- The Stats: 200,800 visits, according to Google Analytics, with 272,070 page views, 123,625 unique visitors, and an average visit lasting 1 minute and 1 second. Lesson: Take any claims about "unique visitors" with a grain of salt; if there were indeed just over 200,000 visits last year, there's no way the number of people who came to the blog was anywhere close to 123,000.
- Most Popular Article: USPS Comes Up With Yet Another Way to Discourage Early Retirement, with over 10,000 views. That article prompted the blog's first-ever rebuttal from the Postal Service, USPS Responds To Criticism of Its Annuity Estimates.
- Least Popular Article: Publishing Wisdom From Across the Pond. Not a bad little article, but without pickups by other web sites Dead Tree Edition gets very little traffic.
- Best Comments:Viagra in a Printing Plant? What's Up with That?, which inspired creative use of such printing terms as stiffness, bulk, pumps, hickies, and rubber rejuvenator. "A true printer will do it without wrinkling the sheets," millergraphics opined. But b4d guessed that "Dude has been in a depressed funk ever since his hot wife told him she can take care of her needs 'digitally', as opposed to the conventional way with an offset pressman."
- Best Use of Social Media: The Takeover of Paperless 2013, in which Dead Tree Edition played only a bit part.
- Worst Use of Social Media:Almost Live, From the Cutting Edge of Publishing. Hey, you've got to be willing to experiment, and then to pull the plug when the experiment doesn't work. That's why there were no sequels to this article, which covered only one day of a three-day conference.
- Best Lists: First, there was Nine Ways the Postal Service Is Not Like a Real Business, which with the help of readers was followed up by 17 More Ways USPS Is Not Like a Real Business and then by another USPS rebuttal.
- Best Apology: My Heartfelt Apology to the Publishing Industry, which was a big hit with some sarcasm fans who reside in The Flyover.
- Biggest Scoop: New Postal Incentive Could Backfire for Mailers, which revealed that USPS's proposed Technology Credit for mailers was actually an attempt to get a permanent, back-door price increase. Postal officials withdrew the proposal a month later.
- Biggest Non-Scoop: On the 5th Birthday of Dead Tree Edition, It's Time To Reveal the Real D. Eadward Tree
- Biggest Slacker: D. Eadward Tree, who only published 57 blog posts in 2013 versus 90 in 2012, after peaking at 158 in 2010.
Showing posts with label D. Eadward Tree. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D. Eadward Tree. Show all posts
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Dead Tree Edition's Best and Worst of 2013 (It's About Damned Time!)
In honor of the first day of spring, and in solidarity with procrastinators everywhere, we hereby present the Best and Worst of Dead Tree Edition in 2013:
Sunday, October 13, 2013
On the 5th Birthday of Dead Tree Edition, It's Time To Reveal the Real D. Eadward Tree
Five years and 601 articles ago today, a magazine-publishing veteran took on the identity of D. Eadward Tree and launched the Dead Tree Edition blog.
Rarely has the blog focused on Mr. Tree himself, under the assumption that the 700,000-plus unique visitors (some more unique than others) who have visited over the years were looking mostly for advice, insight, or maybe even entertainment. But the true identity of Mr. Tree has become a subject of great speculation and discussion in some publishing and printing circles, prompting a few of the blog’s followers to request that Dead Tree Edition celebrate its fifth birthday by spilling the beans.
A thorough reading of all 601 of those articles provides many hints as to Mr. Tree’s identity. It’s also a great cure for insomnia, unless you are that rare bird who happens to share all of Mr. Tree’s obsessions – such as making print more environmentally friendly, getting accurate benefits information to potential U.S. Postal Service retirees, reforming the way USPS calculates the cost of Periodicals mail, exposing “black liquor” government subsidies to U.S. pulp mills, and battling “go paperless” greenwash.
So to save you the trouble, here are some clues we dug up about Mr. Tree from his writings:
In 2010, a postal executive startled a meeting of postal officials and mailers’ representatives by announcing that Mr. Tree was none other than Patrick R. Donahoe, then the #2 man at USPS. Five months later, Donahoe became Postmaster General. A coincidence? You decide.
A couple of months later came another clue – that Mr. Donahoe, aka Mr.Tree, had starred in those “If it fits, it ships” Postal Service commercials. But Mr. Tree soon pooh-poohed that by claiming he was actually married to a prominent publishing-industry pundit.
Confused yet? Just wait.
Only a Jew could have written this headline: Call a mohel, this baby's growing!. But the article Re-Righting The Bible: No More Namby-Pamby Peacemaking suggests a familiarity with the New Testament that only a Christian would have. And articles like Playboy and Virgin Fail to Hook Up suggest a total lack of spirituality.
What’s clear is that he works in the magazine industry and is a self-described “print guy” (even a printing geek) and “an environmentalist who buys a lot of paper.” But he’s definitely not part of what he calls “the New York publishing elite.”
His LinkedIn profile places him in Hawaii, which should narrow things down a lot. But he claimed in an interview that the Hawaiian thing was a (lame) joke and that he actually inhabits a parallel universe.
He hangs around bookstores and doesn’t date Cosmo readers, he told us three years ago. And regarding a magazine cover of Rosie O’Donnell that has now appeared three times on Dead Tree Edition, we note Mr. Tree’s comment, “Hubba, hubba, Rosie in a bathrobe!” Perhaps a glimpse of his secret, twisted fantasies?
In early 2010 he revealed that he has a nephew – and an apparent appreciation for James Brown. An article he wrote last year for Publishing Executive magazine pays homage to The Who (See me, Sniff me, Touch me, Peel me) and Madonna. And the opening sentence of his next PubExec article ripped off “should threaten to undo us” from Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress.”
Rather diverse musical tastes for one person, wouldn’t you say?
Has it ever occurred to you that Mr. Tree is confused about his own identity?
Rarely has the blog focused on Mr. Tree himself, under the assumption that the 700,000-plus unique visitors (some more unique than others) who have visited over the years were looking mostly for advice, insight, or maybe even entertainment. But the true identity of Mr. Tree has become a subject of great speculation and discussion in some publishing and printing circles, prompting a few of the blog’s followers to request that Dead Tree Edition celebrate its fifth birthday by spilling the beans.
A thorough reading of all 601 of those articles provides many hints as to Mr. Tree’s identity. It’s also a great cure for insomnia, unless you are that rare bird who happens to share all of Mr. Tree’s obsessions – such as making print more environmentally friendly, getting accurate benefits information to potential U.S. Postal Service retirees, reforming the way USPS calculates the cost of Periodicals mail, exposing “black liquor” government subsidies to U.S. pulp mills, and battling “go paperless” greenwash.
So to save you the trouble, here are some clues we dug up about Mr. Tree from his writings:
In 2010, a postal executive startled a meeting of postal officials and mailers’ representatives by announcing that Mr. Tree was none other than Patrick R. Donahoe, then the #2 man at USPS. Five months later, Donahoe became Postmaster General. A coincidence? You decide.
A couple of months later came another clue – that Mr. Donahoe, aka Mr.Tree, had starred in those “If it fits, it ships” Postal Service commercials. But Mr. Tree soon pooh-poohed that by claiming he was actually married to a prominent publishing-industry pundit.
Confused yet? Just wait.
Only a Jew could have written this headline: Call a mohel, this baby's growing!. But the article Re-Righting The Bible: No More Namby-Pamby Peacemaking suggests a familiarity with the New Testament that only a Christian would have. And articles like Playboy and Virgin Fail to Hook Up suggest a total lack of spirituality.
 |
| An object of fantasies? |
His LinkedIn profile places him in Hawaii, which should narrow things down a lot. But he claimed in an interview that the Hawaiian thing was a (lame) joke and that he actually inhabits a parallel universe.
He hangs around bookstores and doesn’t date Cosmo readers, he told us three years ago. And regarding a magazine cover of Rosie O’Donnell that has now appeared three times on Dead Tree Edition, we note Mr. Tree’s comment, “Hubba, hubba, Rosie in a bathrobe!” Perhaps a glimpse of his secret, twisted fantasies?
In early 2010 he revealed that he has a nephew – and an apparent appreciation for James Brown. An article he wrote last year for Publishing Executive magazine pays homage to The Who (See me, Sniff me, Touch me, Peel me) and Madonna. And the opening sentence of his next PubExec article ripped off “should threaten to undo us” from Martin Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress.”
Rather diverse musical tastes for one person, wouldn’t you say?
Has it ever occurred to you that Mr. Tree is confused about his own identity?
Monday, June 25, 2012
Mr. Tree Gets the Axe
After two years in the #43 slot, D. Eadward Tree, the writer of this blog, has been pruned from The RISI Top 50 Power List of the most influential people in the global pulp and paper industry.
The respected paper-industry publisher came out with its new list today, and I wasn't on it. I had to make way for the likes of Greece ("Tell me more, tell me more"), Starbucks, the iPad3, and a bunch of people who actually work in the pulp and paper industry. The good news is that the founder of TwoSides made the list, while Toshiba did not.
RISI had previously honored me primarily for Dead Tree Edition's coverage of the black liquor tax credits, a boondoggle that allowed U.S. pulp manufacturers to hijack a federal biofuel program.
But, as I pointed out last year in objecting to my repeat appearance on the list, my many articles on the subject (51 and counting) have actually changed nothing. The pulp companies collected their billions of dollars from the original black liquor tax credits, are still cashing in on Son of Black Liquor, and still haven't figured out how whether the income is taxable.
Related articles:
The respected paper-industry publisher came out with its new list today, and I wasn't on it. I had to make way for the likes of Greece ("Tell me more, tell me more"), Starbucks, the iPad3, and a bunch of people who actually work in the pulp and paper industry. The good news is that the founder of TwoSides made the list, while Toshiba did not.
RISI had previously honored me primarily for Dead Tree Edition's coverage of the black liquor tax credits, a boondoggle that allowed U.S. pulp manufacturers to hijack a federal biofuel program.
But, as I pointed out last year in objecting to my repeat appearance on the list, my many articles on the subject (51 and counting) have actually changed nothing. The pulp companies collected their billions of dollars from the original black liquor tax credits, are still cashing in on Son of Black Liquor, and still haven't figured out how whether the income is taxable.
Related articles:
- Rupert, Weiner and Cardboard Animals: 5 Who Should Be Ahead of Me on RISI’s Top 50 Power List
- Dead Tree Edition Tops Twitter and the World Cup
- Not Dead Yet: Son of Black Liquor Has Not Been Vanquished, Contrary to News Reports
- Who in the World Is D. Eadward Tree?
- 1/1: Interview with D. Eadward Tree, Chief Arborist at Dead Tree Edition
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Changing World of Print Buyers: An Interview with Margie Dana
Margie has been a friend and advisor to those of us on the "buy side" of printing since 1999, when she started her weekly Margie's Print Tips e-newsletter that is still going strong today. Her goal all along, as she says, is "to educate customers and manufacturers about each other . . . to build bridges and eliminate misconceptions."
She keeps finding new ways to build those bridges and eliminate misconceptions, such as by founding Print Buyers International, writing two books (Put It on Paper! The Newcomer's Guide to the Printing Industry and Print Buying Made Simple), and writing and blogging for the printing industry's top trade publication and web site, Printing Impressions. As if that weren't enough, she'll be hosting PBI's 2011 Print & Media Conference next month and will soon be publishing her third book.
Dead Tree Edition: How has print buying changed since you switched from being a print buyer to being a writer and head of an organization?
Margie Dana: I guess the biggest difference has to be the impact of the Internet. It’s opened doors we never had in my print buying days. Think about what’s at our fingertips now – it’s all there, if you know where to look. More recently, the popularity of social media and social networking means there are more ways for print buyers to connect with one another. That’s big. And of course, since print volumes are down, it’s had a significant impact on the roles and future career paths of buyers. Most professional buyers are no longer print-centric. They are becoming media generalists bit by bit – which is good for their careers.
Dead Tree Edition: So do you see many people who were print buyers taking on more non-print roles?
Margie Dana: Absolutely. Many buyers if not most have seen their roles expand into newer media as well as marketing, design, web work, project management, mail/fulfillment management, and so on.
Multi-tasking experts
Dead Tree Edition: What exactly is a print buyer?
Margie Dana: The person in a company, agency or other organization who has primary responsibility for managing/handling the production of printed materials for his or her employer. It describes a function – not to be confused with a title. It is highly misunderstood and under-appreciated. The majority of print ‘buyers’ I know are much more than purchasers. They are their firms’ de facto printing experts, skilled in sourcing, negotiating, budget development, paper specification, design software, production scheduling, troubleshooting and so on. Many have editorial or design responsibilities. They help determine what print projects are appropriate for a particular campaign and are responsible for making them a reality. Multitasking experts, they are internal liaisons with editors, designers, IT units, and management – as well as liaisons with all vendors.
Dead Tree Edition: What inspired you to start Boston Print Buyers? (and how did you move from "Boston" to "international"?)
Margie Dana: I thought you’d never ask. I had been a corporate print buyer for over 15 years, first for Boston University and then for MFS Investment Management. I loved it! I left in the late ‘90s because our son was then school age, and I wanted to be there for him. But I also wanted to work and decided that since there were no resources for print buyers, I might as well start a group. Boston Print Buyers had bimonthly dinner meetings, always with an educational discussion led by a sponsoring firm. A few years later, a friend convinced me to produce a conference. By that time I’d traveled to both England and New Zealand to speak to print buyers and printers. It was clear that print buyer issues and trends were universal, so I decided to change the name to reflect that.
Dead Tree Edition: What exactly is PBI?
Margie Dana: A professional association that caters to those who work with printers and related graphic arts firms. We hold an annual 2-day conference as well as 1-day conferences. We’re a major resource for print customers as well as printers, actually. We offer education and information for these professionals. When I write or blog, I reflect the current mood and trends of professional print buyers and printers, too. Member benefits include serious discounts on all products, services and events, premium membership in WhatTheyThink.com, and a yet-to-be-announced Buying Power Program with a leading online print service provider. PBI members get first notices of job openings and free resume review by yours truly. In 2012 we plan to host a one-day PBI Conference in Boston and are discussing plans for the same in the Southeast and on the West Coast.
Extremely influential
Dead Tree Edition: What is the most important thing that printers should know, but generally don't know, about print buyers?
Margie Dana: They do a whole lot more than source print, and most print buyers are extremely influential in their organizations. Print buyers get short shrift by many sales professionals in this field, and it seriously bugs me. They’re believed to be gate keepers not decision makers, and I protest loudly. I dare your readers to attend our upcoming conference in Chicago on September 13–14 and take a look at who those “print buyers” are: senior-level career professionals with significant responsibility and clout in their organizations. They don’t have their heads in the sand when it comes to the future of print and communications.
Dead Tree Edition: What is the most important thing that print buyers should know, but generally don't know, about printers?
Margie Dana: They’re all different. Experienced print customers know this, but new buyers and designers don’t. They perceive printing as a commodity and don’t know how to begin sourcing print efficiently. I guess that’s why I’m in business.
Dead Tree Edition: Are most print buyers concerned about environmental issues? Do they just follow whatever sustainability policies their employers have (or don't have) or are many of them going beyond what is required of them?
Margie Dana: Sustainability in this field is a funny topic. It is currently not one of the hottest topics, if you follow discussion trends in blogs and LinkedIn Groups. Buyers who as individuals are green “activists” are more likely to make it a priority in their roles. It does remain a very critical issue in higher education (no surprise there). And as you pointed out, if there are corporate sustainability policies and guidelines, print buyers adhere to them.
Related articles:
- Dead Tree Makes the AP!: Margie Dana inspired my first tweet. (I'm still not a big fan of Twitter but warmed up to it a bit recently when I discovered #magazineswithalettermissing.)
- 12 Telltale Signs That You Are A Printing Geek: OK, so maybe some of my commentary on print buying isn't quite as helpful as Margie's.
- The 10 Most Common Paper-Purchasing Mistakes: You see, Dead Tree Edition really can provide serious advice for print buyers -- as long as someone else writes it.
- Rotogravure: A Missed -- and Misunderstood -- Opportunity for Publishers: Another expert (not yours truly) weighs in with unique insights for print buyers.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Rupert, Weiner and Cardboard Animals: 5 Who Should Be Ahead of Me on RISI’s Top 50 Power List
Maintaining the same spot for the second year in a row may not seem like much of an accomplishment, but as we used to say in the magazine business, “Flat is the new up.” (That was early in the recession, when any magazine that matched the previous year’s total for sales of ad pages was the envy of its peers. Then the saying became “Slightly down is the new up.” Now it’s “Ad pages? Wait ‘til you see our new app. It’s really cool!”)
Last year’s selection honored my coverage of the black liquor tax credits. But considering how much effect – absolutely zero -- those 40-plus articles have had in preventing further government giveaways, I didn’t expect to make the list again. In fact, I think the esteemed editors at RISI overlooked a few folks who had far more influence on the forest products industry than I:
Dead People
Going to the magazine section of a grocery store these days is like visiting a morgue – Osama bin Laden on several covers, Cleopatra on National Geographic, another Cleopatra (Liz Taylor) on a couple of post-mortem specials, Betty Ford on news magazines, and Paul McCartney (You say Paul’s still alive? Then you haven’t heard his recent recordings.)
Newsweek brought Princess Diana back from the dead and plopped her into a photo of the recent royal wedding, figuring she was always good for newsstand sales (but, alas, not for ad sales). Rival Time has a bookazine commemorating her 50th birthday. Now if U.S. News & World Report issues America’s Best Dead Princesses, we could call it a leopard-skin pillbox hat trick. (I know, U.S. News is no longer one of the three newsweeklies, but Newsweek and Time aren’t very newsy these days – though they’re selling ads pretty weakly.)
My industry has given up trying to beat the Web or broadcast at breaking news. But when it comes to burying people – or to digging them up and having some fun with them – those new-fangled technologies can’t hold a votive candle to us.
Cardboard Animals
I haven’t received many tips from the cardboard industry ever since pointing out that their toll-free “Cardboard recycles” number actually went to a telephone-sex service. (See Hey, big boy, can I recycle your cardboard?.) So this hot trend involving a paper-based product was not on my radar until a recent Cascades news release announcing the launch of a new pet homes line “for small animals made from recycled cardboard.”
That’s right, there are so many recycled-cardboard animals being manufactured (born?) these days that already a housing industry is growing up around them. Just think, pretty soon they’ll have their own adjustable-rate loans, collateralized mortgage obligations, and paper profits.
The news release touts the “fun and playful . . . cardboard cat chalet and teepee” by noting that the cathouses are “perfect for lapdogs”. (Today’s advice: Don’t bring a lapdog to a cathouse; it will jump onto the bed at the worst times.)
Rupert Murdoch
Murdoch put a dent in the UK newsprint market a few days ago by closing the supposedly profitable News of the World so that its phone-tapping scandal wouldn’t hinder News Corp. expansion efforts. How big will the dent be if Rupert shuts every News Corp. paper that has engaged in illegal or highly unethical activities? Rupert? Rupert?
Rep. Anthony Weiner
Congressman Weiner provided a brief respite for the beleaguered American newspaper industry. And if you believe in the power of prayer, his positive influence is far from over.
For a few glorious weeks, people everywhere, even on the Web were talking about newspapers and their clever “Battle of the Bulge” headlines. They were actually buying newspapers as collectors items. Newspapers became a safe way to pass weiner jokes around the office without getting into trouble with HR.
But now that he’s resigned, we can put a fork into Weiner and call him done, right? Not so fast. Spreading like wildfire among American newsrooms is the new Headline Writers Prayer that was inspired by Weinergate:
“O Lord of Journalism (not you, Rupert, the Real God), we thank Thee for the gift of Anthony Weiner and his – well, You know.
We thank Thee that for awhile we could stop worshiping the false Search Engine Optimization gods with their bland headlines only an engineer could love. We thank Thee that instead we were able to craft good old-fashioned zingers that served the forces of truth, justice, and the double entendre.
We thank Thee that the nuns were wrong; otherwise, as much as we’ve been playing with Weiner lately, all of us would be half-blind.
We promise never again to write headlines causing people to think they should care about anything Lady Gaga does, if You would but grant just two requests:
1) Help the American people understand that “oeh” is pronounced with a long “o”, not a long “a”.
2) Please, oh please, let the next Congressional sex scandal involve John Boehner.
Chinese Bureaucrats
“Creative destruction” is supposed to be a strength of the free-enterprise system. But as far as the paper industry is concerned, the commies have us capitalists beat in the Creative Destruction Department.
What Chinese officials have destroyed and created are having huge impacts worldwide – from defunct Canadian pulp mills being restarted, to recycled-newsprint mills becoming an endangered species in much of the West, to massive forestry (some would say deforestation) projects in places like Indonesia.
The destruction came in the form of forcing thousands of small paper mills, many of which used straw and other non-wood fibers for pulp, to shut down in the past decade.
Rather than the previous Chinese practice of adding capacity with cast-off machines from the West, the Chinese government encouraged the construction of massive new, world-class paper machines. And for environmental and efficiency reasons, the new machines use wood-based fiber and recycled paper – both of which are in short supply.
That giant sucking sound you hear is those Chinese monsters slurping up fiber from around the world, driving pulp prices up to record levels despite a worldwide recession and generally mediocre paper pricing. From the way the Chinese are acting these days, you’d think they were the ones who invented paper.
For further reading:
- Dead Tree Edition Tops Twitter and the World Cup is the Dead Tree Edition article that celebrated last year’s #43 ranking and revealed how I once confused parasitic wasps with parasitic WASPS. (And, yes, once gain Twitter and LinkedIn are below me in the rankings this year.)
- Black Liquor Makes the Top Ten summarizes how billions in taxpayer money has been handed out to U.S. pulp manufacturers in black liquor and Son of Black Liquor tax credits, despite Dead Tree Edition’s coverage. (By the way, three of the top four people on the RISI list this year are CEOs of companies that are benefitting from those handouts.)
- Is Bankruptcy Inevitable for NewPage?: By far Dead Tree Edition's most popular forestry-industry article of the past 12 months (and still a relevant question 10 months after it was published).
- Sexy Slogans With a Bite: My recent article for Publishing Executive, in which I demonstrate an overly active imagination in a quest to perk up the American magazine industry.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
USPS Retirements and Staffing Changes Captured Readers' Attention in 2010
Criticism of the U.S. Postal Service's abundance of supervisors, problems with its retirement process, and possible shifts in its workforce were among the items of greatest interest to Dead Tree Edition readers this year.
The 10 most popular articles this year were all about the Postal Service, led by USPS Has Too Many Supervisors And Too Many Employees, Congressman Says with more than 18,000 page views and 1,140 hours on page. The Oct. 2 article (and its Oct. 16 follow-up, ranked #3 in popularity) became more significant a month later when the election made Rep. Darrell Issa the next chairman of the House committee overseeing the Postal Service.
Interest among postal workers concerning how their jobs might change showed up in high readership for USPS May Split Role of Letter Carrier By Creating "100% Street" Routes (ranked #2), Postal Service Plans to Use More Part-Time Employees (#6), and GAO Suggests Plant Closings, Two-Tiered Wage Structure for USPS (#7).
Concerns about practices that discourage USPS retirements showed up in the #4 ranking for Why Does USPS Make Retiring Difficult When It Has So Many Excess Employees? Tough Question #5 and #5 for How Does the Postal Service Discourage Early Retirement? Let Me Count the Ways.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Potter Quitting the Worst CEO Job in America, FSS Machines Shuffled Again -- But Do They Work?, and perennial favorite The Unofficial Guide to Flats Sequencing, which has been updated several times since its original publication nearly two years ago.
As for non-postal articles, readers spent the most time with NewPage Does The Curley Shuffle (Was it the article or the Three Stooges clip that drew them in?), Is Bankruptcy Inevitable for NewPage?, IRS Brings Son of Black Liquor Back From the Dead; Ruling May Be Worth Billions to U.S. Pulp Makers, and Newspapers Are Greener Than Web News, Says Environmental Expert.
While we're looking back on the year, allow me to walk you through the highlights and low points for Dead Tree Edition:
January: Dead Tree Edition reports that the regulations governing USPS price caps don't seem to anticipate the sort of deflation that occurred in 2010: "What is not clear is how the rate cap for 2011 will be calculated." Nine months later, the Postal Service realizes the regulations are not clear and asks the Postal Regulatory Commission how to calculate the rate cap for 2011.
February: D. Eadward Tree eats crow when newsprint manufacturer White Birch goes Chapter 11.
March: This blog breaks the news that publicly traded U.S. pulp manufacturers chalked up $6.5 billion in black liquor tax credits during 2009. Various media outlets have subsequently used that number without attribution. Are we really supposed to believe that they dug through the SEC filings of 21 companies to verify that the number was correct? Or is there a new rule of reporting that says you can rely on information from an anonymous blog as long as you don't cite it as the source?
April: We celebrate Earth Day by recommending the use of genuine Amazonian rubber condoms and the firing of Smokey the Bear.
May: The Associated Press distributes an article that for the first time quotes Dead Tree Edition as a source, in this case regarding a quarterly loss for Quad/Graphics. Someone wasn't paying attention to the new rules for citing anonymous blogs. (See March.)
June: Mr. Tree is named #43 on RISI's Power List of movers and shakers in the global paper industry. Still in shock, he reveals how he once confused parasitic wasps with parasitic WASPs.
July: Once again, Mr. Tree is found eating crow, this time after the IRS made "Son of Black Liquor" tax credits possible. He's still trying to figure out how the IRS determined that a "fuel meets the EPA registration requirements if the EPA does not require the fuel to be registered."
August: Print Media Centr's Deborah Corn, the Barbara Walters of the printing industry, publishes an extensive interview with Mr. Tree that delves into rumors that he lives in Hawaii.
September: A publisher offers Mr. Tree some actual money to write a series of articles in 2011. Stay tuned.
October: USPS announces that Pat Donahoe, whose double life as Mr. Tree had been exposed only five months earlier, will be the new Postmaster General.
November: Popular publishing analyst BoSacks' email newsletter says "my e-friend D. Eadward Tree has some of his usual excellent observations about our industry and the new magazine apps," referring to the article that introduced a new term -- app-oplexy. BoSacks responds to the resulting inquiries by insisting he doesn't know Mr. Tree's real identity. (Psst, don't tell Bo that his wife writes most of this blog's articles during his infamous poker games.)
December: Mr. Tree is so burned out that he goes nine days without publishing an article, then ends the hiatus with a rehash of what he previously published during the year. Hey, this Postmaster General thing is hard work.
The 10 most popular articles this year were all about the Postal Service, led by USPS Has Too Many Supervisors And Too Many Employees, Congressman Says with more than 18,000 page views and 1,140 hours on page. The Oct. 2 article (and its Oct. 16 follow-up, ranked #3 in popularity) became more significant a month later when the election made Rep. Darrell Issa the next chairman of the House committee overseeing the Postal Service.
Interest among postal workers concerning how their jobs might change showed up in high readership for USPS May Split Role of Letter Carrier By Creating "100% Street" Routes (ranked #2), Postal Service Plans to Use More Part-Time Employees (#6), and GAO Suggests Plant Closings, Two-Tiered Wage Structure for USPS (#7).
Concerns about practices that discourage USPS retirements showed up in the #4 ranking for Why Does USPS Make Retiring Difficult When It Has So Many Excess Employees? Tough Question #5 and #5 for How Does the Postal Service Discourage Early Retirement? Let Me Count the Ways.
Rounding out the Top 10 were Potter Quitting the Worst CEO Job in America, FSS Machines Shuffled Again -- But Do They Work?, and perennial favorite The Unofficial Guide to Flats Sequencing, which has been updated several times since its original publication nearly two years ago.
As for non-postal articles, readers spent the most time with NewPage Does The Curley Shuffle (Was it the article or the Three Stooges clip that drew them in?), Is Bankruptcy Inevitable for NewPage?, IRS Brings Son of Black Liquor Back From the Dead; Ruling May Be Worth Billions to U.S. Pulp Makers, and Newspapers Are Greener Than Web News, Says Environmental Expert.
While we're looking back on the year, allow me to walk you through the highlights and low points for Dead Tree Edition:
January: Dead Tree Edition reports that the regulations governing USPS price caps don't seem to anticipate the sort of deflation that occurred in 2010: "What is not clear is how the rate cap for 2011 will be calculated." Nine months later, the Postal Service realizes the regulations are not clear and asks the Postal Regulatory Commission how to calculate the rate cap for 2011.
February: D. Eadward Tree eats crow when newsprint manufacturer White Birch goes Chapter 11.
March: This blog breaks the news that publicly traded U.S. pulp manufacturers chalked up $6.5 billion in black liquor tax credits during 2009. Various media outlets have subsequently used that number without attribution. Are we really supposed to believe that they dug through the SEC filings of 21 companies to verify that the number was correct? Or is there a new rule of reporting that says you can rely on information from an anonymous blog as long as you don't cite it as the source?
April: We celebrate Earth Day by recommending the use of genuine Amazonian rubber condoms and the firing of Smokey the Bear.
May: The Associated Press distributes an article that for the first time quotes Dead Tree Edition as a source, in this case regarding a quarterly loss for Quad/Graphics. Someone wasn't paying attention to the new rules for citing anonymous blogs. (See March.)
June: Mr. Tree is named #43 on RISI's Power List of movers and shakers in the global paper industry. Still in shock, he reveals how he once confused parasitic wasps with parasitic WASPs.
July: Once again, Mr. Tree is found eating crow, this time after the IRS made "Son of Black Liquor" tax credits possible. He's still trying to figure out how the IRS determined that a "fuel meets the EPA registration requirements if the EPA does not require the fuel to be registered."
August: Print Media Centr's Deborah Corn, the Barbara Walters of the printing industry, publishes an extensive interview with Mr. Tree that delves into rumors that he lives in Hawaii.
September: A publisher offers Mr. Tree some actual money to write a series of articles in 2011. Stay tuned.
October: USPS announces that Pat Donahoe, whose double life as Mr. Tree had been exposed only five months earlier, will be the new Postmaster General.
November: Popular publishing analyst BoSacks' email newsletter says "my e-friend D. Eadward Tree has some of his usual excellent observations about our industry and the new magazine apps," referring to the article that introduced a new term -- app-oplexy. BoSacks responds to the resulting inquiries by insisting he doesn't know Mr. Tree's real identity. (Psst, don't tell Bo that his wife writes most of this blog's articles during his infamous poker games.)
December: Mr. Tree is so burned out that he goes nine days without publishing an article, then ends the hiatus with a rehash of what he previously published during the year. Hey, this Postmaster General thing is hard work.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
An Interview With Dead Tree Edition’s D. Eadward Tree
Have you ever wondered how Dead Tree Edition got its name, where D. Eadward Tree lives, or how much of a social-media moron he really is?
If so, check out the great interview with Mr. Tree (Chief Arborist of Dead Tree Edition) that print-industry blogger Deborah Corn posted today at PrintMediaCentr.
She actually got him to explain in just a few sentences what the whole black-liquor controversy is about, and she prompted him to answer the provocative question, "USPS -- Friend or Foe?". Mr. Tree also provides some advice for would-be bloggers.
If so, check out the great interview with Mr. Tree (Chief Arborist of Dead Tree Edition) that print-industry blogger Deborah Corn posted today at PrintMediaCentr.
She actually got him to explain in just a few sentences what the whole black-liquor controversy is about, and she prompted him to answer the provocative question, "USPS -- Friend or Foe?". Mr. Tree also provides some advice for would-be bloggers.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Dead Tree Edition Tops Twitter and the World Cup
RISI, "the leading information provider for the global forest products industry," shocked me and a lot of sane people as well this week by naming me to its "Power List" of the industry's top 50 movers and shakers.
"Written by the self-styled D. Eadward Tree, the Dead Tree Edition blog is not afraid to dig into the issues that the pulp, paper and publishing industry would rather lay buried under dead leaves," says the article explaining my selection as #43. It says this blog "has become a must-read for anybody involved in the pulp, paper and publishing industries, especially those who like a bit of spice with their breakfast reading."
OK, so #43 is pretty far down the list, but at least it's ahead of Domtar CEO John Williams (#48), FIFA World Cup (#49), and "Social Media: Twitter and LinkedIn" (#50).
My selection to this prestigious list has led to some questions that I will now try to answer:
"Written by the self-styled D. Eadward Tree, the Dead Tree Edition blog is not afraid to dig into the issues that the pulp, paper and publishing industry would rather lay buried under dead leaves," says the article explaining my selection as #43. It says this blog "has become a must-read for anybody involved in the pulp, paper and publishing industries, especially those who like a bit of spice with their breakfast reading."
OK, so #43 is pretty far down the list, but at least it's ahead of Domtar CEO John Williams (#48), FIFA World Cup (#49), and "Social Media: Twitter and LinkedIn" (#50).
My selection to this prestigious list has led to some questions that I will now try to answer:
- Q: How much did you have to pay RISI's editors to get on the list? A: Nothing, I swear.
- Q (from my roommate/partner): So does this mean you will get paid actual money instead of just link-bait when Web sites re-publish your articles? A: Hope springs eternal.
- Q: Now that you've given Twitter a good thrashing, will Dead Tree Edition do an IPO? A: Yeah, right. Wanna buy some shares?
- Q: Will Dead Tree Edition start showing up in Google News? And will search engines start giving higher rankings to articles on Dead Tree Edition than to excerpts and quotations of those articles on other Web sites? A: You obviously don't understand how the search-engine gods rule the www.world. They judge an article on Dead Tree Edition to be the unreliable work of an obscure, anonymous blogger. But when those same words appear in a newspaper or an industry Web site, they suddenly become imbued with authority.
- Q: Is it true you almost wrote an article about how certain famous white people could help save forests? A: Yes. I read that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was releasing parasitic WASPs into the Chicago area to stop the spread of emerald ash borers that were killing trees. Finally, I thought, here's a real job for Prince Charles to do while waiting for Mum to, you know. And this could even give Paris Hilton a chance to do something useful. Then I realized that the article was talking about parasitic insects, not parasitic White Anglo-Saxon Protestants. Oh well. I still wonder what happens to the wasps after they eat all the ash borers. Maybe they buy mini-vans and join the local country club.
- Q: If you're so influential, why do members of Congress and most news media still insist that Obamacare was paid for partly by closing a $23 billion loophole for black liquor -- a loophole that you repeatedly said never existed? A: Alleged influence in the forest products industry doesn't carry much weight on Capitol Hill or with the news media.
- Q: How did you end up ranked ahead of Williams, whose company probably had much to do with preventing the early demise of the U.S. black liquor tax credit (despite your attacks on the program) and then became the #1 recipient of Canada's version of the credit? A: Good question. I guess Domtar employs more voters in Maine and Canada than I do.
- D. Eadward Tree Unmasked! A top U.S. Postal Service executive was revealed to be the man behind Dead Tree Edition.
- Dead Tree Makes the AP!
- Can You Trust an Anonymous Blog with an Aggravating Name? Not everyone thinks Dead Tree Edition should be taken seriously.
- Dead Tree Edition's Best of 2009, which will help you understand why I'm especially happy to be ranked ahead of Twitter (as will Twitter vs. RSS: So Much for Superior Technology).
Thursday, May 20, 2010
D. Eadward Tree Unmasked!
A postal executive stunned the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) today by announcing that D. Eadward Tree, pseudonymous chief arborist of Dead Tree Edition, is actually a high-ranking Postal Service official.
Rosa Fulton, Executive Director of Flats Sequencing, said that the Flats Sequencing Map published on this blog last month had only been shown to a few high-ranking USPS officials. She announced, therefore, that D. Eadward Tree must be none other than Patrick R. Donahoe, the #2 man at the U.S. Postal Service. Donahoe reportedly laughed but issued no denials.
Ms. Fulton's "revelation" also drew chuckles from those who had read this blog's criticisms of several Postal Service programs, such as the rechristening of the Intelligent Mail barcode as the FUBAR code.
Confession: That super-secret FSS map was part of a presentation to a meeting of mailers in March that was then posted on a USPS web site.
I've been called many things before -- DeadTree, Mr. Tree, Tree Dude, His Pseudonym-ness, an executive at several prominent publishing companies, that anonymous blogger with the aggravating name, an irritating #&*%#$ -- but never Pat Donahoe.
Here are a couple of clues: Yes, I have a day job, but my salary is less than Mr. Donahoe's.
Rosa Fulton, Executive Director of Flats Sequencing, said that the Flats Sequencing Map published on this blog last month had only been shown to a few high-ranking USPS officials. She announced, therefore, that D. Eadward Tree must be none other than Patrick R. Donahoe, the #2 man at the U.S. Postal Service. Donahoe reportedly laughed but issued no denials.
Ms. Fulton's "revelation" also drew chuckles from those who had read this blog's criticisms of several Postal Service programs, such as the rechristening of the Intelligent Mail barcode as the FUBAR code.
Confession: That super-secret FSS map was part of a presentation to a meeting of mailers in March that was then posted on a USPS web site.
I've been called many things before -- DeadTree, Mr. Tree, Tree Dude, His Pseudonym-ness, an executive at several prominent publishing companies, that anonymous blogger with the aggravating name, an irritating #&*%#$ -- but never Pat Donahoe.
Here are a couple of clues: Yes, I have a day job, but my salary is less than Mr. Donahoe's.
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