2019 – 10 Things We Would Like to See

Our regular listeners know this, but 2 Regular Guys are all about garment decorating, a bit of fun, and no rants or lectures or selling. We are not doing this for our employers, but rather for our industry. Since February 2013, The 2 Regular Guys have been the first and the most listened to garment decorating industry podcast on this planet! We are humbled by all of you tuning in each week. We work hard to bring you information that will make your business better, and our industry better. Take a look at our incredible weekly guest list and you’ll understand where this industry goes for news, interviews and the heartbeat of garment decorating. Thanks for listening!

News

• We are pretty excited to introduce a new feature we plan to have several times this year, with the first installment coming to you March 1, 2019. With the help of our friend, Kristine Shreve, we are honored to be able to provide a forum to discuss issues pertaining to women in the decoration industry. The goal is to openly discuss some issues, gain insight and make strides toward change. Kristine, being a seasoned 2 Regular Guys guest, is going to be the host and moderator of a panel of up to 3 other women and we need your help finding just the right guests. The first installment is “Is It Different For Women in the Industry?” and we want your suggestions for the best guest to join Kristine for this discussion. Check out this post on our Facebook Page and comment there or email us at info@2regularguys.com 

• Canada-based Corel confirms that is has acquired Parallels, a virtual specialist, in order to expand its footprint in the world of business. A shifting business landscape, including the rise of cloud-based services, employees who bring their own device to work, and a variety of non-traditional work environments have created a demand for better software management practices that cover an array of things like security and usability, according to the company. Corel states it expects to make “significant investment into the Parallels business” because it believes it has “exceptional opportunities for growth.” This will likely include integration between its existing products and those of Parallels.

10 Things We Would Like to See

1. Aaron – Jump in right where I left off last week. Business Plans, Business Plans Business Plans. I’d like to see our industry become the leading industry of companies that have a business plans.
2. Terry – I’d like to see some innovation in the application of pretreatment in the DTG arena.
3. Erich –  I’d like to see better communication and understanding between the commercial and cottage embroidery business spheres. The cottage side needs accessible solutions for software, education, both in the business and embroidery sides of their operations and can learn greatly from commercial embroiderers, but we can learn a great deal from the ability to create ‘tribes’ and personal connections, natural niche marketing, and even the fun and innovative use of the medium from the cottage and craft market. Cross pollination benefits everyone, and with the market going to small personalization, there’s a lot to share across the (imaginary) divide.
4. Aaron – Education on a bigger scale. Only one school we know of offering a screen printing degree and honestly traditional education is dying. How about a 3 to 6 week boot camp supported by printers needing employees, not by manufacturer trying to sell machines. Support the local high school programs. Offer a good “first” jobs not just minimum wage.
5. Terry – I’d love to see Epson (or another manufacturer) offer a desktop sublimation printer that uses the far less expensive liter bags. Advantage of the large format ink system but more of a starter product than the large format machines.
6. Aaron – Some discussion / look / understanding of the commoditization of our industry. Amazon Merch, Printful etc. Not skilled printers but skilled sellers of commodities.
7. Terry – Here’s something I’d like to see in 2019. Everyone viewing or listening to this podcast can help with. I’d like to see videos posted with 2-5 minute shop tours. Everyone listening, show us your shop and tell us a little about your business. Aaron, I’ll bet we could facilitate something like this on our website.
8. Erich – I’d like to see more fundamental embroidery and digitizing education, not only in the commercial world, but in the schools and makerspaces, akin to what we’ve seen happen in secondary programs with screen printing and other industries. I’d like to provide for skilled, technically capable embroiderers and digitizers to take up stateside decoration; I’ve seen an aging population in some embroidery circles, and while there are younger folks getting in, I’d like to see more and see the tools needed to learn democratized so that we can encourage that kid who likes patches to be the decorator who creates them. I have seen more calls for general embroidery education in both professional and other circles as well, and I am definitely going to be a part of new initiatives on my end later this year.
9. Aaron – Flex our muscles as an industry.  The market is big, everyone is selling “Merch” yet we act as a small niche industry who just makes due with what we have. Loving quotes I’m hearing from Ford about why print United etc but also believe we should present ourselves as more than just old hippies or band kids need steady work. Let be a professional industry and demand more of our suppliers (ie ink prices, claiming it’s their market, rolling on pretreat…) as well as our other stakeholders. 
10. Terry – I’d like to see (accomplish) some more online training opportunities for myself. An upgrade to my online class that I’ve done for a few years, to give more of a hands-on feel. In the midst of updating my hands-on classes for 2019 as we speak. Suggestions and recommendations from our listeners are welcome.