Good Morning
It is great to be with you this morning in San Francisco -- the city where I left my heart.
I grew up just across the Bay.

In previous years I have talked to you about change. Change is as inevitable as death and taxes.

The critical issue becomes how we deal with change -- how to accept it, how to manage it, adapt
to it and how to predict and prepare for it.

That will be my topic today. I guess some things don't change.

If anything, the rate of change is accelerating and it is more critical than ever that we develop the kind of thinking necessary to stay on top of the wave of technological advance.

I've taken the title of my presentation today, "A True Prognostication," from a column written and published by Benjamin Franklin in Poor Richard's Almanac.

I don't need to spend a lot of time with this audience listing the remarkable achievements of this man who earned his primary living as a printer.

He was so successful as a printer, in fact, that he was able, at the age of forty-two, to turn the administration of his businesses over to a younger partner and then devote himself to public service and scientific study.

Benjamin Franklin was an innovator, an inventor, a successful businessman, and an agent of change. I believe it is worthwhile today to take a closer look at this man and his ideas.

Videotape rolls with Tom Jeffrey as Benjamin Franklin

V/O Script:

A penny saved is a penny earned.

No nation was ever ruined by trade.

Printers are educated in the belief that when men differ in opinion both sides ought equally to have the advantage of being heard by the public... they cheerfully serve all those who pay them well.

Procrastination is the thief of time. You may delay but Time will not.

I have always been a human being with an ample portion of curiosity. And I'll admit that some of my interests have been less than favorably received. When I spoke about the idea of harnessing the energy of lightning, my respected colleagues told me to 'go fly a kite'. And I did!

I wrote about what happened that night in my book, Let the Experiment Be Made. In that publication I stated, "If there is no other use discovered of electricity, this however is something considerable, that it may help to make a vain man humble."

As I look out at this audience, I would say that, in many cases, it certainly has done that.

During my lifetime there was a cry for revolution in the American Colonies because the population was fairly well-informed as to the circumstances of the world in which they lived. A newspaper in every house and a good school in every district -- these are the principal supports of virtue, morality, and civil liberty. As a printer I had some small influence there.

And I have always believed in education and the unencumbered flow of information. That is why I began the first circulating library in Philadelphia in 1737.

Access to information may be the key to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As a businessperson, I saw many changes in the printing and publishing industry as it struggled to grow beyond its infancy.

And I often thought about the evolution and the revolution that would occur in the ways people learned about the world around them.

I have the inclination to imagine new ways of doing things, but I must say, as I peek into the last decade of the 20th century, that what is possible for the citizens of the United States of America has extended far beyond the boundaries of my thinking.

Take a look with me now at a student who is curious... curious about thunderstorms.

(ENTER Tom Plati for live web demo)

Franklin Comments on video rolls shown during TP's presentation:

And to think that I risked my very life to study thunderstorms!

My forays out into the storm are certainly an example of learning the hard way. The ease with which this student accesses information is miraculous to my eyes.

I can appreciate the value of information that is absolutely current.

My business as a printer/publisher grew enormously during the time that I was also Postmaster General.
You see, I had access to the freshest information and advertisers were quite willing to pay premium rates to be associated with a journal meeting the demand for news that was new.
I must say that this activity brings new definition to the word 'library.'

An investment in knowledge always pays the best return.
I was recognized around the world for being a learned man. At the turning of the millennium, I am honored to find that reputation intact.
But I am stunned, nearly to speechlessness, by the potential of what I could have learned with access to this technology. The possibilities are (pause) awesome.

(Tom Plati ends presentation. Tom Jeffrey resumes speech at podium)

Ben Franklin said, "Believe what you see and nothing else." Well, we've all seen something today that can help to shape the way we think of the future of our businesses.

The rapid growth of technology is going to affect everyone in this room.

Are printed directories and printed encyclopedias going to give way to CD Rom and laser disc?

What is the future of the text book? What will the new applications for printing be? Will some of these applications resemble something similar to what we saw with Charlotte's Web?

Our attitude towards the new technologies sets a tone for how each of us will handle them. Do we only see the threats -- or can we find opportunities as well?

One way to respond to this question is to first answer the question, "What business are we in?"

Are you a purveyor of ink on paper? Or are you in the information distribution business?

In today's business, we are learning what children who play video games already know. The fastest way to get killed is to stand still.

I believe the demonstration you've just seen will give you the impetus you need to move forward and to move forward quickly.

I would like you to join me in thanking Tom Plati for his fascinating demonstration. In addition to teaching us about some of the existing applications coming out of the digital and information explosion, Tom is a teacher in the Massachusetts public schools. That in itself gives me great hope for the future.

Thanks, Tom, you did a wonderful job and performed a great service for this audience. (Lead applause)

I always enjoy this meeting and I thank you for inviting me once again. I'm looking forward to the work we'll do together this year to meet the challenges the changes in our businesses will bring.

And I'd like to let Mr. Franklin say good-bye to you himself. In person, more or less.

[view]

TJ as Ben Franklin video closing:

One of the last gatherings I attended in my life was my 80th birthday party. It was organized for me by a group of printers from Philadelphia. It was a grand affair. Trust printers to do it right.

When asked to make a speech, I told these marvelous people that, "My principal merit, if I may claim any in public affairs, is that of having been always ready and willing to receive and follow good advice."

Looking out at this audience, I would add, across the boundaries of time, I will always share that merit with all participants in the printing industry.

I also offered a 'true prognostication' which is, unfortunately, appropriate for this audience as well.
In the foreseeable future, the worst disease of all will be a certain most horrid, dreadful, malignant, catching, perverse and odious malady... lacko'money.

And we all know that nothing but money is sweeter than honey.
But in this world nothing is sure but death and taxes.
What can printers do to ensure that they will be plugged in, as it were, to the future mainstreams of trade and profit?

Well, if you want to electrify your business, you've got to go out where the lightning is, out into the turbulence of todayÕs stormy business environment.
Take risks, as I did, to expand your horizons and opportunities. Be willing to try new things. This is a free country, after all, and you have the precious freedom to look at things differently and to change the way you do things. Those who would trade that freedom for safety will end up with neither.

I can see that in 1993 you are experiencing a different kind of revolution -- the electronic information revolution. There are certain truths which are self-evident and your independence hangs on your willingness to face these truths. If you do not hang together with them, you will surely hang alone.

There are no observers during a revolution. There are only participants, willing or unwilling. Find a way to participate. Make the technology work for you!

I urge you to invest in the knowledge. When a businessperson empties his purse into his head, no one can ever take it from him.
I urge you to do this and I urge you to do it now. Never put off until tomorrow that which you can do today. Plough deep while sluggards sleep. Do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.

Stay on top of the trends. Become minutemen and minutewomen, able to respond at a moment's notice to your customer's requirements for service.

The revolution is on. It's a happening thing! It's not coming by land or by sea. It's coming by ELECTRICITY.