The Inkjet Summit Returns

What started out as a leap of faith five years ago has turned into what’s become the most sought-after invitation to attend a one-of-a-kind printing industry conference. The hosted buyer model of the Inkjet Summit — where all expenses, including airfare, five-star resort hotel accommodations, meals and entertainment are paid for the printer attendees — was a totally new industry concept five years ago as the inaugural Inkjet Summit came together. That’s a far cry from the fifth-annual Inkjet Summit slated to be held April 24-26, 2017, once again at the exclusive Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Total Inkjet Summit attendance has grown so much that the entire Ponte Vedra Inn & Club will be sold out and taken over by participants at this year’s conference.

This is due, in part, to the new in-plant track that will focus on production inkjet from an in-plant perspective. More than 20 in-plants are already signed up to participate, from organizations like HealthSouth, Iowa State University, Michigan Farm Bureau, Navy Federal Credit Union, Farmers Insurance, the State of Michigan, and the Universities of Missouri, Oklahoma, Michigan and Virginia, to name a few.

A record 21 in-plant managers attended the 2016 Inkjet Summit. Among them were (front row, from left) Doug Maxwell (Brigham Young University), Roger Chamberlain (The Cincinnati Insurance Co.), Lora Connaughton (University of North Texas), Charity Beck (UNT), Pete Gjerness (U.S. Bank) and Dino McCann (The Christian Broadcasting Network). Back row, from left: Kelly Hogg (University of Virginia), Ryan Sondrup (BYU), Bret Johnson (Mayo Clinic), Chuck Werninger (Houston Independent School District), Debbie Cate (Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center) and Jud Posner (Church of Scientology, International).

Three Days of Networking

Co-hosted by NAPCO Media (publisher of In-plant Graphics) and nGage Events, the Inkjet Summit brings pre-qualified printer attendees together for three days of networking and sharing real-life experiences with each other, while enjoying a nonstop program of keynotes, user panel discussions, case studies, 1:1 exploratory sessions with sponsors and expert consultant presentations. Approximately 100 printing company owners, senior-level manufacturing/operations managers and corporate enterprise personnel are expected to attend this year’s invitation-only, hosted event.

The Inkjet Summit is designed for business owners and senior managers who want to better understand how current and future inkjet production printing technology, software and solutions will impact their business and investment strategies. It also offers strategic-level insights into what printing industry leaders should do to improve and optimize their organizations.

Aside from the peer-to-peering networking opportunities, senior executives and subject matter experts representing the leading production inkjet press and finishing equipment manufacturers, inkjet paper/consumables suppliers and related software providers will participate. Keynote-level sponsors for Inkjet Summit 2017 include Canon Solutions America, HP, Ricoh and Xerox, in conjunction with a virtual industry who’s who of other production inkjet vendors.

Designed to educate printer attendees who are actively investigating and pursuing initial or continued investments in cut-sheet and continuous-feed production inkjet printing and related technologies, the Inkjet Summit format combines general, breakout and case study educational sessions with various social networking events to maximize the overall knowledge exchange in order to help attendees make more educated business planning and buying decisions.

While the discussion at Inkjet Summit 2017 will be centered on when, not if, production inkjet technology will become the de facto industry digital printing process, it’s comforting to know that the knowledge gained from past summits helped provide inkjet adoption best practices roadmaps —along with pitfalls to avoid — for many past conference attendees. This year’s event will be no different, even as the production inkjet process, workflow and applications continue to mature.