One of the best ways to understand your customers is to attend the trade events they attend. You'll learn about the hot issues and challenges they face as well as hear their comments and responses. Print buyers have their "trade" events too, and one you'll want to attend this one in the fall. Why? While the entire event includes "Learning Labs," 22 conference sessions, daily round table discussions where you'll undoubtedly learn a lot from and about your print buyer customers, there are two sessions for those focused on "green" issues:
  • Ready, Set, Go Green, presented by Aaris Sherin, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, St. John's University, September 11 . In this green session, Aaris Sherin, author of the book SustainAble: A handbook of materials and applications for graphic designers and their clients, demystifies the processes and methodology needed to achieve sustainable design solutions and provides a practical framework from which to approach eco-friendly production. . No longer a fringe market, sustainable design is now driven by economics as well as ethics. Sherin will describe how innovations in production processes and materials have meant that responsibly produced graphic design doesn't have to compromise its visual aesthetic nor does it have to cost substantially more. . Information on production touch-points, such as forestry, paper production, printing and recycling will be included. Case studies and real-world examples will illustrate how graphic designers can make the same great work AND still work sustainably. . (Read our interviews with Ms. Sherin, Part One here>> and Part Two here>>, or check out her book, SustainAble, here>>)
  • Shades of Green, presented by Mike Graff, Sandy Alexander, Inc., September 12 . This special session on the green printing issue will explore how both the customer and the printer can benefit from sustainability efforts. The speaker will review the many steps necessary for a commercial printing company to create a transparent sustainability program, and how to navigate the myriad issues required to become a more environmentally sustainable company.