Special thanx to Vince for allowing me to re-post his last blog on his blog site, "the connected copier". I've known Vince for quite a few years since reading his first blog. I'm thinking that was way back in 2008.
There's not that many of us that blog on a regular basis about our industry. In fact I know of four Greg Walters, Ray S , Vince McHugh and myself. Vince has also been a member of the Print4Pay for sometime and always made himself available to answer sales and technical questions for others on our forum. For that I am thankful. Thank you Vince!
Vince and I also had to chance to meet for dinner one night in Atlantic Highlands, NJ. He was visiting NJ for a technical meeting and we both met at the Memphis Pig Out one night. Of course us two old pro's had a great time chatting about the industry like two old wash women. I could see that Vince was a Pro and I admired him for his expertise and his friendship. Over the years we've keep in touch from time to time and I'm sure that will be the case moving to the future.
COVID19 hit us all hard and even harder for Vince. Vince I was you the best my friend and you know I'm always available.
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen
I started in this industry in 1978, with a walking territory in “The City” (that’s what New Yorkers call Manhattan). But I have come to a point in my life where I need to say goodbye to “The Copier Industry”. After nearly 30 years working for a Large Independent Dealer in New England (NECS) I will be leaving this industry that I have loved. Some people have said that I have toner in my blood, and maybe that is true. Time will tell.
I have had the privilege to be friends with some Giants of the Industry. Charlie Tiernan who started NECS out of the back of his station wagon, and grew it to a major regional player with 7 offices and 2 Warehouses. Charlie is a real dyed in the wool “Copier Guy”, and he has a big heart. It was a privilege to work for him for so many years.
Charles Kelly, who ran the CSlist.org (Mailing) list for years. I met Charles at a Canon Technet conference and we immediately hit it off. He invited me to join his mailing list for Canon Systems Engineers. We had SEs from all over the world posting non sanctioned Canon Networking solutions. I learned and posted many “solutions” back in the day. The Canon “Grid” ended the need for the CSlist and it has since been moth balled.
Art Post, The P4PHotel.com has been a great industry resource. Art has reposted some articles from this blog, and he always has great, relevant, Industry news. Talk about a “Copier Guy”, Art defines the term. I had the pleasure of having dinner with Art one night when I was in New Jersey for training. We have and do talk on the phone from time to time, and I consider him a friend.
Ned Bannan is one of the best industry Systems Engineer on the East Coast, But sadly Ned is no longer in the “Copier Industry”. He is working for a Security Software Company and they are lucky to have him. He is the best Mac guy I know, and has a good working knowledge of Linux. Ned has forgotten more about Macs than most people will ever know. He was also a Fiery Color Expert. Ned could hack a PPD with the best of them!
I have known Mike Betsco for a couple of decades now. Back in the day when he was one of the driving forces behind Canon’s Technet. Which was the best SE training, in the most compact time frame, at a great location (Disney World or Disney Land). Mike did a tour at Samsung when they made a run at the Copier Industry but is back at Canon heading up their Solutions offerings. Canon is lucky to have him. Mike invited me and other key solutions people in the Independent Channel to join the Canon S.E.A.L. Team (Solutions Advisory Board). We had some great discussions during those meetings and continued them over some great dinners.
What can I say about Joe Lucas? If you ever get stuck with a complex UniFLOW problem Joe is the go to guy! He has helped me with major accounts more times than I can count. James Seager also gets honorable mention for NTware support!
Donn Clarke was my boss when I worked at (RBS) Ricoh Business Systems. I worked there for two plus years and Donn was the best boss I have ever had. He is a good man. That is why I brought him over to NECS where he is currently the Director of Sales.
Lynda Maglio is currently a Solutions Analyst at Konica Minolta. But I have most of my fond memories of her when she worked at eCopy (then it became Nuance). She would bird dog a problem until she got it resolved. For that reason she was one of my favorite Vendors.
Then there are the great Hunters (Sales People) that I have worked with over the years, John “Sully” Sullivan, Doug Moore, and Cindy Albano just to name a few. I am not leaving the rest out to slight them but to name all of them would be impractical in a blog article.
These are just some of the people I have come to respect in this industry. Time would fail to talk of each of the men & women I have worked with over the past 34 years. But you know who you are.
I have good memories from my time in this industry. I raise a family on the salary I earned as a Technician, Troubleshooter, Field Service Manager, Solutions Team Managers, Color Sales Specialist, and a Vice President. I will no longer be posting to this blog, but I will leave it as an archive as there is indeed some useful info that hopefully some people will still stumble across.
My apologies to the long running show M.A.S.H. for stealing their title of their last episode. But it seemed appropriate to me. They say by the time M.A.S.H. ended they had more episodes than there were actual days in the Korean war. Sometimes I feel like I have more stories than actual days for my career in this industry. Please know that I love this industry. It is going through some tough times right now and maybe the “Big Crunch” will continue. But the strong will survive. They always do!
Please contact me via my email if there is anything I can do for you.
This is my last $0.02
Vince McHugh
PS: I have never mixed my personal life with my professional life because it might alienate some of my Customers. But I feel like as I wrap this up I need to let those who have read this blog for so long know that I am a Christian. I have taught a Bible study for the past 40+ years. So if you have a question about the Bible or about life and want to talk, email me and I will be happy to talk to you about anything.
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