In-plant Events

A recent IPG survey of in-plant managers revealed that about 30 percent attend educational conferences on a regular basis. Of those, the most popular conference seems to be the Association of College and University Printers conference (taking place April 15-19 in San Francisco). Though a larger percentage say they attend conferences not on our list, it was interesting that a conference limited to higher-ed in-plants would rank higher than the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference, open to in-plants from every industry. Here’s a breakdown of the conferences in-plant managers attend: • ACUP 32% • IPMA 27% • On Demand Conference 27% • SUPDMC 13% •

More than 125 document professionals attended the first Digital Printing in Government Forum held recently in Washington D.C. It was organized by INTERQUEST, a research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry. Robert C. Tapella, chief of staff at the Government Printing Office, gave the keynote address, providing an update of GPO’s document production and distribution strategy. He also discussed initiatives GPO is spearheading to bring the benefits of digital printing to customers. Other presenters included Jane Bloodworth, manager of Printing, Graphics and Map Design at The World Bank, Mack Strauss from the Defense Logistics Agency’s Document Automation and Production Service, and Pedro

John Hurt, the director of development for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association, has resigned to accept a position with the Boy Scouts of America. Hurt had held the newly created position since he retired from Oklahoma Gas and Electric last year. In other news, to make its membership year consistent for all members, IPMA will make all memberships begin on April 1 and last through March 31. This change will take place in 2008. During the transition period leading up to April 1, 2008, renewal notices will be pro-rated. (e.g. If your membership expires this June, you will receive a pro-rated renewal notice

The AIIM and ON DEMAND Conference & Expo, which will take place April 16-19 at the Boston Convention & Exposition Center, has announced its keynote speakers. They include: • John Schwarz, Chief Executive Officer of Business Objects, the world’s leading provider of business intelligence solutions. (Wednesday, April 18 at 9:00 a.m.) • Jeff Teper, Corporate Vice President, Office Business Platform Microsoft. Teper is responsible for Office SharePoint Server and its portal, content management, search and line-of-business integration technologies. (Wednesday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m.) • Stephen J. Dubner, international bestselling author of Freakonomics. Dubner will illustrate how economics is, at root, the study of incentives—that is, how people

Due to popular demand, xpedx-sponsored MBA of Finance Workshop is making a return visit to Charlotte in less than two weeks. The in-plant community in Charlotte liked the workshop so much that they requested a second one. It will take place February 1, 7:30 to 11:30, at 4265 Trailer Drive, Charlotte, N.C. Having already drawn crowds in cities around the country, the four-hour workshop will provide in-plants with strategies to help them get senior management to make the investments necessary to successfully take on the competition and grow their in-plants. Learn more (and watch a video on the workshops) by visiting xpedxworkshops.com or e-mailing rachel.guenther@xpedx.com.

More than 50 printers traveled to Kennesaw, Ga., to attend a customer event at Heidelberg’s U.S. headquarters. The topic: “Straight Printing vs. Long Perfecting.” The event focused on helping printers determine which production process, and ultimately which equipment configuration, is best for their business. The event began with an in-depth look at Heidelberg’s Prinect integrated workflow and color management solutions and a virtual demonstration of a job passing through the Prinect workflow. Printers then “followed” the job to the pressroom for a series of live runs of the same job produced on two different presses: on the Speedmaster SM 102 10-color perfecting press in

Charlie Pesko, founder and president of InfoTrends, will deliver the keynote address at the Xplor Document University, to be held in conjunction with Graphics of the Americas/Xplor. Pesko’s address, to be followed with a panel discussion, will take place on Thursday, March 1 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Titled “Cross Media Publishing: Enhancing your Customer Relationships,” this session will explore the development of cross-media publishing strategies that will serve an organization in forging deeper relationships with its customers. Topics to be covered include: • The changing business of document communications • Cost-effective

Members of the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association will receive free management software as the result of a partnership with P3 Software. And since the cost of the software ($200) is more than IPMA’s annual dues ($185), the deal makes membership in the in-plant association essentially free. Both existing and new members will receive the P3Expeditor software, which manages the outsourcing of non-core production. This includes initial specification, supplier selection, pricing, job production tracking and delivery. The software can increase an in-plant’s productivity, control and accountability while documenting savings. Find out more about the software here: www.p3software.com/GetP3ExpeditorNowIPMA.php. To learn more about IPMA, visit

If you missed the National Government Publishing Association conference in Rochester, now you can get a feel for what it was like in a new video on the IPG Web site (www.ipgonline.com). Government in-plants from all over the country travelled to Rochester for the annual conference, where they not only attended educational sessions, but they visited the facilities of Xerox, Kodak and R.I.T. Bruce James, U.S. Public Printer, addressed the group at R.I.T., and part of his speech is captured in this 3.5-minute video. The video also offers some of the in-plant marketing ideas given in presentations.

Hewlett-Packard is hosting a traveling one-day seminar called GO Digital, along with Printable Technologies, MindFireInc, AccuData, and GPA. It will hit 12 cities in the U.S. and will focus on helping identify profit opportunities in digital printing. The sessions will feature in-depth discussions of how digital technologies—such as the HP Indigo press 5000—are generating more sales with more profitable rates of return for printers and their customers. Attendees will learn to: • Differentiate your operation through profitable high-growth services • Apply technology to your clients’ marketing strategy and deliver a service your clients are demanding • Provide start to finish marketing strategies for