New June 2012 Column Shocks Many

My latest column has just been posted on my website at: http://www.quickconsultant.com/. The title of the column, as well as some of the conclusions I reach, will surprise if not shock many readers. The new column is titled:

Putting Employees "First" - Results in Lower Value;
But Quick Consultant Says That's Ok in His Book.

Yes, that's a longer than normal headline but so is the story. It involves a recent valuation of a firm and some of the problems we ran into, as well as some of our conclusions. Visit my website and then follow the link to my special page where I am posting my columns.

Drupa Attendence Drops 19%

Just read that Drupa attendance was down approximately 19% this year as compared to 2008 attendance.. Nonetheless, the attendance numbers for Drupa this year was still a staggering number - 314,000 attendees from 130 diferent countries!

According to an article appearing in Printing Impressions Weekly (that probably came from a Drupa news release) there were 190,000-plus foreign visitors at drupa. Germany contributed the largest number of participants at 123,000. Coming in a distant second, but still surprising (at least to me) is that India accounted for 15,000 of the attendees. According to PI, the United States ranked seventh in drupa attendance. South and Central America both experienced robust attendance boosts over 2008, with Brazil enjoying strong representation.

The next drupa will be held from June 2-15, 2016.

I think I will go on another cruise instead.

*As to the publishing, editing or posting of this or other blogs that may appear on this site, please read the disclaimer contained in the bio at the upper right of this blog.

Cygnus Publishing Terminates The "Quick Consultant" Column

An Explanation About Why
My Column Has Been Terminated

In the past few days, especially with the release of the May 2012 issue of Quick Printing magazine, I have received many emails and calls from folks asking about the sudden disappearance of my “Quick Consultant” column, a column that has been published continuously for at least 28 years.

If you would like to express your opinions for or against the termination of the “Quick Consultant” column, I would encourage you to call Kelley Holmes, publisher at 1-800-6162252, ext. 6104. I understand she may be out of the office this week. If you would prefer some email addresses they are as follows:
Kelley@quickprinting.com. Publisher
John.French@cygnus.com President of Cygnus Business Media
Blair.Johnson@cygnus.com. Assistant and supervisor of various publications
Of course, you can always reach me at: qkconsult@aol.com.

The short story, and about all I can tell you at this point, is that I was arrested by the Seminole County police for sending an alleged threatening email to the chief of police of Sanford, FL. The letter was in reference to the “Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman” case here in Florida – a big story that capitivated the news for many weeks. (As many of you know, “my pen has always been my sword” – or in this case my keyboard - I also fell on the sword as well!)

Anyway, within three days of my arrest and the large amount of publicity generated about my arrest, I heard second-hand from Cygnus Business Media that my 28-year relationship as a columnist for the magazine was terminated. I must admit I was shocked and disappointed. I never once heard from anyone officially involved in making the decision, just a brief call from someone down the line.

At no time did anyone seem interested or concerned about the premise that someone should be "presumed innocent" until proven otherwise. As I noted above, no one in authority, including folks I have dealt with for more than 28 years, had the common decency or “guts” to either call or write me as to the reasons for the sudden termination.

They terminated me despite the fact that, by their own statistics and admissions, my column was the most widely read column in the magazine, next to Bob Hall's editorials. Now Bob is no longer editor. Apparently that was a cost-cutting measure as a result of the magazine shrinking to less than a quarter of its size from just a few years ago.

People used to read my column because I told it like it was. I joked, I yelled, I told stories of real people facing real problems. I also enjoyed explaining all the information that is available in various studies, and I showed folks how to use these statistics to improve their own business.

Ok, so what is going to happen now? I have every intention of continuing the "Quick Consultant Column." At least temporarily, my columns will begin appearing on my web page at: http://www.quickconsultant.com/. I’ve already posted four columns and more should appear in the next few weeks and months.

Indeed, I will admit that I will miss talking and corresponding with many of those readers from Quick Printing magazine. I hope you will still keep in touch. I truly am grateful to have so many good friends in this industry. I should also take the time to thank Quick Printing Magazine for giving me such fantastic and talented editors to work with such as Bob Hall and his wife Karen. They are great folks to work with and I will miss them.

So long as I have the mental and physical capacity to conduct research studies and provide valuation services, and so long as folks like yourself who enjoy these columns, I will continue to publish them with or without an on-going relationship with Quick Printing Magazine.

I must admit however, I will miss the pressure of writing a monthly column. According to my notes, I wrote approximately 336 columns over the years, never once missing a deadline.

Anyway, I figured you were entitled to know “The Rest of the Story” and why my column no longer appears in the magazine.

Sincerely,

John Stewart*, “The Quick Consultant”
QP Consulting, Inc.
2110 S. Dairy Road
W. Melbourne, FL
321-727-2442

EMAIL: qkconsult@aol.com or johnstewart@quickconsultant.com
*This column or email was dictated, written and published by Mary Stewart, at the request of John Stewart. This legal c#$p and the reasons for this notice will be explained at a future date.