Linofilm grids and all that

Be a part of history. Frank is seeking some of the font masters and paraphernalia of the old phototypesetting era. He knows there are a few oldtimers who read WhatTheyThink while drooling in their oatmeal. Film, glass, and plastic fonts are requested.

What Printers Can Do To Thrive In This Market

We are coping with unprecedented industry consolidation and declining print volumes. As the overall volume of print declines, printing companies are scrambling to find strategies to not only survive, but to grow revenue and margins.

PULP Communications: Helping SMBs Engage Consumers

Small and medium-sized businesses want the ability to extend their marketing efforts across two or more channels, but they don’t have the time or money to do it effectively by themselves. This article leverages recent survey results to describe the challenges that today’s SMBs are facing and discusses how companies like PULP are helping to address these issues.

More of What to See at drupa

We finally have got through the series of pre-drupa events and announcement press releases. So we now know a lot of what will be seen at the event. The following is a summary of some key products that will be shown in a few market segments.

Are you prepared to acquire production inkjet? Part 1

In this ninth article of the series, David looks at how to make sense and apply the information we have presented to make relevant purchasing decisions.

ROMI: Return on Marketing Investment

Why has marketing been given such a long leash for so long or, in most cases, the only leash is the budget? Spend as you wish, hope it has a positive impact, and stop when the budget is gone. Marketers are good at pointing out their impact but when pressed, they typically can’t identify which part of their spend had the desired impact.

intomedia – Helping Service Providers Harness Web-to-Print

intomedia GmbH recognized an opportunity to harness the Web to drive online print ordering, improve communication workflows, and streamline production processes. This article discusses intomedia’s offerings and also offers examples of companies that are leveraging them.

manroland web systems Inc.: A Conversation with CEO Roland Ortbach

In this exclusive WhatTheyThink interview, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne speaks with Roland Ortbach, just named as CEO of manroland web systems Inc. North America. Ortbach discusses the new organization, its relationship with the manroland sheetfed division and more.

It is Not Just Inkjet for the Future

Almost all the recent announcements, and certainly all the hype, in the digital printing market have involved high-speed inkjet printing. Little has been heard about the established form of digital printing, namely digital printing using electrophotographic (toner based) technology.

Economic Overview; Changing Channels Not Just for TV

Dr. Joe tiptoes through the economic data, discusses the nature of efficiency and expansion, and then pontificates about channels that are not of the TV kind. Then he explains why a new high in a stock index is not what it seems. Did we really say tiptoe? Where are the tulips?

TGI: Positioning and Rebranding for Cross-Media Success

Print service providers can effectively position or re-position themselves for differentiation in today’s market. They can make their businesses stand out and effectively reach their target markets. This article explores how Philadelphia-based TGI has become a national leader in print and cross-media communications.

More Digital Printing at drupa

The past few weeks have seen many of the pieces of the drupa jigsaw drop into place as vendors define some of what they will introduce and offer in May. There are still a few announcements to come with HP and Xerox making their announcements soon.

A View Up and Down Print’s Value Chain with HP and O’Neil Data Systems

We had a unique opportunity recently to get a look at the entire printing industry’s value chain by attending two separate events at O’Neil Data Systems new plant in Plano, Texas.  First was HP’s First Look event, which previewed for their customers technology they will be officially in the next few weeks.  Second was O’Neil Data Systems’ grand opening of their Plano facility, which gave us an opportunity to meet their customers as well.

Geographics: Portrait of a Printing Company with M&A in Mind

Ever since he founded Geographics in 1976, Norvin Hagan hasn’t tried to purchase another company—until now. Read why he’s ready to complement organic growth with the kind that comes from a well planned and executed acquisition.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Memjet and three unique OEMs

In this eighth article of the series, David looks at Memjet inkjet technology, and some OEM implementations and offerings to address specific production print applications.

Vertical… A Competitive Differentiator for the One to One Group

Developing an understanding of industry dynamics can help service providers identify the right vertical market. Once the vertical market has been identified, the service provider must develop the right document and marketing solutions to meet clients’ needs. This article outlines the steps involved in taking a vertical market approach and also provides a relevant success story from the One to One Group.

drupa 2012 International Media Briefing

Last week fourteen companies gave a preview of what they will bring to drupa 2012 during a series of media briefings at a conference center on the trade fair grounds of Messe Düsseldorf in Düsseldorf, Germany.

X-Rite/Pantone Update from President & CEO Tom Vacchiano

I had the opportunity to participate in an analyst briefing at Pantone in late February, and X-Rite President & CEO Tom Vacchiano took the time to speak with Senior Editor Cary Sherburne one-on-one with an update on X-Rite/Pantone strategy—where the company’s been and where it is going. Read more.

Are You Having Fun Yet!

Printers are facing an increasing number of challenges due to rapid changes in the economy, technology and the marketplace. It is easy to get mired in viewing these changes as negative and the demise of an industry. However, for this article I will focus on the positive side of these changes.

The long road to recovery: the impact of the Great Recession on print

With the industry suffering from a paralysis invoked by the economic crisis eyes will turn to drupa 2012 to see how the future will shape up.

FedEx Office Expands Grand Format Business

FedEx Office recently announced that it would be accelerating investment in grand format printing services in selected centralized production centers to supplement its service offerings. The same release also reported that Boeing had selected FedEx Office as its print service provider of choice. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne talked to the company to learn more.

New Presstek CEO Stanley E. Freimuth Talks About Strategies, Plans, What to Expect at drupa

On February 2nd, Presstek announced the appointment of Stanley E. Freimuth as Chairman, President & CEO. Mr. Freimuth, who stepped into the role on February 13th, spent nearly 25 years with Fujifilm where he ultimately had responsibility for all Fujifilm U.S.A businesses. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Freimuth about his reasons for taking on the role and his expectations for the firm and the market.

Mobile: A Disruptive Technology that Printers Need to Harness

In 2003, Clay Christensen and Mike Raynor published a bestselling book entitled The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth. The authors discuss how established companies need to create disruptions rather than being destroyed by them. Businesses must turn innovative ideas into disruptive products and services that will lead to long-term profitable growth. This article outlines key strategies from the book and provides an example of a retailer that has taken action to generate growth.

PrintCity Alliance Builds Momentum for Strong Showing at drupa 2012 (Part 2)

By exhibiting as a group at drupa 2012, the members of the PrintCity Alliance hope to present a continuum of solutions that visitors will find well adapted to the new realities of the print marketplace. Previews of some of their show offerings are here.

The schizophrenic printing industry

As the number of printing services declines; the number of printing services increases. You read that correctly.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Screen

This series by David L. Zwang focuses on current production inkjet products and their application in the market today. This series will run every 3 weeks leading up to drupa 2012. In this seventh article of the series, David looks at Screen, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

VP of Marketing Steve Bonoff discusses IDEAlliance’s Upcoming TechWeek Conference

IDEAlliance® recently announced that attendee registration is strong for TechWeek, its week-long event series featuring the G7 Forum 2012, TechConference 2012 and XTech 2012 Seminars. Slated for March 12-16, 2012 in Rosemont, IL, the conference offers a mix of educational sessions, hands-on computer labs, and networking opportunities for media production professionals.

Let Your Customers Tell Your Story

Good customer testimonials can help your business stand out in a crowd and enable more meaningful marketing. This article discusses the characteristics associated with good testimonials and explains how you can use them to differentiate your business.

Industry Veteran Jeff Jacobson Joins Xerox

The announcement that Jeff Jacobson, President & CEO of Presstek, was departing the company to take on a senior role at Xerox caught many industry watchers by surprise. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with Jacobson to get the story behind the story.

PrintCity Alliance Builds Momentum for Strong Showing at drupa 2012

At drupa 2012, the PrintCity Alliance will emphasize and promote the future of print from its usual location on the Messe Düsseldorf fairgrounds. Last week, some of its members gave a preview of what awaits visitors to Hall 6.

Ideas that Work: Standing Out from the Crowd

At the recent PODi AppForum conference, keynote speaker Ken Schmidt spoke passionately about the need to create a compelling message for your business – a message that connects emotionally with prospects and stands out from the crowd. Too often, Ken says that companies say what makes them great is quality, service and reliability when these items are merely givens - table stakes. And what’s worse, it’s a boring message that causes prospect’s eyes to glaze over. It eventually leads to competition based solely on price – and there go your profit margins.

News Stories Underscore Today’s Media Shift and The Need for Action by Print CEOs

Procter & Gamble, tablet computing, and the S&P 499... Dr. Joe ties them all together and comes up with urgency and entrepreneurship and something about backbones. He even includes one of those really cluttered charts that he's famous for. It's just another Dr. Joe column, but this one might rattle the common wisdom when it doesn't want to be rattled... again.

Technology Is Not the Answer

Technology on its own cannot solve your business challenges. It can play a part, it can enable your strategy, it can free up your labor but the real benefits of technology come from the people and the processes around it.

Selling to SMBs...Automating Marketing

The SMB market provides an enticing, yet challenging, sales opportunity for print service providers. Today's small businesses are seeking partners to help them sell in the cross-media world. They want the solutions that integrate and automate marketing across print, online, mobile, and social media channels. This article cites survey findings and highlights industry examples of service providers and software solutions providers that are beginning to approach automated marketing via cloud-based solutions for small businesses.

First Look – Digital Printing Highlights for drupa

Andy takes a look at three companies and their products that he feels will be major highlights of drupa.

Epson Launches NextGen Wide Format Printer, New Branding

Today, Epson launched its next generation, newly-branded 64” solvent printer – the SureColor S30670 is a four-color solvent printer (CMYK) using Epson UltraChrome GS2 ink. Read more.

Sustainability - Giving Success The Green Light

An environmentally responsible approach to print production not only helps the energy intensive industry minimize its impact, it is also an essential business tool as will be widely demonstrated at drupa 2012.

Dscoop Adds DSee Digital Print & Design Conference

Dscoop, the wildly successful HP digital printing users group, has added a new conference to its repertoire. Co-located with Dscoop7 being held in Washington D.C. March 22-24, the event, DSee, takes place on March 22, 2012, and has already sold out. Hear more from Dscoop board members and HP about this novel event.

Publishing: A Whole New World

e-Readers are definitely here to stay, so the printing and publishing worlds must change with the times. There will always be a place for hardcover and paperback books, but recent developments will demand a huge transition for book printers and publishers alike. How businesses adapt will determine who is left standing five years from now. This article provides an overview of the publishing landscape and provides examples of service providers who are changing with the times.

AlphaGraphics Acquired by Blackstreet Capital

Now that the dust has settled a little on the acquisition of AlphaGraphics (AGI) by Blackstreet Capital and CEO Kevin Cushing’s unexpected departure, Art Coley, AlphaGraphics’ Interim President, talks to WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne about the AGI perspective, future prospects and franchisee reaction.

Expect a Stepped-up Pace of M&As in 2012, for All the Right Reasons

No matter what is happening to other print industry metrics, M&As are trending up. This can be to the advantage of many printing companies seeking growth or a path to staying in operation.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Fujifilm

In this sixth article of the series, David looks at Fujifilm, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

manroland Sheetfed Division Being Acquired

Andy Tribute takes a look at Langley Holdings which recently acquired the manroland sheetfed division.

Data-Driven Marketing: Building Better Relationships

In today’s market, data-driven personalized marketing has never been more important. Every buyer has his or her individual needs, preferences, resources, and behaviors. Since it is virtually impossible to cater to each customer’s individual characteristics, marketers attempt to group customers into market segments by variables they have in common. This article provides a discussion of service providers that are using market segmentation to improve their business results.

Gerhardt and Marcantonio on Allegra's Acquisition of Signs by Tomorrow

Cary Sherburne, WhatTheyThink’s Senior Editor, had a few questions for Allegra’s Carl Gerhardt and Mike Marcantonio about this acquisition. Here’s what they had to say.

SpyderLynk’s SnapTags Strive for Acceptance

There’s a notable gap between consumers’ understanding of QR codes and their willingness to use them. A company called SpyderLynk has a solution aimed at helping image-based mobile marketing to fulfill the potential that has eluded QR codes.

Driving movable data in the right direction

“Printing using movable type” has turned into “printing using movable data”. It has been almost eight years since Bernhard Schreier, CEO of Heidelberg, paraphrased Gutenberg’s invention to describe the transformation of the industry. And data has been moving ever faster, in ever more directions, ever since.

Fenske Media: Innovative and Growing

In December, WhatTheyThink’s Senior Editor, Cary Sherburne, joined a number of her press and analyst peers on a visit to Fenske Media in Rapid City, South Dakota. In this article, she shares details about the event and includes an exclusive interview with Tom Fenske, one of the four brothers that own and operate the business.

AlphaGraphics Has a New Owner

Rumors that AlphaGraphics was on the blocks proved to be true when the company announced it had a new owner. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke to CEO Kevin Cushing to get the story behind the story for our readers.

Business at the Speed of NOW: Implications for the Printing Industry

In December 2011, John M. Bernard published a book entitled Business at the Speed of Now: Fire up Your People, Thrill Your Customers, and Crush Your Competitors. The book states that the ability to understand emergent issues and act upon them with appropriate speed will mark the difference between the winners and losers. This article provides examples from the book and explains how they can be applied to the printing industry.

Océ Business Services Partners with Mimeo to Deliver Océ PrintExpress

Océ Business Services introduced Océ PrintExpress, an online print and distribution service that augments its Managed Print Services offerings. Senior Editor Cary Sherburne speaks with Océ Business Services and its partner, Mimeo, to get the scoop.

Future-cast: New Directions for Digital Print

The digital printing industry looks to Caslon and PODi for insights into what’s next and what will be profitable in the future. Here are a few of the exciting opportunities we see emerging plus some red flags to watch out for.

Kodak, Does it Have a Future?

The big news of the past few days has been that Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the USA. The announcement from Kodak was not unexpected as the company has been having financial problems for some time, and had appointed a specialist consultancy company late last year to evaluate bankruptcy protection options.

Welcome Back: I Was Wrong

Dr. Joe is back and he admits he was wrong. There's a season for everything, it turns out, but not the same ones there used to be. He explains how to be a hit at cocktail parties, and then wonders why we should care about economic forecasting, if at all. Sounds like he's been away from the WhatTheyThink pages a little too long...

Kodak Means to Stay the Course in Graphic Communications Throughout Chapter 11 Reorganization

Kodak will continue to advance its graphic communications business as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy, treating its digital printing, plate, and workflow operations as keys to survival and future success.

Running the Gauntlet: A Book Review

Jeff Hayzlett’s second book, Running the Gauntlet, is out, launched January 3rd. Read what Senior Editor Cary Sherburne has to say about the book and the SnapTags it incorporates.

Looking for an Expert

Across all industry segments, marketers are challenged with understanding how to effectively leverage cross-media communications and build out effective campaigns. This article explains how Darwill has transformed its products and services into real customer value in the non-profit and association markets.

Cool App from a Surprising Source

Web-to-print provider Aleyant profiled one of its customers in a recent press release that caught my attention. Thinking this was an innovative print service provider who had launched a niche holiday application, I contacted them to see what they do the rest of the year. Not a print service provider!

Will Newspapers Ever Use Digital Printing?

One of the areas where major future business growth is seen is in newspapers adopting high-speed inkjet printing as an alternative or replacement for offset printing. The various press vendors all specify newspapers as a key business area for them for the future. Yet when one looks at the market newspapers have just not moved in any way to adopt the technology.

Cathedral Corporation: Portrait of a Printing Company with M&A in Mind

Technical innovation and customer care are the main ingredients in the recipe for growth at Cathedral Corporation, which now aims to accelerate its expansion with the well-planned acquisition of another printing firm. President and CEO Marianne Gaige describes her objectives in this interview.

Latex Ink Jet Technology Goes Mainstream

Latex ink jet ink technology was introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 2008 for wide format graphics printing applications, and after an extended period of beta-testing and an economic recession it went mainstream in 2010. During the last 18 months in particular unit placements have continued to gain strength, now totaling over 10,000 placements wordwide at the end of 2011.

It’s 2012… and the Transformation of the Printing Industry is Happening NOW!

It’s a brand new year and a great time for predictions about what the future holds for the production printing market. This article outlines InfoTrends’ top seven predictions for 2012 related to digital technologies within the printing industry.

Pressroom Chemistry Gets Green

As printing companies move towards environmentally friendly processes and products they must sort through the misinformation in the marketplace. This article helps to educate the printer on what to look for in pressroom chemistry.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Ricoh

This series by David L. Zwang focuses on current production inkjet products and their application in the market today. In this fifth article of the series, David looks at Ricoh, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

Why HP Acquired HiFlex

On December 7th, HP announced the acquisition of print MIS provider HiFlex. WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with HP to understand more about this acquisition and how it fits into the HP portfolio. You may be surprised to learn where the acquisition is reporting within the HP organization.

Boarman Out as Public Printer

On April 15, 2010, President Obama announced his intent to nominate William J. Boarman as the 26th Public Printer of the United States. Following that announcement, WhatTheyThink covered the long, and ultimately unsuccessful confirmation process, revealing a number of problems with the nominee. Apparently more problems have arisen and his nomination was returned to the President. Read more.

The day the typesetting industry died

There will always be a printing industry, but it will be different than it used to be. Typesetting did not go away; it just moved to a different place.

J Press 720 Moves Beyond the Showroom

Fujifilm first announced the J Press 720 in 2008, with much press and fanfare for the new sheet-fed, digital inkjet press. In 2010, at GRAPH EXPO, it was shown in action. Now, the first machine has been installed in Michigan. What does the J Press 720 mean for Fujifilm?

First Coated Stock for Production Inkjet Introduced by NewPage

NewPage was the first paper manufacturer to bring to market a coated stock optimized for production inkjet. Availability of an affordable coated stock solution is at the top of the wish list for many production inkjet press owners. We expect to see much more activity in this space between now and drupa. In the interim, Senior Editor Cary Sherburne spoke with the folks at NewPage to get the full story.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Océ

In this fifth article of the series, David looks at Océ, its production inkjet offering and applications.

Is MIS Going into the Cloud?

There were two interesting announcements made by major suppliers last week. These were both in the area of MIS systems for printers. One might ask what is the attraction of acquiring an MIS company?

The Full Package

With an estimated 75% of all retail products purchased on impulse and over 40,000 different lines in a supermarket outlet from which to choose, attention-grabbing packaging print is the crucial differentiator on-shelf and ways to achieve this will be emphasized at drupa 2012, reports Des King

Wild Apple Graphics Turns to Digital Printing for Art Prints

Wild Apple Graphics recently added a new digital press that allows the company to offer short runs of certain popular print sizes. Cary Sherburne spoke with Jim Chadwick, Director of Technical Services, to understand how digital printing is streamlining the company’s art print business and why they chose the digital press they purchased.

Economic Outlook with Dr. Joe Webb

Work smarter – not harder

As the possibilities and the range of applications in the world of printing, including digital, continue to expand, the manufacturers of finishing machines are having to keep pace by delivering continual innovations.

Mobile… The Fundamentals Still Apply

In November 2011, InfoTrends published a multi-client study entitled Mobile Technology: Making Print Interactive. This research was conducted to determine the importance of combining technologies to activate, cultivate, and engage customers. While marketers and service providers often get enamored with technology the fundamentals of good marketing still apply today. This article discusses the basic elements of quality marketing campaigns and provides some real-world examples.

InterQuest: Private Sector Talent Transforming Government In-plants

This sixth annual InterQuest continued the theme of most all printing conferences for the last decade: digital printing and electronic workflows must be in your future. This DC gathering featured successful case studies by the general managers that led their transition.

If You Want a Slice, Bring Your Own Pie

If you’re walking around trying to push your products and services on potential customers, you’re asking them to give you a slice of their pie (their business). This is a hard sale because you’re dipping into a limited resource.

InterQuest 2011: Need for Benchmarking at Federal Government In-plants

The sixth annual InterQuest conference targeting government and higher education in-plant printers was held November 30. Digital printing, electronic workflows, and in-plant case studies of successful technology and management transitions often involving newly hired, experienced private sector employees were the reenforced themes of the forum.

SGIA: More Than Ink on Paper

SGIA was flooded with small ink, roller, blade, and other screen consumable suppliers: How do so many analog screen suppliers hang on? The simple reason: screen output remains cheap-and turnaround is fast enough.

Online marketing resource centers for dealers

To promote sales of their products, manufacturers need to effectively provide their network of dealers with marketing materials that support the purchase process, and continue the post-purchase conversation.

Litho & Digital – A Complementary Mix

Today it is becoming much more common to find printers using more than one printing technology. In most cases this is adding sheet fed digital printing to complement a predominantly offset printing operation.

Mobile… It’s Part of Your Future!

Mobile technology is playing an increasingly important to today’s society. Despite the growing importance of mobile, all channels (print, mobile, social, online, mass media) must be a part of the marketing mix. This article provides a brief overview of how mobile can be integrated with other media types to become more effective, citing research from a recently completed study from InfoTrends

Andy Tribute on manroland's filing for insolvency

The major news in the past week has been German press manufacturer manroland filing for insolvency. This is the largest corporate failure in Germany for two years.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Xerox

In this fourth article of the series, David looks at Xerox, its production inkjet offering and application.

Touchcode: A New Way to Make Print Interactive

German firm Printechnologics has developed another way for print to be interactive utilizing the increasing number of touch screens—tablets, smartphones and more—now in the marketplace. What is a Touchcode, how can it be used and when might we start seeing them in the market? Cary Sherburne speaks with Printechnologics CEO Sascha Voight.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at Kodak

In this third article of the series, David looks at Kodak, its production inkjet offerings and applications.

Making a Big Impression Trends in Large Format Printing

As we approach drupa 2012, what are the technologies we can expect to see that will drive change in the printing and publishing markets? Once again, we can expect to see a significant position for inkjet in the array of new technologies exhibitors have on display.  This time, however, while there will still be a large presence in the production sector.

The future of graphic communication education

The Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA just discontinued their Graphic Communication Technology major. The decline in enrollment began in 2001 and only four new students entered the major in the more recent term.

CMO Perspectives: From Stretched to Strengthened

In October 2011, IBM published a C-suite study report entitled From Stretched to Strengthened. In this article, Barb Pellow highlights some of the key findings from this study and also discusses best strategies for next-generation service providers.

Environmental Aspects of Printing Inks

As printing companies move towards environmentally friendly processes and products they must sort through the misinformation in the marketplace. This article helps to educate the printer on what to look for in printing ink.

AlphaGraphics Seattle Finds Success in Search Engine Marketing

Printing firms today face many challenges and opportunities. Entrepreneurs like AlphaGraphics Owner Chuck Stempler provide examples of what the printing firm of the future might look like and offer services to small commercial and quick printers to help them reach their own goals.

Cross-Media Services Success… A Natural Evolution at GLI

This document provides an overview of how Great Lakes Integrated (Cleveland, OH) is making the shift to cross-media marketing services. The 80-year-old company established its reputation in the marketplace decades ago by providing exceptional printing quality and service. Because today’s businesses are facing unprecedented competition, GLI has revitalized its capabilities to deliver comprehensive, integrated, state-of-the-art marketing solutions.

Who Will Supply Ink for Inkjet Presses?

With the arrival of high-speed inkjet presses that challenge offset printing in many areas, one of the comments I regularly hear concerns the cost of inkjet inks and why one cannot buy inks from a range of suppliers, as one can for offset printing. Well things may be changing and this can be seen from the lawsuit in which Kodak is taking action against ink manufacturer Collins Ink Corporation alleging breach of contract.

Is There an iPad App in Your Future?

As we look at ways to ensure that print remains viable and that we have the right set of services to go with it, becoming an iPad app developer is an interesting avenue to explore that may be easier than you think. Cary Sherburne reviews two options for easy entry into this market.

Drupa 2012, the Inkjet Drupa…again? A closer look at HP

In this second article of the series, David looks at HP’s production inkjet offerings and applications.

Lessons from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs' passing created interest in his management style and the culture of the company he left behind. What management lessons apply for other businesses? Is print a commodity? Can print campaigns be too successful for their own good? One printer blamed its disappointing financial results on that very fact.

What will be the theme for drupa 2012?

Previous drupa's have been defined by a dominant technology trend, last time in 2008 it was the inkjet drupa and prior to that the show has been defined as the JDF drupa, the digital drupa, the CTP drupa and others further back in the mists of time.

It’s Time to Get Social!

Barb Pellow recently interviewed John Foley, Jr. (Grow Socially), Aaron Rains (Printing Center USA), and Ron Rescigno (Rescigno’s Market Connections). This article describes how these early adopters are effectively using social media in the world of print and marketing services.

The End of Communication As We Know It

In the last ten years or so our business has so fundamentally changed as to be almost unrecognizable to former participants and past industry giants. No one in our industry no matter what their title performs the function that their predecessors performed not ten years ago nor five years ago.