Think about the client and how impressed they’ll be seeing you prepared for any possible problem. I would hire that guy again.
Birds fly, fish swim, bears go in the woods and ribbons tear…it’s a fact of life. Just because your ribbon tears it’s not the end of the world. How you react in these moments of trial is how you will be seen as a hero to your staff and a god to your client.
My printer just made a “funny” noise. Funny,ha ha? Or funny; “I’m down for the night and I gotta give all this money back and I was just online ordering my new massage chair.”?
First, assess the situation and let your customers (those in line) know that it’s going to be a second. It really may just be a few seconds. Maybe you’re out of ribbon and it’s time for a new one. Maybe a cockroach crawled into the paper area and is “log rolling” on your media. The faster you handle the problem the more your customers/clients are impressed. That turns into a call back for the next event they have so let’s do it right and fast.
Second, locate your backup ribbon/paper/printer/camera/USB cable or Power Cord. WHAT? You don’t have that stuff? What’s the matter with you? You must have two of everything. If you can’t have two of everything, start with the small stuff and work up to the larger items. Seriously, who doesn’t have two power cords? I have a box of them in my garage from old computers and such. I take a long one and a short one with me on all events. USB cables. Easy Peasy. The other things like a printer and camera may take longer to acquire but they also may save your behind in a jam. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS HAVE EXTRA MEDIA. I can’t tell you how many times this has saved me. I also carry the following items with me in my printer bag: extension cord, power strip, scissors, tape (duct and scotch), pens, my business cards, a screwdriver with interchangeable head (Phillips and regular), a small flashlight and tweezers. It’s a little event emergency kit. Flashlight and tweezers are to look for shards of paper in the printer. Those little buggers can hide anywhere.
If your ribbon does snap/tear/break don’t throw it away. You can splice it back together again. If you have tape in your emergency kit…tape it up and roll it past the next whole set of colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Clear). If you don’t have any tape (shame on you) put the ribbon on a flat surface and roll out one side about 6 inches. Then roll the other side out about 6 inches. Overlap the pieces and roll the unused side up into the used side. Roll it up until you have passed one whole set of colors (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and clear). Put the ribbon back in and try it again.
Third, if you do have a fatal error or the printer goes “kaput”…pull out the backup and forge ahead. Think about the client and how impressed they’ll be seeing you prepared for any possible problem. I would hire that guy again. But seriously if you don’t have a backup printer, you are going to need to find another solution. You can store the images and print them later. You can email the images to customers. Bottom line is, know your gear and always have backups.
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