Managing Print in the Everywhere,
Always-on, Networked World

An Interview with Dr. Joe Webb

A 30-year veteran of the graphic arts, Dr. Joe Webb is one of the industry’s best-known consultants, forecasters and commentators. He is the director of WhatTheyThink.com’s Economics and Research Center, serves on the Board of Advisors for the NYU Center for Graphic Communications Management and Technology, and is the author of the controversial publication, "Renewing the Print Industry: A Contrarian's Constructive Perspective."

Dr. Joe will be presenting at our 2nd Annual Print Buyers Conference in November. Not only will he co-keynote with Frank Romano, but he will also deliver a presentation from 2 till 3:30 on Wednesday, November 7th, entitled, "Managing Print in the Everywhere, Always-on, Networked World."

All of us - whether we're content creators or content distributors (or both, like me), need to deal with the eruption of new media and find ways to navigate them to our benefit. At Dr. Joe's Conference session, we'll learn how to do just that, as well as gain his perspective on this issue as it relates to global economics.

For today's Print Tip, I asked Dr. Joe to answer some questions so that we may preview his November 7th Conference session.

MD: Dr. Joe, your November 7th session at our print buyers conference sounds most intriguing. It sounds like it's as much about other media as it is about print. Is this true?

It definitely is. How is your newsletter sent out? By e-mail. Where are all of my columns published? At whattheythink.com. Print is part of a very dynamic and exciting communications marketplace where creators and users of information now want their information in a form that has the most benefit to them. That means that content creators must have their information available in multiple formats, and often deployed at the same time. It's an amazing time to be involved in media of all kinds.

MD: In this uber-networked society of ours, what medium is winning, do you think? Put another way, what would you bet on?

Sorry, I think that's the wrong question. But I'll let you slide this time. The real winner is the content user and information seeker. If a medium thinks it's winning now, it may be losing a year or so from now. So it pays to be nimble and flexible, and remember that the real goal is to get an idea or concept from one person to another.

MD: What are the greatest influences on today's corporate communicators, when it comes to choosing a particular medium to use for getting their message out?

The greatest influence is their personal experience. That's a real problem. It pays to have a teenager around so that you don't look at things myopically. There are still companies that have poor web sites, don't know how to leverage search engines like Google, and are still printing things in the way they always did because that's the way it's always been done.

The other great influence is how the media writes about itself. This means that the latest hot trend is always reported about favorably, and communicators often are made to feel that they're dopes if they're not jumping on the bandwagon.

So the best influence is to always be aware of what your target audience is doing and how that specific audience prefers to seek, receive, and use the information you're trying to communicate. In-depth knowledge of your target audience should always be the greatest influence in your own company's media strategies and tactics.

MD: The older I get, the more I marvel at kids today, and how they adapt so quickly to new media. Is this a major influence on printing's future, do you think?

If not directly, it definitely is indirectly. Like I said, always keep a teenager around. And also break down your own fears about using technology. Sometimes it seems like a real time waster to learn a new cell phone features or play around with an iPod. But you should cultivate in yourself and others a real sense of wonder and curiosity about what these new technologies are and figure out unique ways to use them to your benefit.

I've been a computer user now for more than 30 years. I first used a form of e-mail almost 30 years ago. I've had a personal computer for about 25 years. I still find things that surprise me.

MD: In your November session, will you be sharing ideas with the audience about specific new opportunities for print in their communications mix?

Everyone has to figure these things out for themselves and their own companies, but I'll be sure to stir the pot and get people thinking. I don't come at these issues from the technology side. I've spent most of my career in marketing, so I'm more interested in how to reach audiences not just today, but three, five, and ten years from now. So much of what communicators do is an attempt to condition a marketplace to make certain decisions one way or another, especially in marketing communications. Doing that at a time when you never know how someone prefers to get information and where they will access it from is a real challenge.

MD: What else can we expect to learn at your session?

Since I've found myself dealing with economics from a management perspective in an often entertaining way (I hope), I'll give attendees my sense of where the U.S. and other economies are going and what it means to them, their companies, their clients, and print media. Somehow, I'll squeeze all that in 60 minutes and leave 30 minutes for questions and answers. That's usually the best part, I'm told.

Thanks, Dr. Joe! I expect to hear very high praises from your session attendees once you're done stirring the pot. For those of you interested in hearing Dr. Joe, please select this session when you register for the Conference. For details, go to www.bostonprintbuyers.com/pbiconference/schedule.html.