Reston, VA – Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) announced today that it will add a major converting element to the already sizeable international PRINT 05 exhibition. This would enlarge the event overall, and expand its focus in the converting equipment manufacturing sector. PRINT 05 will be held September 9 – 15, 2005 in McCormick Place, Chicago, IL and will be the largest exhibition in the world in 2005 for the entire graphic communications and converting industries. GASC also announced that they would launch a major marketing initiative around the world among converting equipment manufacturers to promote the addition of the converting section. The campaign would be strongly focused on encouraging package printers to attend this single event in Chicago to see and experience the latest in printing and converting equipment technology, and to offer converting machinery manufacturers additional support and market exposure to the commercial printing market. A similar worldwide promotional campaign will be implemented to attract the multi-thousands of package printers to this major exhibition. Commercial printers have increasingly looked outside the traditional ink-on-paper business model to diversify their service offering and expand their customer base over the past several years, in a quest for additional manufacturing efficiency and profitability. Package printing is clearly one of the services printers implement in the effort to diversify, based on the growing number of commercial printers who have started offering converting services to their packaged good customers in the last several years. According to a study conducted by TrendWatch Graphic Arts, the top three concerns, and top three sales opportunities as seen by converters are “Finding Growing Markets”, “Just-in-Time Production” and “Speeding up Turnaround Time”. Commercial printers have addressed these same issues in recent years, and can likely shed some light for converters as to some possible solutions that can be explored. This knowledge-sharing represented by the approximately 80,000 graphic communications professionals expected to gather in Chicago for this global event provides extra value and is just one aspect of the synergies available for converters attending the show in 2005. Even greater educational value can be found at any of the several seminar sessions focused on various aspects of package printing and converting, all presented by recognized experts in their respective fields. To provide additional value for exhibitors, GASC has developed an optional pricing package that adds a flat $4.50 per square foot of space purchased to cover the costs of machinery material handling. This pricing scenario was devised to allow exhibitors to make informed decisions regarding the equipment shown in their exhibits, based on a predictable cost for on-site machinery material handling. It also allows for exhibitors to bring unlimited demonstration equipment to the event while making those expenses a known, fixed quantity. “Exhibitors opting for this new Package can focus on the marketing and sales impact of the choice of equipment they display at the show, rather than considering those selections strictly from a cost standpoint,” noted Regis J Delmontagne, president of GASC, the show’s producer. “The Machinery Material Handling Package will allow our exhibitors to control equipment handling costs as a known quantity going in, allowing them to make better decisions as to what equipment to display to help them increase their return from the show, and be more successful as a result,” continued Delmontagne. PRINT is produced by GASC every four years, and is the largest most comprehensive tradeshow for the graphic communications industry in the world the year’s it is held. GASC is owned by the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL), NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES), and the Printing Industries of America (PIA). GASC is located at 1899 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4367 USA, telephone: 703/264-7200, fax: 703/620-9187, E-Mail: [email protected].