ValueTalk: What is the Future of Paper in the Knowledge-Rich Workplace?

SESSION III: ROUND TABLE, OPEN DISCUSSION

– What is the Future of Paper in the Knowledge-Rich Workplace? –

Prof. Richard Harper, SOCIAL SHAPING RESEARCH LTD.

Expert Panel including:

Heidi Stockum, Procurement & Business Development, MGA METRO GROUP

Martin Glass, Director, EMGE & CO.

Prof. Richard Harper, Professor, SOCIAL SHAPING RESEARCH LTD.

Andreas Weber, CEO, VALUE COMMUNICATION AG

It is always good to get prepared! Our Session Chairman Bob Letham was asking for an anecdote which he could share during his introduction. Here is mine:

“Something old became something new!”

I live and work since almost 30 years in Mainz/Germany, the hometown of Johannes Gutenberg. Last year, I had a special guest from China: Prof. Yu Hiu, Deputy Director The National Palace Museum, Beijing/China. He is responsible for the huge collection of paintings and calligraphy in China’s most important museum. I introduced him to the world of print showcasing parts of my own print collection and delivering some insights based on my friend Prof. Hermann Zapf, one of the leading calligraphers for ever.

Prof. Yu Hiu was amazed. He was not aware of our current knowledge and passion for „The Art of Print“, driven by genious talents like Gutenberg, Senefelder, Zapf and other german creative inventors.

He stated: „We invented in China thousands of years ago paper and printing. But we lost it. You have to come to China to educate us. Why not organizing an art exhibition and lectures to show samples of extraordinary printed art pieces?“. So we will do next year. And we will combine „old“ pieces (Lithography, Gravure, Wood Cut a.s.o.) and „new“ pieces created by leading European and Chinese artists specially for modern Digital inkjet Printing technologies. The exhibition is named: „Surprise. The Art of Print“.

In fact: Print is and will be alive for ever if we combine our valuable tradition in Graphic Arts with the demand of the digital age. Because the real value of digital printing is so close to what Gutenberg and his followers were able to establish already in the past: unique printed pieces on a premium level. (BTW: The industrial approach of offset printing production destroyed those values because everything was related to mass factoring on a lower quality level!).

I hope you like my nice anecdote. You could also read some blog posts I already published in my Blog and also via other publisher’s websites!

More information:
http://wp.me/p2C5zg-DT