As a member of the press, I had the pleasure of attending a breakfast meeting hosted by the Electronic Document Sciences Foundation (EDSF) that was a little different than the norm at the recent AIIM/On Demand show in Philadelphia. First, the meeting was kicked off by Ben Franklin, who many credit as the founder of the printing industry in the United States. This wasn’t just any Ben Franklin; it was Ben Franklin impersonator Ralph Archbold who is the official Ben Franklinin Philadelphia. If you visit Philly’s historic district, you will see him out and about, dressed in 18th-century clothes, conducting tours of landmarks and delighting children and adults with tales of life in colonial Philadelphia circa 1776.

And who better to welcome industry luminaries to learn more about a worthy cause. For those of you who are not familiar with EDSF, it is the only Foundation dedicated to enhancing the value and relevance of document communications worldwide. Its goals are to be a catalyst for education and research initiatives and to bring the industry together to resolve document communications issues that impact society. The Foundation has a number of initiatives in place to help further those lofty aims, including a scholarship program which has awarded 91 scholarships since the inception of the program in 1999. The goal of these scholarships is to foster the development of the next generation of graphic arts professionals.

In addition, EDSF sponsors significant research efforts in collaboration with institutions that offer programs relevant to the graphic arts, and with professional consulting firms in our industry who contribute their knowledge and expertise pro bono. This year, several research grants have been awarded, including one I have the pleasure of helping with—a joint project between California State University at Los Angeles and Wuhan University in China that is examining JDF adoption in North America and China. All of the research is published at EDSF’s Web site (www.edsf.org) for the benefit of the industry.