vice president/COO, and Jim Hilt, president of Shutterfly’s Consumer Business, as interim co-CEOs during the transition. They will serve in that position until Schneider’s start date.
Canon imagePrograf Pro Series Printers for Photography & Fine Art
Canon USA added imagePrograf Pro series printers: the Pro-6100, Pro-4100, Pro-2100, Pro-6100S and Pro-4100S models. The large-format solutions offer new technologies for photographers as well as fine art and signage applications.
Canon says they utilize a “first-of-its-kind” intelligent automatic media feeding and reading system. Operators can move away from the printer after placing the roll in the machine; they don’t have to feed it or select the media type. After the roll is loaded, the media is automatically fed while a built-in multi-sensor measures the surface reflection and media thickness to identify the media type.
This new technology automatically detects the media length as well. Moreover, the new units print borderless on all standard and custom widths.
With an intuitive 4.3-inch touch-screen operation panel, the printers offer better operability and visibility. For added usability, the three main functions—media switching, feeding and cutting—are hard buttons on the front of the interface. Operators do not have to navigate through multiple functions. Moreover, the printers were updated with a transparent clear window that lets users see whether printing has begun, as well as check printed images and the printing size.
The built-in multi-sensor also enables easier color calibration for consistent color reproduction from print to print. With the Device Management Console software, production professionals with multiple printers can centralize status and color management across devices.
Users now have the ability to turn off the chroma optimizer per individual media type. The printers also include as standard creative and workflow software.
Mimaki USA Celebrates Grand Reopening of NJ Tech Center
Manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, Mimaki USA held a grand reopening event on December 5, 2019, to celebrate the expansion and remodeling of its New Jersey Technology Center. The company hosted authorized dealers and VIP guests for a day of tours and demonstrations.
In the greater New York metropolitan area, the New Jersey Technology Center is located at 198 Green Pond Road in Rockaway, New Jersey.
“We had the opportunity to augment our space without relocating; making it an ideal opportunity to showcase a reconfigured conference and demonstration center in a location already familiar to our dealers and customers,” said Mike Trotter, Northeast Regional Manager at Mimaki USA. “Our main offices have been refreshed and our showroom floor has been expanded. Visitors can now experience innovative workflows that create a wide variety of imaginative display graphics as well as finished products.”
In addition to expanding its office, conference and demonstration areas, the 14,500-square-foot facility also includes a new Mimaki Café Bar. Moreover, the entire facility showcases furnishings and graphics that were created using Mimaki products.
Additionally, a replica Mimaki retail store displays finished products created using Mimaki technology on-site.
As Mimaki USA celebrates 20 years of serving customers in North America, this expansion project reflects the company’s continued commitment to its dealers and customers. It joins a list of openings or expansions in recent years.
To arrange a visit to the technology center, contact an authorized dealer or contact the center directly: 855-897-2254.
Mitsubishi Electric, Visual Imaging Updates Click Software
Mitsubishi launched the updated Click software v4.2.1. Click is a professional photography system that “helps photographers make a qualitative leap forward in their business.”
Photographers can manage multiple printers simultaneously. They can make multi-format adaptations; order double-sided prints; and receive jobs online from mobile devices.
Among the software’s features is a long-requested clone tool for general photo editing. And services images now export to the root of the selected folder. 
In addition, there’s a new version of the Photo ID service. It adds face detection/auto framing; e-mail; a background subtraction edition tool; updated compositions files; and simplified apply and transfer picture steps.
Moreover, users can export high-res images with configurable resolution. Also new are automatic brightness & contrast, saturation, RGB balance and levels (histogram) tools. Manual edit tools are now on a single screen: B&W, sepia, red eyes, brightness & contrast, automatic levels, RGB, clone and rotation. The software shows the original photo and the edited versions. And improved images preview allows for easier navigation through pictures.
Additionally, the management module provides a print order manager with everything in view. It shows the status of the printers, orders for PhotoPrintMe and consumable levels.
The updates also comprise some hardware improvements, such as mouse+keyboard wireless.
Click products include direct prints, copies, calendars, greeting cards and passport photos. Additionally, PhotoPrintMe lets users create from an online catalog of products anywhere, such as miniprints. To update Click, visit here.
FastSigns Names Chief Marketing Officer
FastSigns International, franchisor of 700+ locations in nine countries, appointed Jennifer Herskind as its chief marketing officer.
With more than 20 years of marketing experience, Herskind’s background includes all marketing disciplines and a strong cross-functional knowledge of business fundamentals. Moreover, she has a successful track record of transforming brands and driving results in multiple fast-paced industries with diverse environments.
Most recently, Herskind was chief marketing officer for Smoothie King; she directed all brand, marketing and R&D strategy for more than 1,000 locations. She was charged to build the brand and drive business results in the fulfillment of the company’s mission to inspire people to live a healthy and active lifestyle.
Before Smoothie King, Herskind held senior leadership positions in a variety of franchise and company brands. They included: Gold’s Gym; Dave & Buster’s; Nestle Waters North America; as well as Pizza Hut. Herskind was named one of Dallas’s Rising Brand Stars by AdWeek in December 2018.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jennifer Herskind as our new chief marketing officer. She has a strong background working with various franchisors making her the perfect addition to support our franchisees,” said Catherine Monson, CEO of FastSigns International, Inc. “We look forward to expanding the FastSigns brand with her expertise as we continue to scale for growth.”
FastSigns centers provide signage and visual graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes communicate their message. Among their products are architectural and interior decor graphics; vehicle graphics; digital signs; event graphics; as well as displays, banners and posters.
