Lexington, Kentucky USA -- WhatTheyThink.com today announced that over 600 industry professionals from around the globe registered to attend a free printing industry educational webinar. Making the Transition to Marketing Services Provider, which was led by WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne and sponsored by MindFireInc.

The archive of the event, which was held on June 3^rd, is available here.

“Print service providers are often advised to transition their businesses to that of a marketing services provider,” said Sherburne. People seem to pretty much understand the concept and the reasons for making such a move, but the how-to is often a little more obscure.  This was a terrific opportunity to hear from industry leaders with different perspectives on this issue.  One panelist has made the transition, one is in process, and one business was founded as a marketing services provider from the get-go.  All agreed, however, that regardless of where they are on the transitional continuum, the end point continues to move and they are continuously reinventing themselves.”

Sherburne was joined by

• Christopher Petro, President & CEO, Global Soft Digital.  Chris Petro has more than 20 years of printing industry experience. He leads efforts related to Global Soft Digital Solutions Inc.’s new product offerings, strategic initiatives and financial direction. He also serves as Gerant of GlobalSoft Intl., a European based Digital Marketing Company. Petro is also Chairman of the Digital Solutions Cooperative (Dscoop). Global Soft Digital was founded as a marketing services provider.
• Christopher Wells, CEO, LVI Print Optimization.  Recognized by his peers as a visionary and industry leader, Chris is the CEO of LVI Print Optimization.  LVI’s oal is to help clients balance relevant print communications with a streamlined supply chain.  Wells is a founding member of Dscoop and was named one of the Top 20 Visionaries under 40 by Printing Impressions Magazine. Wells considers that his company is about halfway through the transition process.
• Mark Parent, CEO, Sugarbush Media Solutions. Mark founded Sugarbush Printing nearly a quarter of a century ago, and began the transition from a commercial printer to a media solutions provider about 7 years ago. Parent’s innovative approach to this transition is paying off. Restructuring his client base resulted in lower revenues, but a vibrant business model is delivering more profits. While his work is not completed, Parent has successfully made the transition.

“Based on registrations for this event,” said Randy Davidson, President, WhatTheyThink, “this is clearly an area of significant interest for many in our industry.  We appreciate the fact that MindFireInc sponsored this important session, allowing us to make it available at no charge. In addition, MindFireInc has sponsored a detailed white paper on the subject, which is available for download with the webinar archive.”  <insert the most appropriate link>

About MindFireInc®

MindFireInc is the worldwide leader of marketing intelligence software and services that enables the creation and deployment of targeted, trackable cross-media campaigns. More than 500 companies and 2,500 users worldwide depend on MindFireInc to manage thousands of cross-media marketing campaigns. MindFireInc’s flagship product, LookWho’sClicking®, automates the creation and management of highly-effective Personalized URLs, response-tracking, and more. With offices in California, New Jersey, New York, Arizona, and Asia-Pacific, MindFireInc is a privately held company led by a seasoned management team with proven industry success. MindFireInc is proud to be named by Inc. 500 as the 6th fastest growing software company in the United States.

For more information, please visit http://www.mindfireinc.com.

About WhatTheyThink

WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading media organization; offering a wide range of publications delivering unbiased, real-time market intelligence, industry news, economic and trend analysis, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging technology and critical events. WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events that are timely and relevant o today's busy industry executives along with consulting and speaker services that leverage a talented pool of writers and industry analysts.

WhatTheyThink consists of flagship site WhatTheyThink.com, discussion forum site PrintPlanet.com, and industry blog PrintCEO.com.

About Cary Sherburne

Cary Sherburne has been a Senior Editor at WhatTheyThink.com and a marketing communications consultant since 2002.  She is a well-known journalist, author and strategic marketing consultant working primarily with the printing and publishing industry. Prior to launching her consulting practice, Sherburne was the Vice President of Marketing Communications and Outsourcing Solutions at IKON Office Solutions. She also served as a Director at CAP Ventures (now InfoTrends), an internationally known firm specializing in market research and strategic consulting for the digital document and print on demand industry, where she launched and managed the company’s Document Outsourcing Consulting Service. Sherburne has written six books, the last of which is currently in the publishing process.  No-Nonsense Innovation: Practical Strategies for Success, co-authored with Bill Lowe, the Father of the IBM PC, can be ordered on Amazon.com.

Sherburne can be reached at [email protected].