Lexington, Kentucky USA -- WhatTheyThink.com today announced that nearly 200 industry professionals registered to attend a free printing industry educational webinar. How Peer Groups Help CEOs Manage Their Businesses More Effectively, led by peer group experts Mike Kind and Mitch Evans of The Next Level Group. The event was held Wednesday, October 28^th, 2009.

The webinar archive is available at the webinar archive page.

“In addition to defining peer groups for attendees, we had great input from our three panelists, all of whom are peer group members,” said Kind. “While a peer group cannot guarantee a company’s success, what it can guarantee is that members will be better off being a part of peer group than being on your own, and our panelists certainly validated that fact. We were also pleased that industry icon Frank Romano agreed to join the session to provide his opinions about peer groups today, and their growing value in the future.”

Kind and Evans were joined by Romano and:

• Tony Pires, President of Professional Business Printing.  Tony started with his company in 1984 as a pressman.  He was involved in all facets of the company moving up to production manager, then sales manager and eventually general manager. In 2000, he bought the company from the original owner.  Tony has been involved in peer groups since 2005.
• Lou Ciampi, Jr., President, Independent Graphics.  Lou has been an integral part of Independent Graphics as sales manager for 23 years and most recently as president. He has developed accounts across Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His extensive experience and knowledge of the print process and products has propelled sales volume dramatically over that time. His experience, enthusiasm, and passion for the business makes him a valuable resource for the company’s clients. Lou began working with a peer group in 2006.
• Jim Kaufman, CPA, CEO of MarketPlace Direct.  Jim is a principal and CEO at MarketPlace Direct, Inc, a direct marketing company located in Pittsburgh, PA. He has 28 years of financial and business experience and has served in various CFO and controller capacities at companies ranging from $40 million to $500 million in sales before moving into his current CEO position. Jim has been a member of a peer group since July of 2006.

“This was a lively discussion,” said Randy Davidson, President, WhatTheyThink, “with some disagreements among the participants.  But there is no question that all agreed that peer groups have an important role to play in today’s complex printing business.  Because we believe in the importance of peer groups for successful business operation, WhatTheyThink brought this session to our subscribers at no charge.”

View the Webinar Archive

About The Next Level Group

The Next Level Group was founded in 2006 by Kind and business partner Mitch Evans. Both of the founders have extensive experience in the printing industry, having built multi- million dollar organizations and eventually selling their printing interests. They speak and consult in the printing, mailing and fulfillment industries.  They were partners in Renaissance Executive Forums of South Florida and as such, worked with a variety of CEO’s in various industries with companies that range in size from $1 million to $400 million in revenues prior to forming The Next Level Group.

The Next Level Group creates peer groups or forums for printing and print related owners with the objective of allowing the participants a mechanism to take their businesses from where they are to where they want to be. The extensive experience of the facilitators working in this environment coupled with the perspective they bring as owners themselves having “walked in the shoes of the CEO” creates a unique value proposition for the participants.  

About WhatTheyThink

WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading media organization; offering a wide range of publications delivering unbiased, real-time market intelligence, industry news, economic and trend analysis, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging technology and critical events. WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events that are timely and relevant o today's busy industry executives along with consulting and speaker services that leverage a talented pool of writers and industry analysts.

WhatTheyThink consists of flagship site WhatTheyThink.com, discussion forum site PrintPlanet.com, and industry blog PrintCEO.com.