The Big Picture - October 2012 - (Page 20)

Foreseeing a Road to Success Industry experts analyze 2012 and project where the market will be in 2013. In the late 1700s, Swiss clergyman Antoine Court de Gébelin wrote that the symbols on the ﬁrst printed Tarot cards represented the Egyptian deities of Isis and Thoth, and that the name “tarot” actually was derived from the Egyptian words “tar” (meaning “royal”) and “ro” (“road”) – hence, the Tarot represented a “royal road” to wisdom and success. Later scholars sco ed at Gébelin’s claims, but the die was cast: Since then, mystics the world over have been using Tarot cards as a way to divine the future. Now, standard Tarot card symbols include wands, pentacles, swords, and cups – but we’ve come across no such cards featuring any printer icons. All of which seems to indicate that the business of wide-format printing is much more about free will and bold entrepreneurial spirit rather than some mystical mix of divination and chance. And achieving success in this 20 THE BIG PICTURE OCTOBER 2012 industry is the result of good planning and solid work – not garnered from forces outside your control. In short, a reading of your tarot cards probably is not going to help you foresee your shop’s road to success. We can, however, help you map out your shop’s game plan for the year ahead. We’ve assembled four of the industry’s most informed analysts and consultants and asked them to help you “divine” the marketplace: Where does it stand now, and where will it be in 2013? And, importantly, what courses of action do you need to take to help ensure your company’s success? For this year’s edition of our annual Industry Roundtable, our participants include: Marco Boer, vice president, I.T. Strategies; Tim Greene, director, wide format consulting service, InfoTrends; Dan Marx, vice president, markets & technologies, SGIA; and Peter Mayhew, director, LightWords Ltd. Q Gents, let’s get right to it: What do the next 12 months look like for print providers? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about how the year will treat wide format? And since so many of you liked our movie-title question last year: What ﬁlm title best describes what’s ahead for print providers in 2013? Dan Marx, SGIA: Although the US economy has been lagging, and employment has been ﬂat, our surveys show that wide-format producers are, by and large, quite optimistic about the current state of the industry and for the year ahead. In fact, as a group, they show an expected annual growth rate of 12.6 percent. Indicators on production, sales, and equipment purchase continue to be strong, even if the economy outside our walls is

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Big Picture - October 2012

The Big Picture - October 2012
Contents
InSight
Wide Angle
UpFront
Inside Output
Business + Management
Industry Roundtable: Foreseeing a Road to Success
Remote Output
Outdoor Evolution
A Specialty Media Solution
R+D
Job Log

The Big Picture - October 2012