IPMA Conference Starts Sunday

On Sunday evening, nearly 140 in-plant managers and other attendees will gather in Buffalo, New York, for the opening reception of the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference. It will be the largest gathering of in-plant managers in the world. For many it will be their first time seeing another in-plant manager in three years.

Managers will hail from nearly 80 companies and organizations, and 44 of them will be first-time attendees. They will be joined by 76 representatives from the 38 vendor sponsors, bringing about 215 people together inside the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

The conference will include not only four days of educational sessions (see the ambitious agenda here), but will feature a vendor fair, where attendees can learn about the latest technologies, plus an awards dinner Tuesday night honoring the winners of the In-Print 2022 and IPMA Awards. The identities of the Best of Show winners for 2020, 2021, and 2022 will also be revealed at long last.

Hundreds gathered for the IPMA Awards banquet during the IPMA 2019 conference.

The conference will kick off Monday morning with a presentation by Bob Neubauer, editor of In-plant Impressions. Citing data from a new IPI industry survey, he will discuss how COVID has changed the in-plant industry, which print applications have become more popular during the pandemic, and what directions in-plants are moving as they prepare for future success.

He will be followed by keynote speaker Tracy Stock who will talk about “How to Create an Amazing Workplace that Steers Passion, Performance & Prosperity." Attendees will learn how to create a differentiating culture that inspires behavior change and fosters peak performance.

Later in the day, Consultant Howie Fenton will offer “Lessons Learned From COVID” as he talks about in-plants he has worked with over the past two years. The conference will continue with numerous roundtable discussions focused on different industry segments, like government, health care, insurance, and manufacturing. A managers’ roundtable moderated by Wes Troup of the World Bank will feature panelists John Sarantakos (University of Oklahoma), Julio Rosado (New York City Police Department), and Bobbi Francis (Kansas Blue Cross Blue Shield).

Throughout the conference, a variety of consultants, vendors, and in-plant managers will share their expertise in sessions with topics like