Inkjet Summit: A Win-Win for Sponsors and Attendees

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FL—The Inkjet Summit, held April 9-11, at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, was a major success for both sponsors and attendees. The Inkjet Summit is an invitation-only, hosted summit designed for senior managers and business executives from print providers and corporate enterprises who are looking to develop strategies, understand their options, and make major investment decisions around inkjet printing technology.

“The Inkjet Summit provided much needed insight into the current state of inkjet technology and the opportunity to talk to "real" users first-hand,” praised attendee John Lacagnina, CEO, SoftPrint. “The good, the bad and the ugly about inkjet were all there—just what is needed to make informed decisions.”

Added John McGrath, print technology coordinator, Veritas Document Solutions, CGX: “The event was extremely informative whether you were an asset owner or potential inkjet purchaser. The environment allowed for great sharing of ideas among peers, and the one-on-ones with suppliers really helped expand my knowledge of the products available in the market. Attending the Inkjet Summit is invaluable to anyone in the print industry.”

While users are looking for information and guidance, suppliers are looking for ways to identify and develop relationships with these potential buyers specifically interested in inkjet solutions. The Inkjet Summit was able to meet both of these needs, making the event a tremendous success for both attendees and sponsors.

“The inaugural Inkjet Summit was a perfect balance of education and networking with progressive leaders who can grow our business,” stated Joseph Raccuia, president and CEO, Finch Paper. “Finch Paper is very proud to have been a Keynote Sponsor and we look forward to being an important partner for many years to come.”

"The Inkjet Summit provided customers with a unique opportunity to network and share views, business directions and perspectives on the future role of inkjet technology in the industry,” noted George Promis, vice president, production solutions and technology alliances, Ricoh. “We received positive feedback from all the customers we met with, confirming that the summit provided a fresh new forum to bring vendors and customers together to discuss the implications of emerging inkjet technology. Building relationships and communicating directly with customers is vital to our business, and we welcomed the summit's innovative approach in balancing informative sessions with one-on-one meetings with high-quality attendees. We're already involved in follow-up dialogue with customers who attended this year's event, and look forward to contributing to make the Inkjet Summit an even better event next year.”

Inkjet Summit Keynote sponsors included Canon Solutions America, Finch Paper, Ricoh Production Print Solutions and Xerox. Other sponsors included Appleton Coated, EFI, Fujifilm, GMC Software, Impika, KBA, Konica Minolta, Mitsubishi Imaging, Muller Martini, New Direction Partners, Pitney Bowes, RISO, Scodix, Solimar Systems and Unisource.

“Canon Solutions America is the market share leader in inkjet with our Océ-branded technology, and there’s a reason for that. We take our customers’ needs seriously,” stated Guy Broadhurst, vice president, new technologies and client solutions, Canon Solutions America. “We know they are looking for guidance to discuss their business situations, help develop strategies and make major investment decisions around this new technology that is projected to account for one-third of all digital print volume by 2016. We put ourselves in places that enable them to have those conversations with us, whether one-on-one at their place of business, at our Customer Experience Center, or in new forums such as the Inkjet Summit. We are here to partner with our customers to help them turn inkjet into a competitive advantage. Because we know that together, we can do anything.”

Added Dustin Graupman, vice president/general manager of inkjet business, Xerox: “This event was a great success! Because of the unique nature of the production inkjet opportunity, the value everyone got out of the dialogue was fantastic. We may find that this type of event portends the future of the industry ‘trade show,’ which has long been as much, or more, about information sharing and relationship building than about showing new equipment.”

Executive attendees enjoyed the opportunity to meet one-on-one with, and listen to focused case studies from, these leading inkjet solution suppliers. They also learned from top industry experts and their peers in keynote sessions, panels, fireside chats and breakout sessions.

“Our goal was to bring together suppliers and qualified attendees who are investigating and intend to purchase inkjet solutions, into an environment facilitated by experts. Attendees learned from experts, suppliers and most importantly their peers on how to approach inkjet and how to be successful,” commented Philip McKay, president at nGage Events. “Our event format accomplished this and was truly a win-win for both sponsors and attendees.”

The Inkjet Summit covered three major segments (Book Printing, Direct Mail/Marketing and Transactional/Transpromotional Print) and will expand in 2014. Inkjet Summit 2014 is scheduled to take place at the Ponte Vedra Inn & Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, April 7-9, 2014. Visit here for information on sponsoring and/or attending Inkjet Summit 2014 or contact David Pesko at dpesko@ngagevents.com.