The organizations will meld into one non-profit organization under WhatTheyThink branding.

WhatTheyThink, the leading global media organization serving the printing and publishing industries, today reported that subsequent to its acquisition by the Association for Print Technologies (APTech), a non-profit association dedicated to helping support the printing industry, the two organizations have been melded into one non-profit organization under the WhatTheyThink name.  

Thayer Long, CEO, stated, “This move is an important step in our ongoing efforts to maintain and grow our leadership position in supporting the broader printing industry. Combining the two organizations is a force multiplier, leveraging the strengths of the two to create an industry organization whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” 

WhatTheyThink is well-known as the independent voice of the printing industry. Now a non-profit entity, its mission is to inform, educate and inspire the printing industry, attract a new generation of print enthusiasts, and to help build an essential community for print excellence. To accomplish this, WhatTheyThink curates, aggregates and creates content to deliver a wide range of industry insights through one portal designed to help our members and sponsors, and the industry at large, be better educated and make better business decisions. In addition, WhatTheyThink supports industry events, such as the upcoming drupa show in Düsseldorf, where WhatTheyThink has been selected to publish the drupa Daily during all 11 days of the show. 

APTech branding will be used for its industry standards work, continuing its important work on behalf of the industry and its excellent relationships with standards bodies. 

In addition to continuing the industry standards work under the APTech brand, the combined organization will also continue its research work, including the industry data regularly published on WhatTheyThink.com,” Long added. “Also, we will be looking for additional partners and sponsors to broaden the information, analysis, research and news aggregation that is a keystone of WhatTheyThink.” 

Eric Vessels, President, also notes that the combined organization is investigating potential industry events it might launch in the future and more means by which it can encourage a new generation of printing professionals. “One example of the latter is our partnership with Cal Poly, wherein we are helping to sponsor six of their students during drupa, where they will not only be able to experience the world’s largest printing trade show, but also will be able to participate in a real-world, fast-paced publication and production environment and have meet-and-greets with key industry leaders. We hope to be able to sponsor more projects like this in the future. We believe these types of initiatives are an important contribution we can make to the future of the industry.”  

The two organizations will have a single membership that provides access to products and services from both organizations and will also be guided and directed by a Board of Directors comprised of volunteer industry leaders.   

To become a WhatTheyThink member, visit our Member Center for a wide array of membership options.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit https://whattheythink.com/sponsorship

About WhatTheyThink

WhatTheyThink is a non-profit membership organization serving the broader printing industry. As the independent voice of the industry, it is the go-to information source with both print and digital offerings, including WhatTheyThink.com, WhatTheyThink Email Newsletters, and the WhatTheyThink magazine. Our mission is to inform, educate, and inspire the industry as well as provide a platform that can support our members in making better business and buying decisions. We provide cogent news and analysis about trends, technologies, operations, and events in all the markets that comprise today's printing and sign industries including commercial, in-plant, mailing, finishing, sign, display, textile, industrial, finishing, labels, packaging, marketing technology, software and workflow. We also work to attract a new generation of print enthusiasts to the industry as well as strive to build and nurture an essential community for print excellence.

The Association for Print Technologies (APTech) is ANSI-accredited to support national and international standards development for the print industry, including, B65, CGATS and U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 130.