A self-described “futurist,” Keith was insatiably curious and open-minded. He was a marketing executive at Xerox, Boise Cascade, and Mattel. He had the idea for a Xerox users group but decided to cover the entire world of digital printing as it was evolving.
He was the founder and, for 16 years, the President of Xplor International, the worldwide association representing the document systems industry. His strategic vision and evangelistic fervor were instrumental in building a worldwide community with thousands of members in more than 40 countries.
Xplor is a major annual event. The 2000 conference in Dallas had 4,000 people in the audience.
He was also the founder and President of the Electronic Document Systems Foundation. EDSF supported hundreds of students with college scholarships.
While working full-time, he completed his doctorate in executive management in 1990 at the Claremont Graduate School, where he studied under marketing maven Dr. Peter Drucker. Before launching his career, he received his MBA from University of Denver and his BS from University of Dayton.
He was a visionary that moved our industry forward.
Discussion
By Denise Miano M-EDP on Jul 11, 2022
So sad to hear of Keith's passing - Xplor which started as his baby has been such a big part of my career and that of many others in the digital print industry. There are so many fond memories of the event and the big personality in the hall - Keith. Thanks for creating a great sharing association. God Bless. You will be missed.
By HARVEY LEVENSON on Jul 12, 2022
A TRIBUTE TO KEITH DAVIDSON
I was saddened to read about the passing of Keith Davidson.
What a wonderful person who did so much to add an intellectual dimension to the graphic communication profession. When I read of passing of influential colleagues from whom I gained so much from our relationship, I typically think of the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that person.
Keith Davidson was president of the Electronic Document Systems Foundation (EDSF), the first organization of it kind that brought together the leadership of all major OEMs and related organizations in the early years of commercial digital imaging systems for the printing industry. I served on one of the EDSF committees at the time (probably the mid-1990s) and got to know Keith quite well. My recollection of Keith that immediately comes to mind is a debate we had extending over a period of time about. The debate explored the question: “What is a document?”
We dissected just about all possibilities, and this was before the growth of things such as wide format printing, wall graphics, garment printing, and so on, and even before non-printed digital items became a standard, exceeding printed items in many areas. After much discussion, we initially agreed that documents (back then) involved a printed image on a substrate. As examples, we started with the obvious: invoices, bank statements, wills, leases, agreements, financial and legal statements, insurance material, instructions, and so on. But then we dug deeper and started debating if a document is printing on a substrate, is a printed advertisement a document, and what about books, directories, newspapers, magazines, catalogs, greeting cards, labels, and even printed packaging? Can these also be defined as documents? They all involve a printed image on a substrate, but could they be considered documents? After much debate we came to agree that in the modern use of the term “document” (back then), yes, they all fit the definition of a “document.”
Then, we hit upon a category for which we never came to an agreement: Is a tattoo a document? It is a printed image, but can we define skin as a substrate?
I value such ongoing discussions into the depths of trivia and nonessentials in a world of complexities. I value the relationship I had with Keith Davidson—an intellectual and critical thinker, but one who helped pioneer partnerships, joint ventures, and shared knowledge among the early leaders in digital imaging.
Harvey R. Levenson
Professor Emeritus, Cal Poly
Discussion
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