Industry Experts Headline Free, 11-City Tour ROCHESTER, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2002  -- For an increasing number of print providers and publishers, the simple act of putting marks on paper is not as profitable as it used to be. However, some businesses are thriving despite the worst economic conditions in a decade. A new 11-city seminar series from Xerox Corporation will show printers and publishers that the difference between those two scenarios often lies in a single concept - digital printing. The high-value services that digital can deliver command the premium prices that fuel business success for top graphic arts companies. The free, daylong "Printing and Publishing Industry Seminar" will focus on the integration of new value-added services becoming the lifeblood of graphic arts service providers. One example is digitally printed books, which have become a new growth and profit opportunity in the publishing industry. The tour begins today in Washington, D.C., and concludes in Minneapolis on Oct. 1. Participants will hear that new profits depend on moving from a manufacturing to a service perspective, new business development strategies, and the ability to serve a wider range of customer needs. Services such as variable information, print on-demand, database marketing, and mailing and fulfillment are profitable growth areas that add value when integrated into a printer's total business development plan. For publishers, printing books on-demand rather than to inventory reduces costs and captures new market opportunities. Printers and book manufacturers also benefit from the new volume generated. The seminars are aimed at print owners, in-plant managers, publishers, book manufacturers, marketing and sales managers, and operations managers. The printing track will feature nationally known graphic arts experts Vince Naselli, director of TrendWatch Graphic Arts, and Stephen Schnoll, principal partner of Schnoll Media Consulting, as well as 20-year printing veteran John Hamm, vice president and general manager of marketing, Commercial Print Segment, Xerox Corporation. The publishing track will feature keynote speaker Paul Hilts, a well-known publishing and media consultant and former technology editor of Publishers Weekly, as well as publishers and book manufacturers in each city who have distinguished themselves in the digital book marketplace. Attendees of the printing track will hear about the importance of developing their own value-added services business plan and how to implement it profitably. Participants will hear: Xerox experts on 1:1 digital variable data printing opportunities; Adobe Systems, Inc. representatives on Web job submission and PDF workflows; and print providers who are successfully growing their businesses through value-added services. Publishing track attendees will learn about the digital book market: where the new opportunities are, what solutions are available and how to assess the size of the opportunity for their businesses. They will hear from Xerox experts on end-to-end solutions available for digital books on demand, as well as from book manufacturers who are providing these services to the industry. Seminar co-sponsors are Adobe Systems, Inc.; IPA, the Association of Graphic Solutions Providers; IPMA, International Publishing Management Association; Kodak Polychrome Graphics; Printing Industries of America affiliates; PIA/GATF Digital Printing Council; and TrendWatch. Other seminars will be held in Boston, Aug. 22; Toronto, Aug. 27; Chicago, Sept. 5; Los Angeles, Sept. 10; San Francisco, Sept. 12; Atlanta, Sept. 17; Dallas, Sept. 19; New York, Sept. 24; and Philadelphia, Sept. 26. To register for the free seminar and for complete program details, visit www.xerox.com/registernow , or call Tammy Langdon at 585-422-9468.