Sir Speedy, Edwards Brothers, SPC, GAERF +SkillsUSA and Xerox with a magic bullet. Today's PR.

This morning's perusal of the Press Releases had some interesting(2me) stuff.

Sir Speedy. " in North, Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Europe ." scores 82 on top 100 franchises http://ilnk.me/5e0

The franchises are an important thread of the growing printernet, distributed print locally produced. Nice.

37 graphic arts companies selected as Best Workplaces by PIA. list at http://ilnk.me/5df #twitterprint

The companies that are rated best workplaces are probably exactly the ones that will thrive. HR is the way to manage human resources. Human resources are the defensible advantage.

Edwards Brothers ..set up digital book centers in customer locations with numerous facilities in the States and UK. http://ilnk.me/5de

Another example of printernet functionality. This time in publishing, as opposed to the retail space. Edwards Brothers is one of the best workplaces so it shouldn't be a surprise that they are well developed in this new functionality.

"SPC, a national print company. ..closed the books on their most successful sales month to date." http://ilnk.me/5dd #twitterprint

Another example that there are growth opportunities in a "weak economy."

GAERF & SkillsUSA offer a credential that validates skill sets all graphic communications students http://ilnk.me/5db #twitterprint

This one has the potential to change the game. Many Community Colleges and Graphics Programs are offered that ostensibly prepare students for a career in the graphic industries. If this test gets traction, it will help improve the programs that don't and reward the programs that do.

#Xerox finds " the silver bullet that could make electronic clothing and inexpensive games a reality today." http://ilnk.me/5da

The engineers in Xerox Canada may have come up with a real game changer. Once again Xerox demonstrates their extraordinary engineers. But it's still not clear to me whether the advantage will accrue to big X.

In my not-so-humble opinion, the rules for monetizing engineering breakthroughs have moved from locking up and licensing IP to bringing products to market. But I've been wrong many times before, so we'll just have to wait and see.