Web
The Web site of Dr. Joseph Webb ’78 is among those millions. Webb, an in-demand market research analyst and private consultant to the print industry, started his own blog this year. On www.drjoesblog.com, which posted its first entry in February 2005, Webb discusses printing, publishing and new media trends. But Webb is no stranger to the world of online publishing. He runs www.drjoewebb.com, a resource for executives working in or with print, publishing and media businesses, and since 2003, he has written a column for www.whattheythink.com, a Web site about the graphic arts for the print industry. Webb has been involved in the world of printing for more than 27 years and has been advising companies in the print industry since 1987. In 1995, he founded TrendWatch marketing information service, which provides information for the graphics, visual effects and broadcast/cable markets. In December 2004, he was awarded the Neil Richards Visionary Leadership Award by the Graphic Arts Marketing Information Service. The award recognizes leaders in the graphic arts industry who have promoted innovative thinking, willingly shared their knowledge and contributed to the development of industry colleagues as a mentor or role model. Webb received his M.B.A. in management information systems from Iona in 1981, and his Ph.D. in graphic communications management and technology from New York University in 1987. He and his wife, Annie (Nikl) ’79, live in Harrisville, R.I., where they work together on their consulting business. He talked to The Manhattan about his work, the future of blogs and why he’ll always remember Brother Thomas Scanlan.
Dr. Joseph Webb ’78
Q: How did you get started as a blogger? A: I had read a lot about blogs last year, and because most of my work deals with the publishing and printing industries, I thought it would be a good idea to try it out myself. It’s incredibly easy, and I find myself using the blog for grabbing ideas about industry or economic events and just getting them down. It’s like notes that one would leave under magnets if there was such a thing as an “industry refrigerator.” I view the blog as a companion to my Web site for ideas that are still maturing. Q: With blogs getting so much press and media attention, do you think that the form has peaked? A: Blogging as a medium is still very young. Last year, I joked to an industry writer that eventually everyone would have a blog, and that philosopher Descartes should have said, “blogito ergo sum” – “I blog, therefore I am.” Q: In your opinion, will the Internet continue to exert pressure on traditional media and print businesses? A: The Internet, as far as consumer and business markets use, is very young. It’s 10 years old, so that’s the equivalent of fourth grade. When you look at it that way, its best, most vibrant and most interesting years aren’t even close to happening yet. Q: You earned a reputation as a bearer of bad tidings for the printing business in 1997, when you forecast that the growth of the Internet would negatively impact commercial print shipping after the year 2000. What led you to that conclusion? A: I saw how we were using the Internet in our own business, where people were freely downloading product information, press releases and data and buying reports in digital formats like Adobe Acrobat. I also realized that our phones had stopped ringing. No one was calling to ask for information, but they were downloading or viewing constantly. I could see that a lot of promotional and informational printing would be a goner.
Q: The facts seemed to bear out your prognosis. Is the Internet going to replace printing? A: We’re running at $15 billion a year less than we were in 2000. That’s a decline of more that 10 percent, the bulk of which occurred before 9/11. No one in the printing industry believed it would happen, and I had hoped a decline would not have been the case because I love the printing industry and its people. But it’s still a huge industry that holds many niche entrepreneurial opportunities. Q: Did any of your professors at Manhattan inspire or influence you in your later career? A: Among my faculty influences were Dr. Francis Ullrich, who taught economics, and Dr. Emily Mung-Chio Chao Sun. Although I was not an economics major, I write a lot about economics in my consulting and commentary, so I think of them often. Dr. John Beishline, known to his students as “The General,” taught business policy and got me to think on my feet. Professor Sam Rabino, now teaching at Northeastern University, increased my interest in marketing, and Dr. Frederick Greene helped me understand management in a way that I found to be quite helpful in practical situations. My wife and I both remember our religion classes with Father Anthony Rubsys and think of him every time we open a Bible. The best business and academic advice for my later career came from Dr. Robert Vizza and Dr. Emil Letendre. Dr. Vizza and I had a private conversation about business and graduate work, and I repeat the things he told me in that lone hour to many others. His advice always was well-considered and to the point. Dr. Letendre created an interest in management information systems that I took to my future studies after Manhattan. Q: Sounds like your time at Manhattan made quite an impression on you! A: The influence of your professors stays with you in ways that are hard to imagine while you are there at the time. Brother Scanlan gave me my only “B” in senior year, but it appears that he has prospered despite that lapse in judgment!
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alumnotes
In 2004, Merriam-Webster picked “blog” as the word of the year, an official recognition of the phenomenon that personal Web logs (or as Webster’s defines them, “Web sites that contain an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer,”) have become. A report from blog tracking organization Technorati estimates that there were more than 14.2 million blogs in August 2005 – and that a new blog is created every second.
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Webb on the
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