IPMA Conference Begins Sunday

Sunday is the opening day of the 2009 In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference, in Rochester, N.Y. This will be the year's largest gathering of in-plant managers. Despite the recession, organizers report very good registration levels.

Though Sunday afternoon will feature roundtable discussions on pricing and Print MIS, the event will really get started that evening at the welcome reception. On Monday, attendees will be bused to Xerox headquarters for the keynote presentation by Eric Armour, president of global business and strategic planning for Xerox. This will be followed by a tour of the facility and then four concurrent sessions.

When attendees return to the hotel, they will have time to visit the vendor fair. Dozens of industry suppliers will have booths and equipment set up for managers to peruse. Afternoon sessions will cover a variety of topics: marketing, ink-jet, PURLs, Web-to-print and much more. The day will end with an outing to the George Eastman house.

On Tuesday, Frank Romano will get the day started with a keynote address that's sure to mix humor with education. This will be followed with sessions on equipment justification, intelligent mail barcodes, thriving in a digital world and sustainable forestry. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer will then give a pre-lunch presentation recapping the past year in major in-plant news. In the evening, attendees can choose between a trip to Niagara Falls, a local winery or the golf course.

Wednesday includes a visit Kodak's facility for a keynote by Elaine Wilde, VP of sales. This will be followed by a tour and several sessions. The afternoon will conclude with more sessions. The main event will be that evening when the awards reception and dinner take place. There, attendees will be the first to learn the winner of the In-Print Best of Show award via a special video (that IPG's Neubauer is still scrambling to finish).