In-plant Events

When I attended my first IPMA conference in 1995, more than 650 people packed the Nashville convention center—and I knew none of them. Having just returned from my 13th conference, I can tell you that a few things have changed. For one thing, I know a lot more people now. That’s a little misleading, though, because with about 100 in attendance this year, the task was a lot easier. Yes, that was quite a drop in numbers from the pre-Internet glory days, when conferences and chapter meetings were the only ways managers could find one another, chew the fat and get advice.

Starting this month, xpedx will offer its MBA of Finance workshops in several locations. Titled “Winning by the Numbers,” the free sessions will take place in these cities: Philadelphia September 18 Houston September 25 Dallas November 6                  Denton, Texas* November 7 Chicago TBD To register, visit www.xpedxworkshops.com * This workshop will be part of the TACUP conference (www.unt.edu/copycenter/TACUP).

Attendees of the recent IPMA conference got a chance to visit University of Oklahoma Printing Services. Administrator John Sarantakos narrates a tour of his award-winning operation.

Kodak customers from the in-plant, data center, commercial printing and other markets gathered at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix recently for four days of information sharing, educational sessions and networking events. Called the 2007 Graphic Users Association (GUA) North American Conference, the event featured topics like digital printing, mailing and TransPromo communications among the more than 90 sessions that took place. Guest speakers from Adobe, Apple, Business Resource Services and the Direct Marketing Association made informational presentations. Other highlights included a full day of Kodak’s Network Symposium, which gave attendees information and ideas about services and applications they can offer to expand

THOSE JUST returning from the IPMA conference, still aglow from the excitement and camaraderie of the three-day event, may be shocked to hear this piece of news: IPMA President Mike Loyd, whose enthusiasm invigorated every aspect of the conference, has announced his decision to take early retirement from Louisiana State University, where he has worked as director of Graphic Services for the past 12 years. The news has had reverberations around the entire printing industry, where Mike has been a well-known figure for many years. Not only is he president of IPMA, the largest in-plant association in the world, he’s a past host

LAST MONTH’S In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference certainly provided a packed schedule of activities for those lucky enough to have attended. It boasted a blend of technology demos, educational sessions, plant tours, networking, baseball, Indian dancing, an Olympic medalist and a small dose of hypnotism. Digital color printing was a popular topic, with at least four sessions and numerous informal discussions dedicated to it. Other hot subjects were PDF workflows, marketing, best practices and mail. After the sessions, attendees took strolls along the Oklahoma City Bricktown river walk with new friends from all over the country, then cheered their colleagues during

The recent ACUP conference was a blast. Now you can see what it was like in a new IPG video, just posted on our website. More than 140 college and university in-plants attended the event in San Francisco, enjoying camaraderie that is seldom found in other industries. Our video captures some of the enthusiasm of the conference, and is sure to bring back good memories for those who were there. The short video shows highlights from some of the sessions on digital printing and customer relations, along with scenes from the vendor exhibit area, the keynote sessions, the lunchtime networking discussions and

The recent ACUP conference in San Francisco was both a good time and a great educational experience. Now you can see what it was like.

In-plant managers from across the country gathered in Oklahoma City last week for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference. Three days of sessions, roundtables, plant tours and vendor visits equipped attendees with lots of great information to bring back to their in-plants. Keynote speaker Josh Davis, a three-time Gold medalist in the 1996 Olympics, spoke of his journey to become a swimming champ, even after his first coach suggested he switch sports. He described how having an “attitude of gratitude” for the good things in his life has motivated him to do the things he didn’t want to do. In-plants broke into groups by

PITTSBURGH—June 13, 2007—Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF), the world’s largest graphic arts trade association, has announced the appointment of graphic arts industry veteran Eric Neumann as research manager in the organization’s research department. In his new role, Neumann will be responsible for managing the various research efforts and projects the organization performs for its customers, including product development and on-press testing, as well as marketing those services to others in the industry. “Eric’s addition to our team emphasizes the rigor with which we do our research and testing and highlights our department’s high level of professionalism and expertise,” says Dr. Mark Bohan, vice