The best equipped, busiest and most profitable regional printing industry in the United States - - and the region’s ONLY comprehensive and up-to-date trade show and conference to serve that industry - - will come together this May in Long Beach, California. This year’s event will be the 29th annual edition of the GUTENBERG FESTIVALSM, and more than 20,000 industry professionals from throughout the west are expected to take part. The 2001 GUTENBERG FESTIVAL will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center on May 17-19, and will feature more than 300 exhibiting companies at the only graphics, prepress, printing and converting industry showcase of the year in the western United States. The show’s comprehensive representation is a good match for the region it serves, notes Regis J. Delmontagne, president of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC®), which produces the GUTENBERG FESTIVAL. "The Western US, and California in particular, continues to be one of the world’s foremost arenas for both technological innovation and business growth," Delmontagne said. Specifically, he noted that California leads the nation in the number of installed offset sheetfed presses, with slightly more than 3,000 - - more than in all of New England. California also has some 10,500 offset duplicators and more than 525 web presses, both statistics reflecting the largest concentrations of these equipment types in the nation. And California printers are putting their technological resources to good use. The Printing Industries of America (PIA) reported that for the first half of the year 2000, western printers boasted an average 12.16 percent net profit on sales, the highest in the nation. GASC is working to expand the appeal of the show beyond the borders of the United States. A multi-step promotional campaign is being mounted in Mexico to draw leaders of Mexican print companies to Long Beach. "The Mexican printing industry is growing strongly, partly as a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement," Delmontagne said. "The 2001 GUTENBERG FESTIVAL represents an easily accessible opportunity for Mexican printing executives to explore all of the latest tools the market offers to help them manage their growth profitably." Adding to the take-home value of attending GUTENBERG FESTIVAL, the Printing Industries of Southern California (PIASC) is organizing a program of 9 full-day and 29 half-day seminars to be offered at the show. Seminars are presented by some of the industry's most knowledgeable and respected professionals. Please note that the seminar program begins Wednesday, May 16, the day before the exhibits open.