Were always talking about how the Web creates communities. Aharon Nizani, Eva Duvdevani, Etan Rozin and Dan Zetland decided to create one for the ex-Scitex-ers, formalizing an already existing network.
 

Volume 26, Number 14, page 2 of the Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, April 14, 1997.

Former Scitex workers create Ex-Scite-ment

Were always talking about how the Web creates communities. Aharon Nizani, Eva Duvdevani, Etan Rozin and Dan Zetland decided to create one for the ex-Scitex-ers, formalizing an already existing network. By word of mouth alone, in two months the ExScite site (http://www.rozin.com/exscite) already has grown to 310 members and is adding 10 more per week. What’s the draw here? The ExScite crew sees it as a worldwide virtual networking tool. As Craig Kevghas (ex-Scitex PR, now head of the CPR agency) pointed out, In such a close-knit industry where who you know is a key to finding out what you need to know, having an up-to-date contact list of people is a great tool. Its also true that Scitex has employed, trained and thereby provided the publishing, printing and computer industries with a substantial amount of talent. This is a way to keep in touch with people as they change companies.

Think of what headhunters could do with this or associations looking for members. Since most companies ex-employees scatter, why would they want a site like this? Ex-Scitex and ex-Atex employees have always been close and very much a network of their own. (We suspect this is also true of ex-CG people too, but we can’t say from personal experience.) Maybe its because camaraderie and shared experiences have created a sense of togetherness, a bonding even for those who didn’t know each other while working at the company. And in general, most of the Scitex ex-employees have stayed within the growing definition of our industry. So an informal network of ex-Scitex people was formed to provide a means of keeping up to date on who’s now where, what’s happening or about to happen at Scitex, contacts for jobs or consultants, finding products, getting information on companies, etc. A week doesn’t go by that the network isn’t used extensively. ExScite was formed to encourage this networks growth and to provide a virtual place for news, gossip and discussion in addition to establishing a database of addresses.

Etan Rozin (Inside Out Designs http://www.rozin.com) donated his time and talent to devising and implementing the nicely designed site. Regional coordinators on each continent keep track of people and administer the database fields. Already contacts have been made through the site that have helped some of the members. Former executives such as Efi Arazi, Arie Rosenfeld, Yair Shamir, Bob Caspe, Dani Herzka, Bruce Popko, Roger Mattalon, Paul Rosenbaum and George Carlisle have joined, as well as R&D, sales, support and marketing people showing broad appeal and a wide-ranging constituency. The site also provides a set of links to members companies (with a special section for members who have either started companies or become CEO’s) industry resources, news sources and search tools. Many outside companies have expressed interest in the site.

Future plans.

Plans for the site are evolving but there are already ideas for adding headhunter links, special offers, discounts and advertising, along with the vision for turning this into a worldwide networking tool for our industry. The ExScite crew believes there is a lot of value for members and that industry companies including Scitex could also benefit.

Check it out!

Caren Eliezer