LEXINGTON, KY – September 1, 2010 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information site for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of E-Books: From Cellar to Bestseller: A WhatTheyThink Overview of Electronic Publishing, Its Impact on Traditional Publishing, and the Opportunities It Offers to Graphic Communications Professionals. This 89-page report provides an easy-to-read overview of the current state of e-book hardware readers such as the Amazon Kindle, the Sony Reader, and the Barnes & Noble Nook; the many software-based e-book readers and formats available including e-book apps for the iPhone and other portable devices; a discussion of “e-zines” and digital periodicals; the Apple iPad why it is a universe-changing device; and where the market for e-books and other types of e-content stands today, as well as where it is likely to go in the near future.
This primer report sorts out the major players and technologies, and provides an extensive discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of print vs. electronic content—taking the form of a lively “debate.”
The report also quantifies—to the extent possible—the current market for e-books. For example:
According to the Association of American Publishers, in June 2010, E-book sales had increased by 119% over June 2009—and in May 2010, e-book sales had increased by about 163% over the previous May.
In 2008, e-books accounted for 0.5% of all book sales; in 2009, e-books accounted for 1.3% of all book sales.
2010 has seen the first million-selling e-book author(s): Steig Larsson, author of the “Millennium” trilogy of The Girl Who... novels, has become the first author to sell one million Kindle e-books; James Patterson has become the first author to sell one million e-books in any format.
An August survey conducted of UK iPad owners found that 31% prefer the iPad for the delivery of newspaper and magazine content—compared to 24% who prefer print.
The report also provides our outlook of the future market for e-books and e-zines, as well as general advice, cautions, and caveats for companies and individuals looking to get involved in e-books and other types of e-publishing either as a user or as a producer.
An extensive Appendix documents the author’s attempt to convert two print book titles to Amazon Kindle and iPad-compatible e-books, detailing the software settings, design and layout considerations, formatting problems, the publishing and distribution process, and debugging and repairing e-book files.
E-Books: From Cellar to Bestseller is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format (http://members.whattheythink.com).
Researcher's Comments...
“A decade ago, the first commercially available—and even perhaps viable—e-books began to appear, and the public was just not ready for them. And vice versa. But since 2006, the market has steadily grown; take a look at how many Kindles, and Sony Readers, and Nooks you now see on planes and trains. And then there’s the iPad. Is that a Kindle killer? Doubtful, but it isn’t something that should be ignored by anyone in graphic communications today.”
Availability...
The WhatTheyThink special report, E-Books: From Cellar to Bestseller: A WhatTheyThink Overview of Electronic Publishing, Its Impact on Traditional Publishing, and the Opportunities It Offers to Graphic Communications Professionals. is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com. The price for the 89-page report is $195. WhatTheyThink eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.
Editor’s Note...
Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or cary@whattheythink.com, or visit www.whattheythink.com).
“In the first quarter of 2010, real Gross Domestic Product grew +3.2%. At the same time, the real value of printing industry shipments fell by -7.9%. Commercial printing shipments are declining at twice the rate the U.S. economy is growing. The trend started more than 15 years ago. Sluggish sales, shuttered businesses, and displaced workers—a painful, and unfortunately certain, business future lies ahead. This seemingly inevitable future can and must be disrupted.” —Dr. Joseph Webb and Richard Romano
HARRISVILLE, RI — May 7, 2010 — Executives in the printing industry often use the phrase “the power of print,” but in recent years, that power has been short-circuited, say authors Dr. Joseph Webb and Richard Romano in their controversial new book, Disrupting the Future: Uncommon Wisdom for Navigating Print’s Challenging Marketplace. Since 1998, the industry lost ground even as the economy grew. Had the industry just kept pace with economic growth, it would be twice its current size. Its “power” is down to half of what it should have been, and further declines are likely to be the rule rather than the exception.
So what can the industry do about it? Disrupt the future! Rather than do nothing and hope that the Internet, iPads, e-books, and social media are just passing fads, print businesses can dig into today’s—and tomorrow’s—communication trends and change their strategic outlook. Hunkering down and waiting just prolongs the misery; Disrupting the Future concentrates on opportunities andexplains, in explicit, entertaining, and often irreverent detail, how to make the transition from “printer” to a range of business options, detailing why the old business advice and common wisdom that guided the industry no longer holds true. The book provides a new set of guidelines, advice, and “uncommon wisdom” for today's business, with an eye toward a more robust business approach for the future.
Disrupting the Future suggests actionable ideas and recommendations about how new media and new approaches can be joined with commercial printing. There are lists of business-changing ideas and strategies for immediate implementation, detailed explanations of new and social media and how to implement them, resources for supporting information and guidance, and much much more.
Most importantly, Disrupting the Future explains how today’s business owners—especially those who own printing companies—need to regain their skills of thinking like entrepreneurs. The book explains how, and each chapter also includes a comprehensive set of “weapons of mass disruption.” It also closes with a “flash forward” to 2020 and imagines what the business of the future might look like.
“One of our goals was to give print business owners more confidence in their knowledge about new media, and a practical sense about how to use it in their business, and to build product offerings for their clients,” said Richard Romano. “If you think Facebook is something kept in a police station, or Twitter is the chattering of birds, you'll not only learn what they really are, but why they are important, and how they and other new media formats can be part of a new business strategy,” claimed Dr. Webb.
Success in today’s and tomorrow’s communications is not about jumping on the latest technological bandwagon (i.e., social media), but understanding prevailing and emerging communications and media trends, why they are important, and how they can be integrated into what shops are already doing. “No print business will be able to make a seamless transition,” stated Dr. Webb, “but the idea is to rip the seams from the industry and disrupt continuing downward trends with an entrepreneurial zeal and confident innovation. In the end, it's not about industry trends, but how individual owners decide to take command of marketplace opportunities that others are not prepared to address.”
Here’s what some prominent industry experts have been saying about Disrupting the Future:
“This is the best damn business book I have read in years.” —Bob Sacks (BoSacks)
“This book is the ‘Manifesto’ of a new generation of printers.” —Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus, RIT School of Print Media
“Help is here for printers willing to listen and act—in 200 pages of kick-in-the-pants advice.” —Margie Dana, founder, Boston Print Buyers
“Should be used as the textbook for every Community College Print program.” —Michael Josefowicz, managing partner, Josefowicz Associates, former faculty member, Parsons The New School of Design
“If you read this, and take it to heart, you can be a part of the evolution of the print industries new and expanding role in the future of publishing and communication.” —David Zwang, Zwang & Company
“Disrupting the Future is exactly what our industry has needed: a relevant message to an interested audience at the right time” —Kevin Cushing, chief executive officer, AlphaGraphics, Inc.
“Disrupting the Future” is an aggressive way of describing “innovation.” This is how the industry will survive—and Disrupting the Future explores how print businesses can transform themselves into innovative communications providers.
Disrupting the Future is available as a free PDF download or, for $19.95, as a printed paperback book available from Lulu.com. Some printing businesses are using the book as a springboard for strategic planning, and a special 10-copy bundle is available at the WhatTheyThink e-store.
The authors Dr. Joe Webb and Richard Romano are also available—separately or together—to talk to printing companies privately, at meetings, as well as events via the WhatTheyThink Speakers Bureau. Contact Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or cary@whattheythink.com for more information.
Additional information on Disrupting the Future is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to either one or both of the authors, Dr. Joseph Webb at drjoewebb@whattheythink.com or Richard Romano at richard@whattheythink.com.
“WhatTheyThink announces an update to its special report ‘primer’ aimed at graphic arts companies seeking to get up to speed on the topic of inkjet printing. The report provides a top-level overview of the various technologies, players, products, and applications currently available, as well as conclusions and recommendations for industry companies.” —Richard Romano, WhatTheyThink Senior Analyst
LEXINGTON, KY – April 8, 2010 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information site for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of Inkjet Printing: It’s Not Just for Proofing Anymore—A WhatTheyThink Primer Report on Inkjet Printing in the Commercial Printing Industry.
This 63-page report provides an easy-to-read updated rundown of current state of inkjet printing systems for wide-format graphics, digital commercial printing, and proofing in the U.S. commercial printing industry. The report provides a clear explanation of the various inkjet technologies—piezo, thermal, continuous—a “cast of characters” or a list of the manufacturers and systems currently on the market, a look at the applications (packaging, variable-data printing, transactional printing, industrial printing) for which inkjet systems are being developed, and conclusions and recommendations. The report also places inkjet printing in the context of the current state of the printing industry, and looks ahead to some of the new product announcements and demonstrations likely to be on display at IPEX in May 2010.
The original Inkjet Printing Primer Report was published in September 2008.
Inkjet Printing Primer is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format (http://members.whattheythink.com).
Researcher’s Comments...
“Is there a war shaping up between toner and inkjet digital printing? Or is it just the latest skirmish in the ongoing war between digital and offset printing? Or is there any technological war at all? The thrust of the report is that it’s more important to look strategically at what it is you want your shop to produce and then decide which equipment best suits it, be it inkjet or not.”
Availability...
The WhatTheyThink special report, Inkjet Printing: It’s Not Just for Proofing Anymore—A WhatTheyThink Primer Report on Inkjet Printing in the Commercial Printing Industry is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com.
“The idea of ‘social networking’ is really nothing new. It’s based on the idea that people talk to other people—about work, about their lives, about...anything. In the past, ‘social networking’ could be loosely defined as gathering with friends and colleagues at association meetings, seminars, and trade shows. The Internet, and social media channels like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook, didn’t change or create the need and desire for social interaction on personal and professional levels. They simply moved them online, made them more efficient, and created the possibility of casting one’s social net much farther than had ever been possible before.”
—Richard Romano, WhatTheyThink Senior Analyst
LEXINGTON, KY – February 17, 2010 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information source for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of its new “strategy summary” report, Social Media for Graphic Communications: A WhatTheyThink Strategy Summary Report—The Hows and Whys of Social Media. This 63-page report defines social media, the growing importance of using media channels like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and others to network and communicate with present and prospective customers, offers third-party estimates of the growth of the importance of, and spending on, social media by marketers in all industries, and offers specific advice for companies in the printing industry.
Social Media for Graphic Communications: A WhatTheyThink Strategy Summary Report—The Hows and Whys of Social Media explains the difference between “outbound” and “inbound” marketing, and discusses the changing trends in advertising and marketing that are causing wholesale shifts in how businesses cultivate customers and build relationships that lead to sales.
The report also offers a “primer” on the various new and social media channels, such as:
Web sites and e-mail
Blogs and podcasts
Twitter and other microblogging sites
Facebook, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites
Digg, StumbleUpon, and other social bookmarking sites
YouTube and other online video applications
For each of these groups of channels, the report explains, in a nutshell:
what it is
what is required to get started
what it costs
best practices for inbound marketing
how printers can use it for their own purposes
how printers can offer it to their clients
According to the report:
A 2009 study by the Society of Digital Agencies found that 45% of senior marketers worldwide cited “social networks” as a “top priority” for 2010, with a further 42% citing it as “important.”
A September 2009 survey, cited by eMarketer, found that 84% of businesses don’t measure the ROI of their social media initiatives.
Closer to home, the September 2009 WhatTheyThink Economics and Research Center survey found that 43% of print businesses are not involved at all in social media; and one-third of print businesses that call themselves “marketing services providers” are not involved at all in social media.
A December Economics and Research Center/CreativePro.com survey found that only 13% of creatives said they planned to offer social media management capabilities as a billable service for your clients in 2010.
Social Media for Graphic Communications: A WhatTheyThink Strategy Summary Report—The Hows and Whys of Social Media also provides WhatTheyThink’s outlook, conclusions, and specific recommendations for print businesses vis-à-vis social media.
Social Media for Graphic Communications: A WhatTheyThink Strategy Summary Report—The Hows and Whys of Social Media is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format (http://members.whattheythink.com).
Researcher’s Comments...
“There are many within and without the industry who think that all this is just a fad that will all just go away in a few years—which is exactly what many of these same people said about the Internet in 1990s. No doubt social media will reach its maximum buzz potential, but ‘social networking’ in some form is here to stay. It’s still very much the Wild West in terms of setting hard and fast rules for implementing these things for our own businesses or for our clients. But therein lies the opportunity for graphic communications professionals to take the lead and understand how to integrate these things into present and potential communications campaigns.”
Seasoned Greetings, Everyone!
This year's traditional Holiday Card-Like Thing imagines the e-mail correspondence of the recipient of all the gifts in the classic holiday carol, “The 12 Days of Christmas.” Click the link below to open the the PDF.
By the way, last year’s Holiday Card-Like Thing, the PowerPoint version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” can still be found at SlideShare here.
As always, it just remains for me to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Festive Festivus, a Rambunctious Ramadan, a Kicky Kwanzaa, and/or a Terrific Tet. It’s up to you.
-Richard
JOHNSTOWN, NY — Theatre Workshop, the CLT playwrights group, will present the premiere staged reading of Past and Present Tense November 13 and 14 at Colonial Little Theatre.
The new play by Richard Romano of Saratoga Springs will lead off Theatre Workshop’s 2009 New Play Festival of staged readings.
Past and Present Tense is a three-act drama of family relationships. It is Christmas Eve, and thirty-something Daniel Harper is about to become a father for the first time. He hopes the birth of his child will help reunite him and his estranged brother Kevin, their parents’ “golden child,” who abruptly and mysteriously stormed out of their life one Christmas morning 20 years earlier. As both brothers plan to meet again, they each reminisce about the events of the past—and wonder what they mean for the future.
The play is directed by Jack Dowd of Clifton Park.
The cast includes:
Michael Terrell as Daniel Harper.
Phil Carlson as Kevin Harper.
Lenny Lilley as Young Daniel.
Alex Lilley as Young Kevin.
Linda Delaney as Christine Harper, Daniel and Kevin's mother.
Bob Scheldt as Frank, father of Christine, grandfather of Daniel and Kevin.
Linda Sova as Deb, would-be girlfriend of Young Daniel, and as Karen, college friend of Young Kevin.
Pam Broiles as Erika, friend of Kevin, and
Roz Melita as Paula, wife of Daniel.
The show will be presented November 13 and 14 at 8 p.m. at Colonial Little Theatre, 1 Colonial Court, Johnstown. For directions access the CLT Web site, coloniallittletheatre.org. Admission will be by donations at the door. Reservation are not required. For further information: Wally Truesdell, 725-3886, or wtruesdell@nycap.rr.com.
The New Play Festival will continue November 20 and 21 with Getting the Business by Victor Cahn of Saratoga Springs, and December 4 and 5 with Prospect Trace by Serge Patentreger of Albany. (The Prospect Trace staged reading will also feature RR as Ezra.)
WhatTheyThink announces the launch of the new “Creative Corner,” a news and information resource for graphic designers of all stripes. This weekly column will offer business tips, sales and marketing strategies, media trends, new product news and reviews, and more. —Richard Romano, WhatTheyThink Senior Analyst
LEXINGTON, KY – October 9, 2009 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information site for the graphic communications industry, announces the launch of a new feature aimed at graphic designers (print, Web, and beyond), print buyers, and other creative professionals. The weekly “Creative Corner” will offer:
hardware and software reviews
sales and marketing tips
design and media trends
business strategies
and more!
The author of the “Creative Corner,” Richard Romano, has been writing about the graphic design market since 1994, and has been a user of graphics hardware and software since PageMaker 1.0 (1985). He is the author or co-author of a half-dozen books on graphics hardware and software, including The GATF Encyclopedia of Graphic Communications, a compendium of more than 10,000 graphic arts terms published in 1997 by the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation; Sams Teach Yourself Adobe InDesign 1.5 in 24 Hours, published in significantly more than 24 hours by Sams Publishing; The Scanning Workshop, published in 2001 by Que Publishing; Special Edition Using Photoshop 7, published by Que Publishing; Special Edition Using Photoshop CS, published by Que Publishing; and The Digital Photography Pocket Primer, published in 1999 by Windsor Professional Information. He is the former managing editor of Micro Publishing News, Digital Imaging, and CrossMedia magazines, and for eight years was a senior analyst for TrendWatch Graphic Arts (later The Industry Measure), for which he wrote, among many other things, the twice-yearly Design & Production market research report. He has been a contributor to WhatTheyThink since 2007.
About WhatTheyThink...
WhatTheyThink comprises the largest graphic arts community in the print industry. Started in March 2000, WhatTheyThink.com provides daily news, interviews, research, and many more resources to our members. Our goal is to provide unbiased, real-time market intelligence to print and publishing executives.
The name WhatTheyThink (provided by an industry consultant) reflects our goal of developing a community built on what industry professionals had to say. We wanted unbiased takes from print buyers, designers, printers, and suppliers. Not just the big printers or the suppliers who were “buying advertising,” but ideas and knowledge from every corner of the industry.
WhatTheyThink announces a special report “primer” that sorts out the latest developments in the exciting area of mobile technologies and mobile marketing applications. The report provides an overview of the current hardware (i.e., smartphones), common—and uncommon—mobile marketing strategies and initiatives, the outlook for mobile, some cutting-edge applications like augmented reality, and advice and recommendations for graphic communications companies and individuals.
LEXINGTON, KY – September 30, 2009 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information site for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of Printing Goes Mobile? A WhatTheyThink Primer on Mobile Marketing and its Relevance to—and Opportunities for—the Commercial Printing Industry. This 46-page report provides an easy-to-read overview of the current mobile communications landscape, from the latest smartphones, to the growing market for iPhone applications, to the creative ways that marketers in all industries are trying to get a toehold in these new technologies.
How do we define “mobile marketing”? It can be any of a wide variety of strategies designed to deliver interactive advertising or other content to users via their mobile phones. This can include, but is no means limited to:
SMS (text) or MMS (rich media) messaging
the mobile Web
smartphone apps
mobile ad networks
mobile integration with social media networks q
quick response codes
augmented reality
...or any combination of these and more
This primer report sorts out the various strategies, and provides links to third-party data on the growth of the mobile market, as well as some of the impediments to its growth. For example:
eMarketer estimates that mobile ad spending will reach $416 million in 2009, increasing to $1.56 billion by 2013.
JP Morgan estimates that revenue from advertising associated with search results on mobile phones is expected to rise to $129 million this year from $99 million in 2008.
Last August, New Scientist magazine compiled some statistics on iPhone apps alone, and found that:
there were 1.5 billion apps downloaded in the first year of the Apple iPhone App Store
from July 2008 to August 2009, there were 64,500 new apps added to the iPhone App Store
one-third of app users say those apps have changed their lives
and app users spend on average 22% less time on a computer.
The report also provides our outlook of the future market for mobile communications in general and mobile marketing applications in particular, as well as general advice, cautions, and caveats for graphic communications companies and individuals looking to get involved in mobile marketing.
Printing Goes Mobile? A WhatTheyThink Primer on Mobile Marketing and its Relevance to—and Opportunities for—the Commercial Printing Industry is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format (http://members.whattheythink.com).
Researcher's Comments...
“While it’s hard not to think that a lot of what is happening in the mobile space is pure novelty, the fact remains that these devices and apps are changing the way that people search for information about—and interact with—the world. It’s an extension of the way the Internet changed our relationship with companies, businesses, and other individuals. When you can stand on a sidewalk in Anytown, launch a free iPhone app, and find out in seconds what banks, restaurants, gas stations, etc., are nearby, complete with maps to get there, as well as automatic links to call them, and read tweets about those businesses, that’s powerful. And it turns conventional marketing on its head.”
Availability...
The WhatTheyThink special report, Printing Goes Mobile? A WhatTheyThink Primer on Mobile Marketing and its Relevance to—and Opportunities for—the Commercial Printing Industry is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com. The price for the 46-page report is $195. WhatTheyThink eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.
Editor’s Note...
Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or cary@whattheythink.com, or visit www.whattheythink.com).
About WhatTheyThink...
WhatTheyThink comprises the largest graphic arts community in the print industry. Started in March 2000, WhatTheyThink.com provides daily news, interviews, research, and many more resources to our members. Our goal is to provide unbiased, real-time market intelligence to print and publishing executives.
The name WhatTheyThink (provided by an industry consultant) reflects our goal of developing a community built on what industry professionals had to say. We wanted unbiased takes from print buyers, designers, printers, and suppliers. Not just the big printers or the suppliers who were “buying advertising,” but ideas and knowledge from every corner of the industry.
“WhatTheyThink is releasing the first in its series of quarterly printing industry business conditions reports. Each report provides a combination of original industry research—via WhatTheyThink’s Economics and Research Center (ERC)—and analysis of government data to “take the pulse” of the economy in general and the printing industry in particular every three months. —Richard Romano, WhatTheyThink Senior Analyst
LEXINGTON, KY – July 10, 2009 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information source for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of its new Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry. This 96-page report provides the results of the Economics and Research Center’s June 2009 survey of print business owners, and compares these results to past quarterly surveys to provide an accurate gauge of how print businesses professionals perceive the economic landscape, how those perceptions are changing, and what actions they are likely to take in response to challenging economic times. In addition to our own survey results, we also provide the most current data available on printing industry shipments, profits, and capital expenditures.
To put the printing industry data in context, we also provide a multitude of other economic data, such as GDP, unemployment, inflation, consumer confidence, and more, as well as our own commentary on what trends in these data tell us about prevailing economic conditions and the market for print. The report also includes the ERC’s own hand-picked set of economic indicators that we feel will provide a “recovery roadmap” to let us know when the economy is on the upswing.
The Quarterly Business Conditions Report also looks at other trends affecting the industry, provides a handful of suggested “action items” that proactive printing companies and individuals can take to help combat tough economic times, and offers a new feature that we call “Dark Clouds and Silver Linings,” a list of both immediate threats to the industry as well as opportunities for industry businesspeople.
Some of the topics covered in this report include:
How commercial printers’ business conditions for the first half of 2009 have compared to those of the first half of 2008.
How commercial printers expect business for the rest of 2009 to compare to business in 2008.
What “action items” printers are taking to combat the economic downturn.
What—if any—capital expenditures printers plan to make in 2009.
What the short- and long-term effects of the recession will be on the printing industry.
What other cultural, technological, and media trends are affecting the industry and the market for print?
According to the report:
48% of respondents to the ERC’s June 2009 survey said that business decreased more than 10%, up from the 41% that said this in the March survey.
On the positive side, 17% of June respondents said that business increased compared to 2008, unchanged from March.
Still, 70% of June survey respondents said they expect 2009 revenues to decrease compared to 2008 revenues, up substantially from the 59% that said this in March.
On the somewhat positive side, 17% of June respondents said they expect revenues to increase in 2009 compared to 2008, down from the 26% that said this in March.
The Quarterly Business Conditions Report also provides WhatTheyThink’s outlook, conclusions, and recommendations.
Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format.
Researcher’s Comments...
“While the recession is at the top of everyone’s mind right now, it bears stressing that bad economic times tend to exaggerate and accelerate trends that existed when times were good. One thing the printing industry has learned in the past 30 years is that the industry’s own business conditions do not always march in lockstep with prevailing economic trends—for better or worse. In this report, we sift through the sea of data and seek to provide useful, actionable information. As they say, it’s one thing to curse the darkness (or provide data on how dark it actually is), but quite another to light a candle. As a result, this report is not designed to be all doom-and-gloom, but rather to lay out the current landscape, and offer suggestions for ways that companies can survive—and perhaps thrive.”
Availability...
The WhatTheyThink special report, Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com. The price for the 96-page report is $250. WhatTheyThink eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase. Readers can purchase all four quarterly reports for a total of $750. Enterprise site licenses are also available for $1,250 for any single quarterly report, or $3,750 for the set of four.
Editor’s Note...
Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or cary@whattheythink.com, or visit www.whattheythink.com).
About WhatTheyThink...
WhatTheyThink comprises the largest graphic arts community in the print industry. Started in March 2000, WhatTheyThink.com provides daily news, interviews, research, and many more resources to our members. Our goal is to provide unbiased, real-time market intelligence to print and publishing executives.
The name WhatTheyThink (provided by an industry consultant) reflects our goal of developing a community built on what industry professionals had to say. We wanted unbiased takes from print buyers, designers, printers, and suppliers. Not just the big printers or the suppliers who were “buying advertising,” but ideas and knowledge from every corner of the industry.
June 10–13, 2009—Richard Romano reported live from the World Science Festival, a four-day suite of events that attempted to bridge the gap between science and culture. Romano covered several of the events for RealScience, a start-up Web site and portal for science news, information, and education.
On June 10, a packed Alice Tully Hall watched science and art converge as a two-hour performance gala kicked off the second annual World Science Festival, which runs June 11–14 at various locations throughout New York City. “The world’s most exciting city is now even more exciting,” said Alan Alda, co-chair of the Festival in his opening remarks.
The Festival was launched a year ago by co-founders Brian Greene, a Columbia University physicist and author of the bestselling books The Elegant Universe and The Fabric of the Cosmos, and his wife Tracy Day, a former ABC News journalist who developed a love of science while working on Peter Jennings’ The Century. The goal of the World Science Festival, which drew more than 120,000 people last year, is to explore the relationship between art and science and to celebrate what both disciplines have to offer each other. As Alda said in his opening remarks, art and science are “long lost lovers falling in love all over again.” Another goal of the Festival is to convey firsthand the thrill and excitement of science, how it can “light up your neurons like a pinball machine.”
Tracy Day summed up the Festival more prosaically as “40 events that will bring the wonders of science to a general audience, from kids to adults, from novices to experts.”
The two-hour gala served as a microcosm of the four-day Festival, with a combination of scientific presentations and complementary musical and dramatic performances. The evening kicked off in light fashion with a performance by Tony-nominated actor and singer Jonathan Hadary of Tom Lehrer’s tribute to the Periodic Table “The Elements,” with a rear-screen projection filling in the table of elements as they were sung. Other musical performances included violinist Joshua Bell accompanying Brian Greene’s discussion of string theory (string accompanying strings—get it?). Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed Bach’s Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello, Prelude and Gigue as schoolchildren from New York’s National Dance Institute donned antennae and shirts that read “ant” and crept on stage to perform the “Ant Dance.” Indeed, much of the program was centered around ants.
Ants?
Last night’s gala also served as a tribute to one of the great scientists, naturalists, thinkers, and popularizers of science of our time: Edward O. Wilson, who was celebrating his 80th birthday. Dr. Wilson’s lifelong passion has been the study of ants (he and Bert Hölldobler won the Pulitzer Prize in 1991 for the comprehensive tome The Ants), but his writing has often stepped beyond the bounds of entomology (or, more specifically, myrmecology) and have addressed a wide variety of issues, often centering around his passionate belief in preserving the diversity of life on Earth. A short list of Wilson’s books includes the controversial Sociobiology (1975), On Human Nature (1979, which also won the Pulitzer Prize), The Diversity of Life (1992), Consilience (1998), and the memoir Naturalist (1994).
Those paying tribute to Dr. Wilson included actress and playwright Anna Deveare Smith performing a verbatim interview she conducted with Dr. Wilson (she really had his speech mannerisms down), and a curmudgeonly talk by Dr. Wilson’s close friend James Watson (co-Nobelist for the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule) who said he took so long to get to know Dr. Wilson because “I didn’t think there was any point in getting to know him.”
The gala also included a multimedia presentation called LIFE: A Journey Through Time, a stunning combination of nature photography and images by Frans Lanting accompanied by a musical score written by Philip Glass and performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, conducted by Marin Alsop.
The evening culminated with the orchestra performing Louis Armstrong’s “Wonderful World,” accompanied by the Inspirational Voices of the Abyssinian Baptist Church. At the end, the children from the “Ant Dance” stood atop the balconies and tossed down balloons colored like the Earth. As the applause faded out, some of the balloons could be heard popping—which was probably not a metaphor the organizers were hoping for.
Later, at a post-gala reception, the Inspirational Voices of the Abyssinian Baptist Church sang “Happy Birthday” to Dr. Wilson, as Brian Greene presented him with a celebratory “ant cake.”
“It seems like only in New York could you get a crowd together like this,” said Dr. Wilson in his address to the crowd. “It’s like an accelerator. Only there can you get the speed and mass of particles.” He then spoke about the resurgence of “green” issues, as environmental protection comes to the fore of many of our political and scientific conversations. But he cautioned that in our focus on preserving the physical planet—by addressing climate change, ozone depletion, pollution—we should not lose sight of the “living” planet. “All these ecosystems and species are slipping away while we’re nattering on about other things....This is the folly our descendants will most regret.” He then discussed what he refers to as “Wilson’s Law”: “If we save the living environment, we will automatically also save the physical environment because you have to save the physical environment in order to save the living environment. And you have to save it in its entirety, too, not just the parts that are going to be useful to us in our limited world view.”
What does Wilson plan to do with the next 80 years, or at least some fraction of it? He said that he planned to try to address, from a scientific viewpoint, three questions about the human condition that philosophy has yet to be able to answer: where did we come from, who are we, and where are we going? He adds that once we answer the first two questions, only then are we in a position to answer the third question. “These are challenges that now I think we can meet, and we cannot meet them with science alone. And I think you’ll agree that we cannot meet them with art alone. But we can meet them with art and science.”
And the remaining four days of the Festival are dedicated to demonstrating just that.
WhatTheyThink announces a special report “primer” that sorts out the latest developments in the exciting area of e-book and e-publishing technologies. The report provides an overview of the current hardware devices available to read electronic content, the software readers and formats available, the current state of the market for e-books and e-periodicals, the outlook for these technologies, and advice and recommendations for graphic communications companies and individuals. —Richard Romano, WhatTheyThink Senior Analyst
LEXINGTON, KY – May 8, 2009 – WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information site for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of E-Books and E-Publishing Primer: A WhatTheyThink Overview of Electronic Publishing Formats, Their Impact on Traditional Publishing, and the Opportunities They Offer to Graphic Communications Professionals. This 79-page report provides an easy-to-read overview of the current state of e-book hardware readers such as the Amazon Kindle; the myriad software-based e-book readers and formats available including e-book apps for the iPhone and other portable devices; a discussion of “e-zines” and digital periodicals; a brief technological overview of “electronic paper”; and where the market for e-books and other types of e-content stands today, as well as where it is likely to go in the near future.
What do we define as “e-publishing”? For the purposes of this primer report, it is “content created in electronic form and which remains in electronic form and is portable even after delivery.” The report looks at the following categories:
Electronic content read on a special e-book device, such as the Amazon Kindle or Sony Reader.
Electronic content read on a desktop or laptop computer via special reader software, such as the e-zines produced by Texterity or Zinio.
Electronic content read on a PDA or smartphone such as an iPhone or BlackBerry.
This primer report sorts out the major players and technologies, and provides an extensive discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of e-books and e-zines. What is driving interest in e-books, and what are the common complaints about them? The company also quantifies—to the extent possible—the current market. For example:
According to the Association of American Publishers, in February 2009, e-book sales increased 177% over January—even as book sales in general declined 2.1% during the same period.
In February, e-books accounted for 1.5% of all book sales, up from 1.1% in January; for all of 2008, e-books accounted for 0.5% of all book sales.
The report also provides our outlook of the future market for e-books and e-zines, as well as general advice, cautions, and caveats for companies and individuals looking to get involved in e-books and other types of e-publishing either as a user or as a producer. We also discuss the potential impact of new electronic publishing technologies on traditional publishing.
E-Books and E-Publishing Primer is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore in PDF format.
Researcher's Comments...
“After a mass market for e-books failed to materialize circa 2000/2001, many wrote the technology off as a failed experiment. However, in the years since, a market has been steadily growing, driven largely by the Amazon Kindle and by e-book apps for the iPhone. E-books are still in their infancy, but are growing, and a combination of technological evolution and generational trends in media preference will help it grow further. Too often, the e-book discussion is framed in the context of print vs. electronic, as if it were an either/or proposition. But people want to access content in a variety of ways, whether it be a printed book or other publication. At the end of the day, content is content, and it’s words and ideas that matter, not the physical form in which it’s delivered which always has been, is now, and always will be a case of personal preference.”
Availability...
The WhatTheyThink special report, E-Books and E-Publishing Primer: A WhatTheyThink Overview of Electronic Publishing Formats, Their Impact on Traditional Publishing, and the Opportunities They Offer to Graphic Communications Professionals is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com. The price for the 79-page report is $195. WhatTheyThink eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase.
Editor’s Note...
Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or cary@whattheythink.com, or visit www.whattheythink.com).
About WhatTheyThink...
WhatTheyThink comprises the largest graphic arts community in the print industry. Started in March 2000, WhatTheyThink.com provides daily news, interviews, research, and many more resources to our members. Our goal is to provide unbiased, real-time market intelligence to print and publishing executives.
The name WhatTheyThink (provided by an industry consultant) reflects our goal of developing a community built on what industry professionals had to say. We wanted unbiased takes from print buyers, designers, printers, and suppliers. Not just the big printers or the suppliers who were “buying advertising,” but ideas and knowledge from every corner of the industry.
January 21, 2009—Richard Romano, an eight-year veteran of Toastmasters International, has been appointed co-chair of the District 53 Fall Conference, which will be held Saturday, November 7, at the Holiday Inn on Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. Romano is currently treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, the local Saratoga Springs Toastmasters club. He is a past president of Thorobreds, and a former Area F4 governor, overseeing six clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. His co-chair for the conference is Howard Litwak, current president of Clifton Park Speakers in—surprisingly—Clifton Park, NY.
Romano and Litwak—the twin quasars of Division F Toastmasters—will be appointing chairpesons to various committees, as well as liaising with District 53 leadership and the Holiday Inn, and setting the agenda for the day's events.
District 53 Fall Conferences draw between 125 and 200 Toastmasters members from around the District, which includes eastern New York state, Connecticut, and western Massachusetts. The all-day conference includes a half dozen educatonal sessions on various aspects of communication and leadership, special keynote speakers, awards ceremonies, a District business meeting, and two high-level speech contests. The Fall Conference speech contests will be Humorous Speech and Evaluations. Romano won last Fall's District 53 Humorous Speech Contest in Trumbull, CT.
January 20, 2009—Richard Romano, writer, graphic designer, and principal of Saratoga Springs’ Rich Text & Graphics, has just completed a collaboration with renowned commercial printing industry expert Dr. Joseph Webb on a landmark book called Renewing the Printing Industry: Strategies and Action Items for Success. Romano served as editorial director for the project, and performed all the graphic design and production.
The book was first announced last October at Graph Expo in Chicago, the printing industry’s largest annual trade show, and is now available for purchase via Lulu.com.
Commercial print businesses have been struggling for the better part of the past decade, as print is losing ground to electronic media in marketing, promotion, publishing, and other applications. In the book, veteran industry consultant Dr. Joe Webb describes in detail how printing companies can change their businesses to better serve the communications and media markets. Knowing where and how to start—and the decision points that come next—was the inspiration for Renewing the Printing Industry.
Romano was heavily involved in the organization, much of the writing, and editorial fine-tuning of Renewing the Printing Industry. Romano created a dozen or so original illustrations and charts, as well as the cover (inspired by the book’s major theme that printers need to “start with a blank sheet of paper” to reinvent their businesses), and produced a print-ready PDF file in the most recent version of Adobe InDesign. The book is being printed on-demand via Lulu.com.
“Richard Romano works with people who have something to say but their time is limited and their own writing skills are better suited to business correspondence,” says Dr. Webb. “He has a gift: he’s able to grasp what businesspeople want to say and writes it in an accessible and conversant style that make the ideas understandable in plain language. His long experience in design and publishing technologies make his services all the more valuable. I’ve been so pleased that I find I start looking for ways to get him involved almost in almost all of my projects, even at the proposal stage.”
Romano and Webb have collaborated on various projects for the commercial printing industry since 1999. Dr. Webb is the director of the Economics and Research Center for WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news and information portal for the graphic communication industry. Romano is also a frequent contributor of stories, features, and research reports to WhatTheyThink.
Rich Text & Graphics, based in Saratoga Springs, NY, provides a variety of editorial and design services, including copywriting and copy-editing for print and Web; ad and postcard copywriting and design; book editorial, design, and production; and much more. Visit their Web site at www.richtextandgraphics.com.
January 15, 2009—A sporadic series of posts on Blogito Ergo Sum has been spun off into Movie Mis-Treatments, a Web site that “mis-treats” bad science-fiction movies. In essence, Movie Mis-Treatments is a movie recapping site that provides a detailed summary of the plot and characters of a given movie, albeit enhanced with comic observations, jokes, comments, and general “snark.” From the About Movie Mis-Treatments page:
What are Movie Mis-Treatments?
In filmmaking, a “treatment” is a prose summary of a movie or TV show episode. Hence, I have coined the term “mis-treatment” to refer to a comic treatment, recap, or “snark” of a movie. Essentially, they are comic summaries of bad movies which consist of the kinds of things I or friends say out loud when watching a movie or TV show, only I have written them down. In addition to summarizing plot, characters, and dialogue, I offer observations, sarcastic remarks, puns, cultural references, and other general abuse. I also avail myself of modern research techniques (i.e., a Google search) to add actual not-made-up information about a movie, actor, or filmmaker, or add a bit of context to the creation and release of a certain film.
Why are you doing this?
The short answer is that I find it fun. The long answer is that riffing on bad movies has long been a favorite pastime, dating back to my youth in mid-1970s suburban Boston, where Channel 56’s Saturday afternoon Creature Double Feature was watched each week with almost religious devotion. My discovery of the like-minded folks of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the early 1990s renewed my enjoyment of movie “riffing.” So after all that background, a year or so ago, I was given one of those “50 Classic Science-Fiction Movies for $1” (or whatever) box sets for Christmas, and these turned out to be some of the worst movies ever made. So, I started this Mis-Treatment series as a number of blog posts as a way of getting through the box set—and it just mushroomed from there. I have now actually gone out and bought Night of the Lepus on DVD. I am not proud of this.
I do have to admit, though, that as someone who has eked out a meager living as a professional writer for the better part of the past 15 years, it is rather good exercise to describe in writing the plot, characters, and setting of a movie—in fact, I seem to recall these were actual exercises when I took screenwriting classes in college. It’s still, ultimately, about setting a scene and telling a story. Adding the jokes, comments, and “set pieces” is just the icing on the cake!
There are currently 17 titles being “mistreated,” which range from obscure grade Z movies such as The Snow Creature and The Atomic Brain to “classic” bad movies such as Night of the Lepus and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. New Mis-Treatments are added—on average—every 10–14 days or so. The site is being prelaunched this month before being given a proper launch in early February.
This year, RR's holiday card-like thing was a tongue-in-cheek PowerPoint presentation of Charles Dickens’ immortal (but now made somewhat less so) A Christmas Carol. It is available online at what is apparently the YouTube of PowerPoint, SlideShare.
November 7, 2008—Monthly free downloadable crossword puzzles available on the Monthly Crossword page.
October 11, 2008 — Trumbull, CT — Thorobred Toastmasters is proud to announce that club member and Saratoga Springs resident Richard Romano has won the Toastmasters International District 53 Humorous Speech Contest, which took place at the Marriott Hotel in Trumbull, CT, Saturday evening, October 11. Romano is the treasurer of the Saratoga Springs-based public speaking and leadership training group Thorobred Toastmasters. A seven-year veteran of Toastmasters, he is a past Club President and past Area F4 Governor. He is a professional writer, graphic designer, and consultant to the graphic arts industry whose business, Rich Text & Graphics (www.richtextandgraphics.com), is based in Saratoga Springs.
The Humorous Speech contest came at the end of District 53’s twice-yearly conference, an event attended by more than 200 Toastmasters members from throughout District 53, which encompasses Northeastern Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Eastern New York State, including the Capital District and Saratoga region. In addition to the Humorous Speech contest, the two-day conference also included educational sessions on communication and leadership, an evaluation contest, a talent show, and a keynote address from Jana Barnhill, President of Toastmasters International.
The road to Trumbull involved Romano winning three prior “semi-final” contests: Thorobred Club, Area F4, and Division F speech contests. Romano competed in Trumbull against five top talkers from throughout the District. His winning speech was entitled “Fly the Unfriendly Skies,” which comically described his overcoming his fear of flying using humorous word play, act outs, and no small amount of exaggeration. Andrea Isaacs and David Freedman of Colonie’s Patroon Toastmasters Club served as Contestmaster and Chief Judge, respectively. Bill Miranda of New Haven, CT’s Yale Toastmasters, and Robert Rivest of Chicopee, MA’s Pioneer Valley Toastmasters were the two runners up in the Humorous Speech contest.
“We are so very proud of Rich,” says Terrie Gifford, fellow Thorobred Toastmaster, past Club President, and past Area F4 Governor “It was his time to shine and he really deserved this win. Now I think we probably should be referring to him as ‘Richard Romano, Humorist.’”
“While I will certainly take as much credit as I can, the fact is that I never could have made it as far as I have without the support of the members of Thorobred Toastmasters,” says Romano. “All this is pretty incredible when you consider that seven years ago I couldn’t even say my name in front of more than three people without extensive jitters and becoming tongue-tied. Thorobreds in particular and Toastmasters in general is an incredibly supportive environment which has helped me immeasurably both personally and professionally.”
Toastmasters International was founded in 1924, and today is a nonprofit organization with nearly 235,000 members in 11,700 clubs in 92 countries, offering a proven and enjoyable way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Thorobred Toastmasters is the local Saratoga Springs club, aand meetings are free and open to the public; all are welcome to attend. Thorobred Toastmasters members hail from Saratoga Springs, Greenwich, Schaghticoke, Schuylerville, Clifton Park, and Albany. The Thorobred club meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at Longfellows Inn and Restaurant, 500 Union Avenue, (9P Saratoga Lake) from 7 to 9 p.m. During the months of August and December the club meets at other locations, which may include the Saratoga Public Library or Woodlawn Commons. For more information about Thorobred Toastmasters, please call 518-956-3901. For further information on where to find a Toastmasters Club in your area, please visit District 53 Toastmasters Web site (www.district53toastmasters.org). For more information about Toastmasters International in general, please visit www.toastmasters.org.
October 3, 2008—Monthly free downloadable crossword puzzles available on the Monthly Crossword page.
For Immediate Release
September 22, 2008
Terrie Gifford
927 Stillwater Bridge Road
Schaghticoke, NY 12154
518-664-4011 home
Cell 956-3901
Thorobred Toastmasters Tout Top Talker
Saratoga Springs resident Richard Romano has won the Toastmasters International Division F Humorous Speech Contest and will proceed to the October 11th District 53 Fall Conference in Trumbull, CT. Romano has been a Toastmaster for seven years with the Thorobred Toastmasters club in Saratoga and currently serves as Treasurer. He is also a past club President qnd a former F4 Governor. In addition to the Thorobred club, Romano also belongs to the Capital Advanced Toastmasters of Clifton Park.
His winning speech, “Fly the Unfriendly Skies,” soared through the Club, Area and Division level contests. Romano will compete in October with the winners from clubs which encompass western Massachusetts, Connecticut, and eastern New York State.
Saratoga Thorobred Toastmasters is a public speaking group whose members are from Saratoga, Greenwich, Schaghticoke, Schuylerville, Ballston Spa, Gansevoort, Clifton Park and Albany. Thorobreds meet on the second and fourth Monday of each month at Longfellow’s Inn and Restaurant (9P, Saratoga Lake) from 7 to 9 P.M. Meetings are open to anyone interested in practicing public speaking in a supportive environment. For further information, please call 664-4011. All are welcome and the public is invited to attend. To locate another Toastmasters club, please visit the District 53 Toastmasters home page and click on “Find a Club.”
September 3, 2008—As RR strives to hone his cruciverbalistic skills, at the beginning of each month he will be posting a free downloadable crossword puzzle. Click here to go to the Monthly Crossword page.
August 25, 2008—Richard Romano will once again throw his hat in the ring and compete in the Toastmasters Area F4 speech contest, to be held Monday, September 8, at Woodlawn Commons in Saratoga Springs, NY. Romano’s humorous speech, “The Unfriendly Skies,” was a runner-up at the Thorobred Toastmasters club contest, held August 25.
Area F4 comprises four Toastmasters clubs in Saratoga and Washington counties. Each club is allowed to send their club’s winner and a runner-up to the Area contest.
August 13, 2008—Richard Romano ventures to Milwaukee to the Creative Transitions Conference to present a keynote presentation entitled “The Future of Print Design:
Goodbye, Madison Avenue?” He will also participate in a keynote panel discussion moderated by Bill Finn of Finn Digital.
June 1, 2008—Richard Romano's special report for WhatTheyThink, Printing Goes Green: A WhatTheyThink Primer on Environmental Sustainability in the Commercial Printing Industry, is now available at the WTT eStore. The report provides an overview of the state of so-called “green printing” initiatives in the U.S. commercial printing industry. The report examines a variety of steps commercial printers can take toward becoming environmentally sustainable and responsible, and also offers conclusions and recommendations to companies industrywide interested in pursuing green initiatives, as well as resources with which to obtain additional information. More information can be found via the PrintCEO blog post “Green Thoughts.”
May 21, 2008—Richard Romano ventures to Boston this week to the HOW Design Conference to present a session entitled "Designing Across Media Channels."
The How Design Conference will be held May 18 to 21 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. What is it, you may ask? Well:
This year the annual creativity, business and technology conference will feature even more essential information and inspiration for graphic designers, including:
* 60+ sessions on proving design's RPO, making the most of your design software, jumpstarting your creativity (even under pressure), going green and more
* pre-Conference workshops on pre-fab type, digital photography, working with different types of communicators and more, plus in-depth explorations of InDesign, Photoshop and Dreamweaver
* an entire track devoted to the latest software, hardware and graphic design tools
* The Design Resource Center—the most comprehensive collection of design resources under one roof, from paper and stock photography to software, printing and packaging.
You can learn more and register at http://www.howconference.com.
April 13, 2008—Over at WhatTheyThink, Richard Romano speaks with Fujifilm’s Lane Palmer about the challenges facing the newspaper industry.
read more>
April 12–16, 2008—Richard Romano will be attending the NEXPO, the newspaper industry’s annual conference. Look for coverage of the show at WhatTheyThink.
March 27, 2008—Richard Romano, a seven-year veteran of Saratoga Springs, NY’s Toastmasters International Club, Thorobred Toastmasters, came in second place in Area F4'sTall Tale Contest. The speech, retitled “Food for Thought” (formerly "Systema Unnaturae") is a tongue-in-cheek “biography” of Dr. Edward Munch, proponent of the field of “gustatory taxonomy,” or classifying animals according to how they tasted. Catherine Burch, of Saratoga Care (Saratoga Hospital’s Toastmasters club), took first place with her speech entitled “The Mother of the Groom.” Toastmasters newcomer Craig Foster, of Glens Falls, NY's North Country Toastmasters, came in third with his speech entitled “Squirrels.”
The Tall Tales Contest, held every year, features a series of 3–5-minute speeches of a fantastical or exaggerated nature. Toastmasters Area F4 comprises four clubs in Sarayoga and Washington Counties, including Thorobred Toastmasters (Saratoga Springs), Saratoga Care (Saratoga Hospital), North Country Toastmasters (Glens Falls), and Washington County Toastmasters (Hudson Falls/Ft. Edward). The winner of the Area Contest will compete in the Division Contest, held April 24, in Albany. More informatiion about Toastmasters contest dates can be found at the District 53 site at www.district53toastmasters.org.
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Romano has been a member of Thorobred Toastmasters since November 2001, and in that time has served as President and as Area Governor of Area F4, overseeing a half dozen clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. He is currently Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters.
Anyone interested in Toastmasters can visit www.toastmasters.org to find a club near them. Saratoga residents are welcome to attend any regular Thorobred Toastmasters meeting, held every second and fourth Monday from 7–9 p.m. at Longfellows Restaurant on Route 9P in Saratoga Springs. More information and directions can be found at www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
March 11, 2008—Twelve Saratoga County teens graduated from the Toastmasters International-sponsored Youth Leadership Program. The eight-week course came to a close with a "demonstration showcase" of speeches, evaluations, and impromptu "Table Topics." About 20 relatives and friends of the graduates attended the meeting, held at the Malta Community Center onTuesday, March 11. After opening remarks by YLP Coordinator Richard Romano, the audience was treated to five speeches, written and delivered by the grads. Speakers included Schuyler Smith, Zak Roubelakis, Mike Markiewicz, Mike Himpele, and Karl Gerner. Assistant Coordinator Donna Morris then led an evaluation demonstration, in which other students evaluated the speeches using the Toastmasters evaluation procedure. John Ceceri and Wyatt Smith then led "Table Topics," impromptu speaking exercises in which students, the coordinators, and even audience members were called on at random and asked to speak for 1–2 minutes on a subject of the "Table Topics Master's" choosing.
At the end of the meeting, the YLP coordinators presented the graduates with certificates of completion in the program. Students and coordinators alike benefitted immeasurably from the program. Said Romano in his opening remarks, "The last two months have been a pleasure, and if these kids are any indication of the caliber of the leaders of tomorrow, I think we’re in good hands." Romano adds, "I was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm these kids showed. They jumped right in with both feet from Day One and made me and Donna's jobs very easy. They're a great bunch of kids and I wish them the best as they go on to college and beyond."
The graduates were George Calvey, John Ceceri, Karl Gerner, Mike Himpele, Mike Markiewicz, David Pfeil, Matthew Podkulski, Zak Roubelakis, Shaina Runyon, Schuyler Smith, Wyatt Smith, and Lacey Stratton.
Back row (left to right): Wyatt Smith, David Pfeil, Mike Markiewicz, John Ceceri, George Calvey. Front row (left to right): Shaina Runyon, Mike Himpele, Karl Gerner, Lacey Stratton. Kneeling: Zak Roubelakis. Not pictured: Schuyler Smith, Matthew Podkulski.
About the Youth Leadership Program
The Youth Leadership Program is designed to help kids grow to meet the challenges of adulthood and leadership successfully. The program’s unique eight-session, workshop-style design enables participants to develop this potential through practical experience. Participants learn to:
Participants increase their self-confidence as they learn. They also make new friends and have fun.
About Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. The local Toastmasters club is Thorobred Toastmasters, which meets the second and fourth Monday of the month at Longfellows Restaurant. For more information, visit www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
February 27–29—Richard Romano got his pastel wardrobe and Carl Hiaasen novels out of storage and ventured south to Miami Beach to cover Graphics of the Americas. A rundown on Thursday’s show can be found at The Industry Measure blog. Watch WhatTheyThink for in-depth wrap-up features following the show.
February 22, 2008—Over at WhatTheyThink, Richard Romano previews the Brand Security Conference at next week’s Graphics of the Americas show in Miami Beach. Romano will be covering the show for WhatTheyThink and will also be blogging from the show at The Industry Measure blog.
February 19, 2008—Individuals in the New York State Capital District who wish to hone their abilities as professional public speakers are welcome to join a new Advanced Toastmasters Club that meets each month in Clifton Park.
Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.
Most Toastmasters clubs are designed to help novice speakers overcome their fear of public speaking, and improve and gain confidence in their communication skills. This Advanced Club, however, is targeted to speakers who are already comfortable with public speaking, and seek to enhance and further develop their skills to pursue a career (either part- or full-time) as a professional speaker. The goal of each meeting is to give each speaker detailed, comprehensive, straightforward, and no holds barred evaluations of the content and presentation of his or her speech.
"In your average Toastmasters club meeting, the tone is designed to be very encouraging and the critiquing very gentle," says Richard Romano, a Saratoga Springs, NY-based writer, seven-year Toastmasters veteran, and treasurer/secretary of the new club. "In the advanced club, members are serious about getting good at public speaking and the emphasis is on really helping speakers conquer their shortcomings. Such 'tough love' can be a little daunting, but it's all in the service of helping us get better, and it's still a very friendly and supportive environment. You just need a thicker skin than at your average Toastmasters meeting."
The first meeting of this new club was held Monday, February 18, and was attended by more than a dozen Toastmasters veterans from around the Capital District. The kick-off meeting included speeches by Melinda Burns, Kerri Kannan, and Laura Schultz, with each speech followed by a one-minute evaluation from each of the other attendees.
The club is in the process of building up enough members to charter as an official Toastmasters club. Meetings are held the third Monday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Southern Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce office, off Exit 9 of the Northway (I-87) in Clifton Park. The next meeting will be held on March 17. Meetings are open to all present or prospective public speakers.
For more information and/or directions, contact Terrie Gifford, Vice President of Public Relations, at 664-4011 home/fax, 956-3901-cell, toakpointe@wildblue.net.
February 18, 2008—Rich Text & Graphics announces the relaunch of www.richtextandgraphics.com, the first major redesign of the site since 2005. Rich Text & Graphics is an umbrella name for a variety of Saratoga Springs, NY, writer Richard Romano’s various writing, editorial, and graphic design projects. The goal of the new site is to function as a hub for a variety of sites and blogs to which Romano contributes feature stories, comments, and advice on the subjects of the graphic arts, media and communication, and marketing.
The site’s new home page prominently features links to three blogs to which Romano regularly contributes: The Industry Measure Blog, which provides general comments on trends in the graphic arts, media, and communications; Expert Business Source, whose blog “Making Marketing Work” (which he shares with co-contributor Heidi Tolliver-Nigro) provides marketing advice and tips for individuals and businesses; and Blogito Ergo Sum (“I Blog, Therefore I Am”), a personal blog that provides wry comments on odd technology news, as well as an outlet for Romano’s prolific fiction experiments, which include short stories, novels, screenplays, and other items that defy categorization. The new site’s home page will also point visitors to new feature articles and other items and news from around the Web.
The new site also contains links to details about the half dozen or so books that Romano has authored or co-authored, a portfolio of selected graphic design projects, and links to other sites of interest.
“The site is designed to serve as a ‘hub’ for all my various writing outlets, the inspiration for which came when I was trying to link to it all from one location,” says Romano. “Plus, it had been a few years since I had updated the site, so the time seemed right.”
The upgraded site, which was designed and developed by Romano himself after teaching himself Adobe Dreamweaver CS, will be updated at least several times a week, and will gradually include new “Web 2.0” items. In addition to a series of blogs, regular podcasts are currently in development, and will be added to the site in the next several weeks.
“I have been writing about ‘Web 2.0’ and its importance to creatives, marketers, and publishers for years no, so I figured it was about time I took my own advice,” says Romano.
The new site can be visited at www.richtextandgraphics.com. Romano can be reached by e-mail at rromano@richtextandgraphics.com.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.
February 11, 2008—Richard Romano, a seven-year veteran of Saratoga Springs, NY’s Toastmasters International Club, Thorobred Toastmasters, came in first place in the Club’s Tall Tale Contest. The speech, entitled “Systema Unnaturae,” is a tongue-in-cheek “biography” of Dr. Edward Munch, proponent of the field of “gustatory taxonomy,” or classifying animals according to how they tasted. Donna Morris-Calvey’s speech “Black Gold,” came in a very close second.
The Tall Tales Contest, held every year, features a series of 3–5-minute speeches of a fantastical or exaggerated nature. Having won at the club level, Romano will compete in the Area Contest against winners from three other clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties, on March 27. The winner of the Area contest will advance to the Division Contest and the District Contest, both to be held in April.
Thorobred Toastmasters is Saratoga Springs, NY’s local Toastmasters International Club. Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Romano has been a member of Thorobred Toastmasters since November 2001, and in that time has served as President and as Area Governor of Area F4, overseeing a half dozen clubs in Saratoga and Washington Counties. He is currently Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters.
“Joining Toastmasters was probably one of the best decisions I ever made in my life. It has greatly enriched my communication skills and opened up entire new avenues for my professional career,” says Romano. “The Tall Tales contest is a lot of fun and even though I am not particularly competitive, making people laugh is always enjoyable.”
Anyone interested in Toastmasters can visit www.toastmasters.org to find a club near them. Saratoga residents are welcome to attend any regular Thorobred Toastmasters meeting, held every second and fourth Monday from 7–9 p.m. at Longfellows Restaurant on Route 9P in Saratoga Springs. More information and directions can be found at www.toastmasters.org/find/zoomclub.asp?ClubNumber=7379.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.
February 6, 2008—Richard Romano interviews Printing Association of Florida president George Ryan, and provides a preview of the 33rd Annual GoA show, to be held February 27–March 1 in Miami Beach. Romano will be covering the show for WhatTheyThink, and may not return to the frozen Northeast until June.... Read the article at http://members.whattheythink.com/home/080207rromano.cfm.
January 8, 2008—Richard Romano has been tapped to serve as Coordinator for the Youth Leadership Program, a Toastmasters International program that aims to help local high school students develop the communication and leadership skills that will help them in college and beyond. More than a dozen local teens from Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Malta, and Burnt Hills have enrolled. The program lasts for eight weeks starting January 8, meeting for one hour each Tuesday night at 7:00 at the Malta Community Center. In those eight weeks, students will receive hands-on experience in running effective meetings, making and adhering to an agenda, as well as learning and practicing public speaking. Each student is required to write and deliver two 4–6-minute speeches, as well as participate in other impromptu public speaking exercises.
Coordinator Richard Romano and Assistant Coordinator Donna Morris-Calvey are both longterm members of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs, NY’s local Toastmasters International Club. Toastmasters International is a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 220,000 members in 11,300 clubs in 90 countries, offering a proven—and enjoyable—way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.
The Youth Leadership Program is designed to help kids grow to meet the challenges of adulthood and leadership successfully. The program’s unique eight-session, workshop-style design enables participants to develop this potential through practical experience. Participants learn to:
Participants increase their self-confidence as they learn. They also make new friends and have fun.
“I’m looking forward to helping impart the skills I learned as a Toastmaster to the next generation,’” says Romano. “It’s the kind of program I wish I had been able to participate in when I was a teenager.”
More information about the Youth Leadership Program can be found by clicking here.
Romano is a writer and market research analyst specializing in technology and media trends in the graphic arts. He is a Senior Analyst for The Industry Measure, for which he writes four major market research reports and about a dozen special reports each year. He is also a contributor to WhatTheyThink.com, the leading news portal for the printing industry, as well as a variety of other trade publications, both print and online. he also does graphic design and production for all of The Industry Measure’s reports. He is also involved with a variety of local organizations, serving on the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Film Forum, and Treasurer of Thorobred Toastmasters, Saratoga Springs’ local Toastmasters International club.
