While everyone was headed to Boston for On Demand Expo, excitement was building for a different event in Montréal. Salon Grafik'Art 2007

Tony Karg, Senior Director of Business Development & Marketing - Graphics, from Fujifilm Canada, said "We want to be a long-term partner with the mid-range printing company. We want to help commercial printers capture all the media opportunities to support their customers' brands." Tony talked me through an entire campaign developed for Louis Garneaut, a sporting company. From prepress to production and finishing, each step was demonstrated in the Fuji booth. The Garneaut campaign demonstrated dye-sublimation on jerseys, offset printing of point of sale materials, and a VDP project - a customized catalog.

Karl Belafi, President, KBR Graphics (with sons Kevin, left, and Karl Jr, right), serves the eastern provinces and eastern Ontario out of Quebec, where 35-40% of the Canadian printing industry is located. "We're seeing so many changes in the industry; the challenge is helping people work through and accept those changes," said Karl. Balafi and sons offer everything from duplicators to 80" presses, including the Hammada Press and KBA DI presses.

Pierre Dionne, Regional Sales Director, from GBC Canada welcomed both pre-qualified customers who wanted to "kick the tires" of the equipment they were planning to buy as well as prospects who were exploring their options. "We deal directly with the customer, whether they are small, medium or large companies. They are all looking for training, advice, support and a long-lasting relationship," Pierre told me.

Here are a couple more folks I caught up with in Montréal.
Carl Bérubé CEO/President, TGLC (left), which offers PerfX Color Management Pro software.
Louis Bernard, Event Promoter (right), planning the next event. Vancouver BC, anyone?