May 14, 2003 -- “Beyond ink-on-paper” may be among the most prominent themes in today’s graphic communications industry, and the recently announced 65-session educational program at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO 2003 will certainly reflect that fact. The program will offer industry managers a wide range of sessions exploring value-added services, new media opportunities, and growth avenues created by expanding technology. But that doesn’t mean the traditional “core” functions of a printing plant will be neglected in Chicago. All the basics, from finding customers and executing jobs to managing the business for maximum profit and growth, will receive detailed attention in high-level sessions. GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO 2003 will take place September 28 through October 1 at McCormick Place South in Chicago. It will be the leading event of 2003 for the printing, publishing and converting industry, anywhere in the world. The educational program will feature three free General Sessions, four special brunch presentations, and over 60 other seminars and workshops, on topics including business management, sales and marketing, technology implementation, and growth opportunities for today’s print-based businesses. “The challenge for our entire industry today is to find the right balance between aggressively pursuing all of the new opportunities presented by technology and converging markets, and doing our traditional jobs in the best possible way for the most demanding customers,” says Regis J. Delmontagne, president of the Graphic Arts Show Company, Inc. (GASC), the event’s producer. “Both the exhibits and the educational program reflect this dual mission.” Leading the education program are three General Sessions free to all attendees: The State of the Printing Industry, presented by a panel including Ronnie Davis of the Printing Industries of America (PIA), Kip Smythe of NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES), Bill Herrott of the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), Vince Naselli of TrendWatch Graphic Arts, and Bob Rosen of R. H. Rosen Associates. New Value-Added Business Opportunities, moderated by Professor Frank Romano of Rochester Institute of Technology. Return of the Printing Industry Curmudgeons, a reprise of one of last year’s most popular sessions, which packed a large meeting room and ran well past its scheduled ending time. This year, Prof. Frank Romano will moderate a panel of experienced and opinionated industry observers, including Bill Lamparter of PrintCom Consulting, Ray Prince of the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (GATF), M. Richard Vinocur of Footprint Communications…plus a “mystery curmudgeon!” GASC has scheduled four special brunch presentations this year. Each will begin at 11:45 a.m., with one scheduled on Sunday, September 28, two on Monday, September 29, and one on Tuesday, September 30. The brunches are: Workflow Trends That You Can Use, with Howie Fenton of NAPL, Sunday. PDF Update, with Julie Shaffer of GATF, Monday. The Holistic Printer: Gorelick Unleashed, with consultant Dick Gorelick, also on Monday. Ten Critical Trends In The Printing Industry, with Frank Romano, on Tuesday. The remainder of the educational program includes individual sessions addressing such current opportunities as wide format digital inkjet printing, mailing and fulfillment, database management, creative services and new media topics, as well as a full range of traditional printing sales, operational and quality control topics. Seminars held at this year’s event will run the gamut of topics, and a special series will feature several sessions supporting both wide format inkjet and mailing and fulfillment areas as viable diversification and growth strategies for print-based businesses. In addition, the 2003 edition of EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK, a full-day technology and business conference aimed at top management executives, will be presented at McCormick Place on Saturday, September 27. GASC is offering a number of seminar registration packages, including a “full conference” package that includes EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK and allows registrants unlimited access to seminars throughout the week.  Complete details are at the show website, www.graphexpo.com, where updated information will be posted frequently in the months leading up to the show.