Thayer Long, President of The Association for PRINT Technologies (L) and Eric Vessels, President of WhatTheyThink ®

Combined entity will create a dynamic, industry-leading member-driven organization 

The Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech) announced today that it has made a strategic investment to acquire the printing industry’s leading independent media organization, WhatTheyThink. The move was unanimously approved by the APTech board and signals a continuing effort to help print businesses grow by providing a platform for education, inspiration, and connection.  

“We began a Strategic Business Plan in 2017, and this move is aligned with that plan and our efforts to continue to evolve as an association. We are really happy to be working more closely with an organization like WhatTheyThink that we’ve watched grow and evolve into the most important media company in the industry,” said Thayer Long, President of the Association for PRINT Technologies. “This investment signals both our commitment to our long-term business plan as well as a great deal of excitement for how aligned it is with the strategies and market position of WhatTheyThink.”

“We are really excited to enter this new phase of WhatTheyThink,” said Eric Vessels, who will continue to lead WhatTheyThink as President.  “For more than two decades now, we have worked hard to forge a well-respected brand and welcoming company culture. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue to make it even better.  We seek to inform and inspire by finding the best voices in the industry and delivering their thought leadership through the many channels of communication we’ve developed over the years:  Email, Web, and Print!”

WhatTheyThink will continue to operate as an independent voice in the industry, and there will be no immediate changes in staff or operations. 

“In talking to Thayer,” Vessels continued, “it was obvious that both organizations were driven by the same motivation to inform and inspire the industry. With our premium membership model, we have evolved into a more member-based organization as opposed to merely a trade publication.  This partnership will help us to continue to move in that direction in a way that helps both groups deliver more value to the printing and related industries.  The more we talked about it, the more it made sense.”

Long continued, “By combining APTech and WhatTheyThink, we will be in a unique position to offer great value to the printing industry through the delivery of consistent daily information, key educational events, industry advocacy and standards work, along with an entrepreneurial spirit that will undoubtedly find new ways to inform and inspire the industry we all love.”

For more information about the benefits of becoming a premium member of WhatTheyThink, visit whattheythink.com/join. For more information about the Association for PRINT Technologies, visit printtechnologies.org/jointoday.