In-plant Events

Dozens of in-plant managers came to Philadelphia recently for the On Demand Conference. Here's a brief glimpse of what they saw there.

In just 10 days the On Demand Conference & Expo will kick off in Philadelphia. This year's event focuses on in-plants like never before, with nearly a dozen sessions covering topics of special interest to in-plant managers. Here's a quick list, in the order they take place:

If you were planning to attend the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's conference in June but haven't gotten around to registering yet, you have just over a week to do it and save $300. The group extended its early bird discount to March 15.

This year's event, to be held in Rochester, N.Y., is set to be a big one, with seven keynote, 28 sessions, a two-day vendor fair, tours of Kodak and Xerox facilities and an awards banquet.

IT WAS with a sense of dread that I opened the e-mail from Richard Griffin last month. Griffin, manager of Central Piedmont Community College’s in-plant (and occasional writer for IPG) had graciously and enthusiastically volunteered to host the 2009 Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference. He and his co-hosts had made grand preparations for the event in Myrtle Beach, S.C., lined up excellent speakers and brought in strong vendor support. Then, after months of promotion, came this e-mail: “We regret to tell you that, in consultation with the ACUP Board, we’ve postponed ACUP 2009.” With one click of the send button, the hearts of past attendees around the globe were broken. For you see, ACUP did not wither away due to lack of interest; rather it met its fate due to economy-related travel bans instituted at hundreds of schools around the country. University managers who hadn’t missed an ACUP in ages were told they could not attend.

For 44 solid years, university in-plant managers have met annually for one of the most successful and anticipated in-plant events of them all: the Association of College and University Printers conference. But tough economic times have compelled many universities to institute travel bans this year. So severe has been the drop-off in registration this year that, after much discussion, ACUP hosts have decided to postpone the event indefinitely.

Plans for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association's 50th conference are coming along well, according to IPMA officials. Registration numbers are looking good, which is great news at a time when some industry events are struggling to fill seats. "We're ahead of where we were last year at this point," says IPMA President Debbie Pavletich. "Vendor participation is going very, very well."

IT’S SAFE to say that no one left the 31st annual National Government Publishing Association (NGPA) conference thirsting for more information. Held in Bellevue, Wash., near Seattle, the meeting combined excellent educational sessions with a well-orchestrated plant tour that left many attendees breathless.

Reports on Graph Expo attendance are mixed. Overall attendance was down 12.5 percent over the 2007 show, surpassing 26,000. Yet the number of companies sending buyers to the Chicago show rose to 8,800. And vendors report that those attendees were more serious than in previous years.

"Given the situation in the economy, we weren't sure what to expect at the show," acknowledged Sheryl Pattek, vice president, marketing services, production printing systems, at Océ North America. "However. the traffic [was] very steady. Sunday was the busiest Sunday I can remember in the last five years, and Monday was even busier."

The terrorist attacks last week in Mumbai, India, have forced the postponement of a major graphic arts show. The FESPA Digital India 2008 show, scheduled to take place there December 14-16, has been delayed until February.

The show focuses largely on wide-format digital printing equipment and features such vendors as Agfa, EFI, Epson and HP.

The 10th annual PIA/GATF Color Management Conference will be held at the Hilton Tapatio Cliffs Resort in Phoenix next Tuesday. This conference on the use of color management technology will be filled with technical sessions from industry experts and consultants, hands-on computer lab sessions, and more than 30 of the industry's leading vendors in a resource center. Find out more at www.piagatfcolor.org.