ROCHESTER, NY - November 8, 2005 - PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, announced today that the Applications Forum has expanded from two to four tracks of knowledge-packed sessions, in addition to the popular Pre-Conference Intensives offered each year. The tracks include Small Business, Marketing Best Practices, Advanced Business Strategies, and Operations & Processes. The 2006 conference will be February 27 - March 1 at the Las Vegas Hilton. "Each year, we evaluate and adjust the Application Forum content to meet the evolving educational needs of our audience," said Rab Govil, president of PODi. "This year, we have expanded the scope of the program to provide focused sessions on topics like pricing, relevant marketing and growing a small business. These are issues that Print Service Providers are facing more and more frequently, and the Applications Forum is the ideal venue for them to gain the specialized knowledge they need to succeed in the coming year and beyond." New to the agenda this year, the Small Business Track is geared to the business and technical needs of organizations with ten or fewer employees and less than $2 million in revenue. Attendees will include quick printer owners and operators, as well as in-plant printers and other printers just entering digital. Among the sessions offered are pricing strategies, developing award-winning digital print, and building an all-star sales team. Another recent addition, the Marketing Best Practices Track, gives marketing professionals and their service providers a better understanding of the highly relevant marketing strategies enabled by digital technology and how to maximize ROI. Sessions in this track are targeted toward vice presidents and directors of marketing, the marketing staff of print service providers, database analysts, and creative agencies. Also part of the new line up, the Advanced Business Strategies Track is for business owners and top-level managers who are charged with strategic planning, sales and marketing. The sessions are geared to owners and managers of $5 million and above print service businesses. Technical attendees can benefit from the Operations & Processes Track, with sessions that look at ways to automate workflow and increase productivity. Topics include technical case studies, building customer-integrated workflows, and achieving clean, relevant data. The Pre-conference Intensives let attendees drill down into specific digital print core issues in either a half day or full day format. The popular pre-conference intensives on Monday, February 27th help professionals quickly get up to speed on topics that impact the success of their business. This year's line up includes sessions on Strategic Solution Selling, relevant direct marketing, data quality and XML. The three-day PODi Applications Forum offers a balance of educational information, real world results, and productive networking opportunities. It is the only conference dedicated exclusively to digital printing, and its diverse agenda with highly focused tracks lets attendees maximize their time without the distractions of a large trade show environment. Vendor tabletop exhibits are presented in a low-key educational atmosphere that fosters meaningful one-to-one conversations about the latest devices, tools and services on the market. The prestigious PODi Best Practices awards will also be presented at the Applications Forum to honor successful and innovative digital printing applications. For more information or to register for the 2006 Applications Forum, visit the PODi web site at http://www.podi.org or call 585-239-6063. Register by December 30th to receive the early bird discount.