IPMA 2018 Conference Starts Sunday

This weekend, in-plant managers from all over the country are heading to California for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference. An impressive 64 of the more than 150 in-plant registrants will be attending the IPMA conference for the first time.

The conference will kick off Sunday, June 10, in Costa Mesa, Calif., with a beach-themed reception, and then get going full speed on Monday morning when IPG Editor Bob Neubauer takes the stage for the opening presentation on in-plant trends and opportunities, citing the latest IPG research, including new data on software use in the in-plant. He will be followed by motivational speaker Scott Burrows, a quadriplegic who has overcome many setbacks and thrived as a result.

The day will continue with educational sessions on topics like production inkjet, cybersecurity, innovations in government printing, USPS Informed Delivery and bicycle delivery — all before lunch. Monday evening, the IPMA awards reception and ceremony will take place, during which attendees will be able to vote for their favorite In-Print contest winner, which will be crowned the Attendees Choice winner. The offset and non-offset In-Print Best of Show winners — selected by the judges in March — will also be revealed via two exciting videos, produced by IPG's Neubauer.

One of the most anticipated IPMA sessions will be a debate on Wednesday morning between Howie Fenton and Barb Pellow on outsourcing versus in-house printing, moderated by Neubauer. It is sure to stir up passionate responses from the in-plant audience. Tuesday's keynote speaker will be Leon Logothetis, star of the Netflix series The Kindness Diaries.

On Tuesday, the vendor fair will open, featuring 47 vendors, who will give equipment and software demonstrations. Roundtable discussions on Tuesday will give government in-plants, small shops, mailers and higher-ed in-plants a chance to share stories and ask for peer advice. Other session topics at the conference will include wide-format printing, augmented reality, generating new revenue, employee engagement, Web-to-print and using student employees. In addition, IPG columnist and former in-plant manager Wes Friesen will offer his thoughts on "Successfully Managing In-plant Operations." See the full agenda here.

To learn more about IPMA 2018 and register, visit IPMA.org. As a perk for those able to stay an extra day, the group will visit one of the country's largest and most impressive in-plants on Thursday, June 14, the Church of Scientology International Dissemination & Distribution Center.