Posts tagged: Our Team
We're Hiring: Part-Time Fulfillment Assistant
We're Hiring: Shop Assistant
UPDATE: WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THIS POSITION
JOIN OUR TEAM
Smudge Ink is a design and letterpress printing business in Charlestown, MA. We manufacture and sell greeting cards, gifts, and custom invitations. Our team is friendly, hardworking, and a little silly.
Help us continue to grow by bringing your organizational skills, attention to detail, and enthusiasm. This part-time position is a great opportunity for somebody who wants to learn more about letterpress printing and small business!
JOB DESCRIPTION
This is a part-time position with flexible hours Monday and Tuesday. We are looking for somebody to work 12-16 hours per week (exact hours TBD). Start date will be January 2019.
A shop assistant is a crucial part of our team and plays a major role in making sure our products are produced in a timely manner. Responsibilities include (but are not limited to):
Trimming plates and setting up folders: We use plates for the printing process. All plates need to be cut to size and organized.
Oiling presses and cleaning drip pans: Presses must be maintained and the work area needs to be cleaned regularly.
Paper Cutter Maintenance: Like the presses, our industrial paper cutter needs care including regular blade changes.
Prep and finishing work: This includes prep-cutting press sheets, finish trimming, gluing notepads, mixing inks, edge painting, and folding cards.
Cleaning up and recycling: The press room can get pretty messy when we're busy. To keep things moving, the shop assistant helps with tidying and keeping up with paper recycling.
Fulfillment assistance as needed: This may include shelving finished products and filling orders.
QUALIFICATIONS
Experienced and comfortable with power tools and equipment
Self-starter
Good with your hands
Must take safety seriously
Respond well to instruction and feedback
Organized
Ability to lift at least 40 lbs. (paper is heavy!)
Communication skills
Ability to multi-task and help out as needed in a team environment
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this position, please email a resume and cover letter to george@smudgeink.com. Use the subject line SHOP ASSISTANT.
NSS 2018 Recap Part 2: The Show
The first day of the show always fills me with butterflies. I was excited, but also a lot nervous! I had silly thoughts like What if I forget how to have conversations with strangers? Or What if nobody visits our booth? But that all ended as soon as an enthusiastic attendee stepped into the booth and oohed and aahed about our cards. Phew! I knew right away that all of that work (from planning to execution) had been worth it.
We had lots of visitors and by the end of day one, we were already halfway to our goal in terms of the number of orders placed! As you can imagine, Erin, Ally, and I were all super excited.
The rest of the show was a bit of a blur. We reached our sales goal on Monday (day two)! It was an action-packed day talking to new customers, old friends, sales reps, and everybody in between. We took turns eating lunch when there were lulls in traffic. We also had a staffing switch mid-day when Erin headed back to Boston and Melissa (our good friend and owner of Print Therapy - go check it out now!) came to help us out at the show. That evening, even though we were exhausted, we headed over to Postable's party on a roof deck. Why didn't I take any photos?! It's always great hanging out with those guys.
On Tuesday, George joined us at the show and we achieved our stretch goal! That was a good reminder that it's always good to have goals and stretch goals. Traffic was definitely lighter on day three, but we still had a grand old time in booth #1421! We told silly stories and had some lovely chats with customers. By the end of the day, I think we were all beginning to run out of steam.
Wednesday was the last day of the show and it was a half day. The aisles were pretty empty and we only had a few people visit our booth. We each spent some time looking around and visiting stationery friends in other booths, so that made the time fly. At 1:00 the show ended and by 1:01 we were breaking down the booth. George's wife, Thy, was ridiculously kind and helped with the breakdown. Altogether, there were six of us and everything went sooo smoothly! The van was packed by 3:00 and we were on the road by 3:10. It took us about 5 hours to get home.
Everything about NSS is exhausting to an introvert like me. But also I truly enjoy talking to customers and meeting new people! I was a zombie for about a week following the show and I'm honestly still catching up with emails and to-dos that were put off, but I also had a lot of fun!
A super huge shout out to our team for MAKING IT ALL HAPPEN!
Thanks for following along on our journey. :)
-April
Don't forget to check out Part 1: Set Up!
NSS 2018 Recap Part 1: Set Up
It's so hard to believe that another Stationery Show has come and gone. But here were are, already a few weeks post-show.
Ally already wrote about pre-show prep and outreach, but there's also so much work in the days leading up to the show. Starting with packing!
As the show approached, I made a pretty detailed list of everything I needed to remember from screws, display products, and paper towels to phone chargers, pens, and mascara. We crammed everything (including the walls) into a minivan we borrow from my father-in-law. It's always a pretty tight squeeze.
We hit the road a little before noon on Thursday, May 17.
The drive took about 4 hours, but parking and loading-in were pretty easy this year. We arrived to a typical booth space: plain black curtains and a paper sign.
Right away, Eric and I got to work setting up our walls as quickly as possible. They went up easily since this was our 6th year setting them up. The trickiest part is always getting them level, but we did it! Then we said goodbye to the Javits Center and headed to my Aunt's for dinner and good night's sleep.
On Friday morning, we brought in the rest of our boxes and made a plan for the day. 
Erin and Ally joined us at 10 and then we really got down to business.
At times, it was hard to tell if we were getting anywhere. It felt like we were just moving boxes from one corner to another. But, little by little, things started to progress.
On Saturday, we worked hard all morning. We added all of the little finishing touches and then put all the cards on the shelves
We finished setting up around 1:30 on Saturday and we split up for a relaxing pre-show afternoon. For the third year in a row, I had lunch with my sister and we got manicures. Best of all, I was in bed by 9:30 so I could rest up for Day 1 of the show!
I'll be back in a few days with Part 2: The Show!
-April