Dr. Joe Webb Provides Insight on Navigating Today’s Rocky Economic Waters, Sponsored by MindFireInc

June 18th, 2008 -- Lexington, Kentucky USA -- WhatTheyThink.com conducted a free printing industry economic webinar with forecaster and commentator Dr. Joe Webb on June 18th for an audience of nearly 300 graphic arts executives. The event archive is available here.

During this one-hour event, Dr. Webb provided graphic arts, printing and publishing executives with an analysis of the current economic climate and a discussion of what these turbulent times mean for individual printers and the printing industry as a whole.

“Our reader survey data has become an important part of these economic outlook webinars,” said Randy Davidson, President, WhatTheyThink. “This quarter, we focused on understanding how our readers rank the importance of emerging technologies such as inkjet, workflow automation, and web-to-print.  We also solicited opinions relative to business conditions, capital investment intentions and how best to cope with rising input prices. Some of the survey results are included in the webinars, and more data is posted in the Economic and Research Center at WhatTheyThink.”

Topics addressed included:

• The Recessionless Slowdown: Strategies for Managing Through the Economic Muddle
• Our Readers’ View: Latest Economic & Research Center Reader Survey Results
• Beat the Summer Heat with Dr. Joe's Latest Reading List

“One changing trend we have seen lies in employment on the creative side, which is often a leading indicator for what we might see in terms of printing shipments,” said Dr. Webb. “Advertising employment in April was down -1.5% compared to 2007. Even graphic design employment was down. Both of these segments have held up quite well through the last months, but now are most likely reflecting canceled and/or delayed corporate programs. Summertime employment trends in these segments are a relatively good indicator of the fall printing season. If the downward trend continues, this does not bode well for commercial printing. Those looking for a bump in volume due to the Olympics and elections may find a pothole instead. We'll be watching this carefully in our ongoing analysis. But my assessment is that we are in a media-induced—not an economy-induced—print recession.”  Nonetheless, Dr. Webb points out that according to the most recent reader survey, 26% of printers are beating inflation and growing by 6% or more, with mid-sized printers doing the best.

“We appreciate MindFireInc’s ongoing commitment to sponsoring out economic outlook webinars, enabling us to bring them to our readers at no charge,” added Davidson.  “This session is available in the archive, along with all of our other educational sessions, so that business owners and managers can revisit the content as they deal with the economic uncertainties of today’s marketplace.”

Dr. Joe Webb is the director of WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center, where managers, researchers and analysts can find free and premium content about industry trends, including forecasts and more. Dr. Webb is a recognized marketing authority, forecaster and one of the best known speakers in our industry. He also contributes a weekly column at WhatTheyThink.com for Premium Access Members entitled “Mondays with Dr. Joe” as well as a regular writer on PrintCEOblog.com.

About MindFireInc

Since 1999, MindFireInc has been the leader in helping marketers link the impact-power of direct mail with the interactive capabilities of the Internet. MindFireInc's flagship product, LookWho'sClicking™, is a web-based application suite that automates the creation, management, and tracking of Marketing Campaign's utilizing Personalized URLs and VIP Landing Pages. The company delivers LookWho'sClicking™ through its expanding network of Solution Partners, which are typically print service providers, agencies and consultants. With offices in California and Asia-Pacific, MindFireInc is a privately held company led by a seasoned management team with proven industry success. For more information, please visit www.MindFireIncinc.com.

About WhatTheyThink.com

WhatTheyThink.com is the printing and publishing industry's leading online 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. Serving a membership base of more than 50,000, WhatTheyThink.com also hosts webinars and live events as well as providing content through a syndication program, which delivers content directly to related websites and through RSS.

About Dr. Joe Webb

Dr. Joe Webb is the director of WhatTheyThink.com's Economics and Research Center, where managers, researchers and analysts can find free and premium content about industry trends, including forecasts and more. Dr. Webb is a 30-year graphic arts veteran, a recognized marketing authority, forecaster and one of the best known speakers in our industry. He is known for his ability to interpret the latest market conditions in the graphic communications industries and translate what they mean for executives and their strategic decisions.  Since January 2003, his "Mondays with Dr. Joe" column has been a must-read feature on WhatTheyThink.com.

He is a Ph.D. graduate of the NYU Center for Graphic Communications Management and Technology (1987) and serves on the Center's Board of Advisors. He holds an MBA in Management Information Systems from Iona College (1981) and was a magna cum laude graduate in Managerial Sciences and Marketing from Manhattan College (1978), and was a member of the economics honor society. He has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in marketing, market research, quantitative analysis, business policy, and organizational behavior. He started in the industry with Agfa's Graphic Systems Division and was later a marketing executive with Chemco Photoproducts, entering consulting full time in 1987. Among his publications is the controversial "Renewing the Print Industry: A Contrarian's Constructive Perspective." 

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