Lexington, Kentucky USA - WhatTheyThink.com today reported that Dr. Joe Webb, Director of the Economics & Research Center at WhatTheyThink, will kick off the second annual Print CEO Forum with a keynote entitled The Turbulent Path to 2020: Are You Ready for a Revolution? The full agenda is available for review.  The second annual Print CEO Forum is scheduled for October 2nd and 3rd, 2010, at Chicago's prestigious University Club. Limo transportation to McCormick Place for Graph Expo will be provided on October 3rd.

"If the last three years have been a challenge to print businesses, what's the next decade hold for us?" asks Dr. Webb. "Since mid-2007, we've seen a revolution in handheld computing, with more than 34 million iPhones sold and the rise of social media, especially Facebook with more than 400 million users. In less than a month, Apple sold 1 million iPads and had to change its release schedules because demand has been stronger than planned. There is every reason to believe that the next ten years hold more upheaval than we have had just in the last three years and we need to be prepared for it to take advantage of it."

Dr. Webb's presentation will cover a wide range of topics around the economy and industry trends, including:
- Dealing with print's paradox: expanding economies increases digital communications in lieu of print
- Is it better to transform your business or start anew?
- How do multichannel communications services fit into the mix, or are they over-hyped?
- Media users demand ROI, but how do we (and they) measure it effectively?
- Developing fluency in the language of communications ROI, earning the trust of clients and prospects.

Autographed copies of Dr. Webb's new book, Disrupting the Future, co-authored with Richard Romano, will also be available at the event.  

"This will be an important kick-off to the Print CEO Forum," said Randy Davidson, President of WhatTheyThink.  "You will not want to miss the opportunity to hear Dr. Joe frame the important issues we will be discussing throughout the day and a half event and we encourage you to register early as attendance will be limited."

WhatTheyThink has arranged a limited number of rooms at the University Club, should attendees wish to take advantage of the convenience of staying at this exclusive venue during the Forum.
    
Why Attend?
The Print CEO Forum, which opens Saturday, October 2nd, at 8:30 AM and concludes at 11:30 AM on Sunday, features a wide range of industry thought leaders speaking about highly relevant topics for print business owners and managers.  Each session will conclude with two to three specific takeaways that can benefit any business in the industry.

"Our agenda is shaping up rapidly," said Cary Sherburne, Senior Editor, WhatTheyThink, "and we are very excited about the strategic level of content that will be included in the second annual Print CEO Forum.  This year's event is a not-to-be-missed event for any print business owner or manager looking to accelerate business growth in an environment that is still challenging."

Confirmed speakers include:

- Robert Tapella, U.S. Public Printer;
- Joseph P. Morgan, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer of Standard Register, a nearly $800 million, 98-year-old company in the midst of reinventing itself,
- Wendy Cebula, president of Vistaprint's North American business unit; the company is often cited as one of the industry's most astonishing success stories;
- Dr. Joe Webb, Director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center;
- Barbara Pellow, Group Director of research firm InfoTrends and digital media pioneer;
- Marc Monseau, Director of Corporate Communication and Social Media for Johnson & Johnson, responsible for a wide range of activities related to the social web, including the development and management of different online initiatives that protect and enhance the image and reputation of the corporation;
- Peter Schaefer, New Direction Partners, an expert in printing industry mergers and acquisitions;
- Gail Nickel-Kailing and a panel of "green" printers discussing green strategies for improving profits
- Margie Dana of Print Buyers International and a panel of high-profile marketing executives discussing the role of print in the modern media mix;
- Paul Reilly and Jim Russell of New Direction Partners, experts in succession planning for printing businesses.

"One of the most popular sessions last year," added Sherburne, "was the discussion between industry luminaries Frank Romano and David Zwang about the highlights of Print 09. We are repeating that session again this year to help attendees make more effective use of their time at Graph Expo 2010. There will also be a focus on social media, how printers can use these new media in their businesses, and what customers are doing in this realm.  This will be a fast-paced, forward-thinking conference that is unlike anything else in the industry."

To register for the event and for more details, visit PrintCEOForum.com.  WhatTheyThink will be communicating further details as they are available via press release, the Forum's web site and other means.

"While this is a printer-only event," said Davidson, "we are pleased that manroland has agreed to be our sponsor this year, allowing us to grow this exclusive event and make it even more valuable to attendees than last year."
    
About WhatTheyThink.com
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 as well as providing content through a syndication program, which delivers content directly to related websites.
    
About manroland
manroland Inc., a division of manroland AG, is the world's second largest printing systems manufacturer and the world's market leader in web offset.  manroland employs almost 8,700 people and has annual sales of some Euro 1.7 billion with an export share of almost 80%.  Web and sheetfed offset presses provide solutions for publishing, commercial and packaging printing.  For more information visit the Manroland web site.