SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
Welcome! HX Book printing looks forward to providing you timely market news and up-dates through our new monthly newsletter.
We hope you find this informative and helpful. HX encourages you to provide us feedback and let us know of any specific segments of the business you might like us to focus on in future issues.
A little about HX Book Printing…
HX has always been an industry leader and consultant in overseas printing. We pride ourselves on sharing ideas, experiences, and knowledge, as well as timely industry trends, policies and information with our clients.
In today’s challenging economic climate companies are looking to reduce operating expenses, HX Printing has proven to be a great solution/partner by providing top quality printing and service with substantial savings.
We would be happy to spec a current or recent project to show you how much HX could have saved, and can save in the future! See for yourself…
It's important to note that our facilities are ISO-9001 and Disney certified ,which is an honor that only a handful of printers can claim.
Our facilities print work for large US corporations among others. As a result of our partnership sourcing we can provide the best products and prices in the market place and our clients are very appreciative of both the significant cost savings and the quality of product we produce.
HX Opens Mid-Atlantic Office
Hope Xinyuan Book Printing Company is growing to meet the demands of our clients! We are pleased to announce our Mid-Atlantic office in Bethesda, Maryland. Our goal is to make our great products, pricing and service available to business in this region. We have hired Kevin Perry, a former ABC Radio Sales Executive to lead this effort.
7200 Wisconsin Ave, Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814
phone 301.652.1884 fax 301.652.1885
Stitched and Bound by Bob Gallo
Stitched and Bound:
Tales from the Front
By Bob Gallo
My boss, Chad, rang me up this morning with the suggestion that I write a blurb for our first newsletter.
“I don’t want to write anything. It’s too early. I’m not inspired yet.” I lamented.
“You have until 9am.” he replied.
“OK, but it will be in bad taste.” I shot back.
“It damn well better be!” and he hung up.
And it is with this spirit that I begin my first article.
I should probably wax poetic about market-related dogma or predict trends and talk about “going green” at this point, but I’m going to just share an observation with you instead. I’ve been in the printing business since I was in college in the late seventies, and after working at a few different companies, some massive and some tiny, I wound up starting a printing company of my own about 20 years ago. I think that company became my identity to my friends and relatives, and they were quite surprised when I sold it and came to HX Book Printing a few years back. But I was looking for adventure and a change of scenery – and HX Books has given plenty of both.
I’ve been to China gads of times over the past few years and really love the expereience. I can do without the butt-numbing 16-hour flight sometimes, but it is the other side of the planet after all. I mean how many people, without the assistance of reindeer, can say they fly over the North Pole regularly? I rest my case.
When friends and collegues ask what are my impressions after doing business in China, my answer is quick and sure. I don’t fret about if I bowed at the correct time or wasn’t supposed to shake someone’s hand. I don’t go crazy at the ebb and flow of exchange rates. I’m almost unaware of the cultural homogenization of the east and west other than all the Jackie Chan my kids watch. What I tell them is that in China, the folks eat some nutty stuff. We go to restaurants that look more like the Baltimore Aquarium than Bennigans. The walls are lined with aquariums filled with otherworldly aliens just waiting to be wokked onto our table, tentacles still twiching. I’ve eaten chicken feet (blander than you would think), alligator, pigeon heads, barbequed scorpion (crunchy!), somethings lungs and every conceivable innard, with very few complaints. I know it all
sounds strange, but when you think about it, look at what we eat really. Boxes filled with chemical “seasoning packets” and powdered cheese-food. Our bodies are 90% high-fructose corn syrup at this point. We have forgotten what real food looks like! You don’t know the meaning of fresh fish until you go to one of these restaurants. The taste is incredible. I didn’t think spinach could be that green. If you just kick your western sensibility back 100 years, you can begin to really soak it in and enjoy it. That being said, I thought “river beetles” was about the wildest thing I saw get munched, but snakehead wine took the cake. It is what it sounds like, about 100 snake heads marinating in the bottom of a 5-gallon jug. I admit I passed. If I never experience “the essence of the python” I know I will somehow get by. Maybe next trip. Let me
know if you want to come along. First rounds on me.
In the coming newletters, I actually do plan on giving you worthy insights in the industry and how HX Book Printing fits into it. There’s much to share in our exciting industry. Thanks for reading.
BG
10/2/09
