Printing Industry Commentary & Analysis

Graphics of the Americas 2011 Heads North to Orlando; Increases Focus on Wide-Format

Published February 18, 2011

Next week’s 36th annual Graphics of the Americas show, colocated with FESPA Americas, increases its focus on educational programs for present and prospective wide-format service providers. The show also retains its focus on traditional printing, as well as content creation via the colocated Cre8 Conference targeted to graphic designers and publishers.

Green vs. Sustainable

Published February 14, 2011

UL Goes Green

Published February 14, 2011

Océ Print Business Forum Envisions the Future

Published February 9, 2011

Océ’s Envision the Future Forum, held last week in Houston, TX, drew on keynote presentations, strategy sessions, networking opportunities, and a print shop tour to help printers understand which aspects of print are growing, get a sneak peak at some cutting-edge “interactive print” applications, and develop business strategies for success.

Announcing the Third Annual WhatTheyThink Environmental Innovation Awards

Published February 8, 2011

Going Green Goes GoA

Published February 8, 2011

Open Thread

Published February 7, 2011

The Latest in Black Liquor

Published February 7, 2011

Down in the Mall

Published January 31, 2011

Strategies for Green Marketing

Published January 31, 2011

Paper Trail?

Published January 28, 2011

New Industry Business Conditions Study Now Available

Published January 26, 2011

Revised SGP Certification Criteria

Published January 24, 2011

Greening Print Marketing

Published January 24, 2011

Green Advertising

Published January 24, 2011

Upcoming FESPA Americas 2011 to Offer Unique Hands-On Events for Screen, Textile, and Wide-Format Printers

Published January 18, 2011

FESPA Americas 2011 comes to the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, in February, and offers business strategies, market trends, new technologies, and unique hands-on workshops for commercial printers, wide-format specialists, and screen printers. The Wrap Cup Masters is an open competition where contestants vie to wrap a variety of vehicles right at the show.

ConVerd Enviroboard

Published January 17, 2011

Green IT

Published January 17, 2011

Sustainability 2011

Published January 17, 2011

Open Thread

Published January 17, 2011

We Get Comments

Published January 17, 2011

Green Predictions for 2011

Published January 10, 2011

Cash for Recycling

Published January 10, 2011

Meet the EFPA

Published January 10, 2011

iPad Report 1.1

Published January 6, 2011

Happy Holidays from Going Green

Published December 22, 2010

E-Book vs. P-Book, Round 2

Published December 22, 2010

A Good Problem to Have

Published December 20, 2010

2011 Forecast: Looking Forward and Back

Published December 18, 2010

Countdown to FESPA Americas 2011

Published December 14, 2010

Set to open February 24th, FESPA Americas 2011 is the best opportunity the print industry gets to bring its international community together. We’ve highlighted six special features of the show that promise to entertain and enlighten.

P&G's Zero-Waste Manufacturing Initiative

Published December 13, 2010

Cancún Update

Published December 13, 2010

WWF Jumps the Shark

Published December 13, 2010

Starbucks Pilot Program Caffeinates Recycling Program

Published December 6, 2010

Cancún Update

Published December 6, 2010

All About Bioplastics

Published December 6, 2010

A New Shopping Season, a New Flood of E-Waste

Published November 29, 2010

Practice What You Print?

Published November 29, 2010

WiFi's Bite is Worse Than Bark?

Published November 23, 2010

MNN Sees Green with Green

Published November 22, 2010

Dell Computer on Sustainable Packaging

Published November 22, 2010

Countdown to Cancun

Published November 22, 2010

FESPA Brings Global Wide-Format Printing Expertise to the U.S.

Published November 19, 2010

For the first time ever FESPA Americas will be held in the United States. FESPA has existed for almost 50 years, and this years’ event promises not to disappoint. Richard Romano has laid out all the details you need to learn more about the organization, the event and its history.

I, Pad

Published November 16, 2010

FTC Green Guide Tweetchat

Published November 15, 2010

Whither the Phone Book?

Published November 15, 2010

Greenbuild Expo Comes to Chicago

Published November 15, 2010

FTC's Green Guides

Published November 10, 2010

Can Cloud Computing Reduce Carbon Emissions?

Published November 8, 2010

While You Were Art

Published November 5, 2010

A Note from Our Friends at Unisource

Published November 5, 2010

David Pogue on E-Books

Published November 4, 2010

Print Business Shopping Lists

Published November 4, 2010

National Geographic: One Magazine’s Carbon Footprint

Published November 3, 2010

Finch Paper and MWV Win AF&PA Sustainability Leadership Awards

Published October 31, 2010

Packaging: Making the [Biode]grade

Published October 28, 2010

Sustainability Starts at Work or Home

Published October 26, 2010

Meet The Blogfather Part II

Published October 25, 2010

Graph Expo 2010: Back to the Future

Published October 5, 2010

Bo Jackson (yes, THAT Bo Jackson) was a keynote speaker. Offset presses seemed completely absent. Throngs of passionate spectators showed up at a time when some experts say the industry is perched for the second half of the double dip. Richard Romano reports on a Graph Expo that, so far, is full of pleasant surprises.

Graph Expo Opens!

Published October 3, 2010

Updated E-Book Primer Report Now Available!

Published September 7, 2010

New Business Conditions Report Now Available

Published August 3, 2010

WeWriteLike

Published July 18, 2010

Ipex Post-Mortem: International Social Networking - In the Flesh

Published May 27, 2010

So you thought you might like to go to the show? If so, you discovered that the best thing about trade shows like Ipex, Drupa, Print, and Graph Expo isn't necessarily checking out new products and technologies - although that helps. Instead, these shows are forums for the original social networking.

Thought for Food

Published May 21, 2010

Could Happy Days Be Here Again? Optimism at Ipex Portends Potential Industry Renaissance

Published May 20, 2010

"Smiles, everyone, smiles!" That's not something one has heard at a printing industry trade show in rather a long time, but this year’s Ipex—which opened Tuesday, May 18, at the NEC in Birmingham, UK—is one of the happier occasions I (or many) can recall in a good long time.

Live from Ipex: Presstek Unveils New DI Press

Published May 19, 2010

Live from Ipex

Published May 19, 2010

On User Groups

Published April 12, 2010

Kodak's User Group: Paneling

Published April 12, 2010

Playing Media Twister for Fun and Profit, or A Pizza the Action

Published March 30, 2010

This week’s excerpt from the forthcoming book, Disrupting the Future: Uncommon Wisdom for Navigating Print’s Challenging Marketplace by Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano, takes that general idea a few steps further, and offers six concrete strategies for making the transition from a “printing company” to a new communications logistics management company. The goal is to minimize risk, which is actually a key attribute of successful entrepreneurship, while creating a new relationship with the marketplace that others can’t seem to see.

Unleash Your Inner Artist: Six Strategies for Success

Published March 25, 2010

Carve the Stone Away: Creating vs. Finding Opportunities

Published March 17, 2010

This week’s excerpt from the forthcoming book, Disrupting the Future: Uncommon Wisdom for Navigating Print’s Challenging Marketplace by Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano, looks at one vital issue for the “renaissance” of the printing industry, pun intended: to think like an artist.

Disrupting the Power of Print

Published March 10, 2010

The Grapes of Wrath: The Brand Protection Conference Offers a Sobering Look at Wine Counterfeiting

Published March 1, 2010

At the Brand Protection Conference, the hands-on demonstration of wine label counterfeiting draws some sobering conclusions about brand protection, fraud prevention, and digital printing.

Graphics of the Americas Takes On New Dimensions

Published February 26, 2010

Graphics of the Americas keynote speaker looks at the future of interactive displays--it's all very touching.

Print Across and Down

Published February 23, 2010

35th Annual Graphics of the Americas Comes to Miami Beach

Published February 19, 2010

It’s that time of year again, when graphic arts snowbirds flock to the Sunshine State to take in the pastel-hued wonders of South Beach—and learn about the latest developments in graphics and printing.

Social and Antisocial Media

Published February 18, 2010

I was meeting with my accountant last week, and since I am always curious as to what other professionals and businesses outside the printing industry are doing, the subject of social media came up—LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, et al., and he just sighed and said, “You know, I just don’t want to do any of that.” This same feeling was echoed by an old friend of mine who is the editor of Police magazine—and is echoed by a lot of people in various types of businesses.

A New Decade?

Published January 12, 2010

Look to 2010—Because You Really Have No Choice

Published November 20, 2009

This week, WhatTheyThink published our latest graphic communications industry forecast report, cleverly titled Print and Creative Forecast 2010, a look back at the year that was and, naturally, a look ahead at the year that will be. I worked on it with Dr. Joe Webb, whose Economic and Research Center data provided good chart-fodder for our quantitative analysis and forecast.

Speaking of Networking...

Published November 12, 2009

Last Saturday was the twice-yearly Toastmasters District 53 Conference. I had been one of the two “co-chairs”—i.e., organizers—of the event, which was a long, nine-month process that was not unlike giving birth. The planning process generated seemingly terabytes of e-mails, an endless stream of phone calls (curse you, cellular technology!), and several reams of notes and other hard-copy documents.

Chaos in Control

Published November 6, 2009

There is no shortage of books on the market about the sea change in media, as the world continues its inexorable march from offline to online, a topic that, bookwise, is perhaps rivaled only by the supposedly imminent destruction of the world on December 21, 2012. (I wouldn’t expect that to be a particularly brisk Christmas shopping season.) But while 2012 will not be the end of the world as we know it (however fine we may feel), the changing media landscape is the end of the world—the end of the old world of mass media and mass marketing, and of a time when marketers could dictate the message.

At Next Week’s Print Buyers Conference, Necessity is the Mother of Reinvention

Published October 30, 2009

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Annual Print Buyers Conference, which I found a compelling and enlightening mix of educational sessions, exhibitors representing printers across all markets and categories, and networking opportunities. Today’s installment of the Creative Corner will provide a preview of the 4th Annual Print Buyers Conference, and feature a chat with Margie Dana, guru (guress?) of print buyers, head of Print Buyers International, and the tireless organizer of the show.

Graphic Design Goes Mobile? iPhone Apps for Creatives

Published October 22, 2009

Whilst a primary component of the Creative Corner will be hardware and software reviews, I need to say a word or two at the outset about star ratings. It’s common in just about any review you read to see a product’s quality expressed as some number of stars, computer mice, or some other appropriate icon—or perhaps even an upward- or downward-pointing thumb, for those who like their ratings decidedly binary. (I always liked the San Francisco Chronicle’s movie review ratings which feature a cartoon viewer either falling out of his chair agog with enthusiasm, falling asleep bored, or something in between.)

Transpromo's Evil Twin?

Published October 18, 2009

Introducing the Creative Corner

Published October 15, 2009

Welcome to the first installment of WhatTheyThink’s “Creative Corner,” a weekly feature/column targeted toward graphic designers (print, Web, and beyond) and other creative professionals. In this space each week, I’ll be presenting business tips, hardware and software reviews, sales and marketing strategies, emerging technologies, and graphic communications and media trends.

Articles by Richard Romano