Darmstadt, 18 August 2004 – “IfraExpo 2004 – the Annual Event of the Newspaper Industry" (www.ifraexpo.com) will be held from 11 to 14 October 2004 once again in Amsterdam – for the 14th time. This fact serves not only to underline the attraction of this exhibition location, but also the suitability of the capital of the Netherlands to host the world’s biggest and most important exhibition for the newspaper industry that, for more than 30 years, has set the scene for new developments and technologies and provided the ideal basis for investment decisions. IfraExpo was last held in Amsterdam in the year 2000. The exhibition will be cover four halls of the highly accessible RAI exhibition centre: in Hall 1 (Europahal), 2 (Zuidhal), 4 (Oosthal) and 5 (Noordhal). More than 250 exhibitors from 17 countries will present their products and services for the newspaper and media industries on a total stand space of about 12 500 m2 at the time of going to press. Besides the traditional companies, this year will see some 30 first-time exhibitors. In addition to established industry solutions, up to now more than 50 suppliers have announced “IfraFirsts". An “IfraFirst" is a product that is shown publicly for the first time at an IfraExpo. Ifra, the world’s leading organisation for newspaper and media publishing, expects to welcome approximately 10,000 decision-makers from the media industry worldwide in Amsterdam. IfraExpo 2004 will be open from 11 to 13 October from 10 to 18 h and on 14 October from 10 to 16 h. Ticket prices are 65 euros (plus VAT) for a day ticket and 150 euros (plus VAT) for a season ticket (for four exhibition days). Visitors can save up to ten percent by registering online under www.ifraexpo.com. Events accompanying IfraExpo: As an accompaniment to IfraExpo, numerous top events will inform about latest newspaper technologies. Visitors in possession of a valid ticket for IfraExpo 2004 are entitled to attend the following events free of charge: NewsFloor: New this year is NewsFloor. At this briefing/demo event in hall 5, experts will give live presentations during the four exhibition days to show how the innovations and top technologies of the media industry can be used to generate revenue for companies. The one- or two-hour sessions (in the English language) offer “knowledge to go" with the following content: editorial sharing and rich media archives, moblogging, cross-media advertising (“Best Practice" examples), benefits of digital printing, earning money with mobile services, eNews update, NewsGear 2005, the MINDS project, XML, NewsML, launch of AdsML 2.0, print standardisation. NewsGear 2005: Monday, 11 October 2004, 13 to 14 h Within the framework of the Ifra Advanced Journalist Technology Project, hundreds of hardware and software products and technologies are checked annually for their suitability for use in the increasingly networked, multimedia environment of the news industry. The most innovative and practice-oriented of these tools are combined to form the NewsGear equipment package for mobile reporters that will be presented to the media houses. NewsGear 2005 is a compact, versatile cross-media outfit accommodated in a specially designed technical backpack, with which today’s flexible journalist is correctly equipped for all situations. Get-Together: Will this year feature one of the best dance bands in the Netherlands (Sonny’s Inc) – in the Europa Lounge. Monday, 11 October 2004, 18 to 21.30 h. Participation in any one of the following events held at the RAI in Amsterdam includes a season ticket for IfraExpo 2004: Visual Journalism Day: Monday, 11 October 2004, 10.30 to 18 h (including lunch). An (English-language) Seminar, supported by the Society of News Design. Topics covered will include: better journalism by creativity, first-class news photography, selecting and using visual reporting tools, mission and theory behind the Metro design, the redesign of MSNBC.com and a concluding podium discussion. This event is intended for photographers, photo editors, graphics/design staff and editors with responsibility for photo material. Participation fee (incl. season ticket for IfraExpo): 500 euros (plus VAT). Excellence in Production: Ifra’s second global production conference – the international meeting for business and technology. Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 12.30 to 17.30 h – followed by International Newspaper Color Quality Club Cocktail. Wednesday, 13 October 2004, 9.30 to 14 h – followed by lunch. Conference languages: English, French and German. Printing plants no longer only print. Whereas technology continues to play an important role, in daily practice other aspects such as strategy, marketing and competition are becoming more significant. The trend towards a profit centre inevitably means that a printing plant must be able to offer top quality service at the best possible price, without losing control of its costs – no simple task. Accordingly, the objective of this conference is to give an international overview of noteworthy, progressive production processes that will allow the development of individual ways to maximum production success. Topics will include: The future of the newspaper industry (keynote), Outsourcing core competencies? Disaster Recovery projects, Compact newspapers – consequences for production, colour quality (overview and case studies from the preparations for the International Newspaper Color Quality Club competition), Learning from other industries: an extended workbench concept, IT benchmarking, What price “Product Excellence"?, CTP market overview, and New press developments (review and three case studies). This event is intended mainly for publishers, CEOs, managers, technical and production directors as well as quality, maintenance, prepress, printing, finishing and distribution, and commercial printing managers. Participation fees (incl. season ticket for IfraExpo 2004): 790 euros (plus VAT) for “Early Bird" registration up to 31 August 2004 or 850 euros (plus VAT) after 1 September 2004. Conference day tickets are also obtainable (incl. season ticket for IfraExpo 2004): 500 euros (plus VAT) for “Early Bird" registration or 550 euros (plus VAT) for on-site registration. For programme details, see www.ifraexpo.com. XML – from the business point of view: Thursday, 14 October 2004, 9.30 to 16.30 h (incl. lunch). XML has developed to become the preferred format for recording, storing and exchanging all types of information. Applications and standards with XML capability, such as AdsML, NewsML and JDF, are starting to change working methods in the industry. This non-technical course for managers (in the English language) communicates the core XML concepts and shows how the possibilities of this meta language can be used to secure long-term business success. Participation fee (with “Early Bird" registration – incl. season ticket for IfraExpo): 450 euros (plus VAT). IfraExpo Gazette will be complemented by a moblog service: As in past years, the Ifra journalists working on site will keep visitors informed about the exhibition and accompanying events with the (English-language) exhibition newspaper IfraExpo 2004 Gazette. For the first time, as an electronic complement to the Gazette, a Moblog Service will be operated during this IfraExpo. Moblog stands for “mobile web log". Using state-of-the-art multimedia journalistic tools, impressions, visitor opinions, statements made by seminar lecturer or announcements at press conferences will be gathered live during IfraExpo in text, image and audio and published directly on the web. A moblog service was offered successfully for the first time in July at Publish Asia 2004 in Singapore (http://pubasia04.textamerica.com). Visitors to the IfraExpo moblog web site are also invited to add their comments on the individual content or make available their own content via e-mail or MMS. The central moblog web site can be accessed during IfraExpo under www.gazette.ifraexpo.com. (For “Moblog", see also “NewsFloor" and “NewsGear 2005" above.) Information, registration and hotel reservation: For detailed information or online registration for the various Ifra events, e-mail: [email protected] or access the web site: www.ifraexpo.com. With effect from 1 September 2004, the complete IfraExpo 2004 catalogue will be available online from this web site. Hotel reservations are accepted by the RAI Hotel Service (www.rai.nl) in Amsterdam under telephone +31.20.5491927, fax +31.20.5491947 and e-mail [email protected]. IfraExpo and accompanying events together offer an international platform for meetings between old and new business partners, developing impulses and ideas and exchanges of experience between specialists.