Orlando, FL - The 35th annual Graphics of the Americas (GOA) Conference and Exhibition, held at the Miami Beach Convention Center on February 25-27, played host to over 70 cutting-edge conference sessions led by the industry's most valued industry experts and educators. Today George Ryan, President of GOA, says that presentations are available for download.

Ryan says, "Attendees confirm that the quality of the numerous education sessions at GOA was again outstanding. We hand-pick the most educated, knowledgeable experts in their respective fields to made sure every inch of the market is covered, with presentations targeted to printers, publishers, designers, marketers and more."

Highlights
Microsoft Keynote Address
This year's keynote address, presented by August de los Reyes, principal director of User Experience for Microsoft Surface, was entitled: The Future of Communication: Design and Delivery.

In the keynote, which drew an audience of over 150, de los Reyes delved into the topic of how we, as a society, interact with media, design, and objects - both now and how many anticipate we will in the future. De los Reyes says signs ultimately lead to the suggestion that every surface and object can become an interactive digital display. Video of this presentation will soon be available at the American Graphics Institute website.

cr?8 conference
Co-located this year at GOA 2010 was AGI's popular cr?8 conference. Thirty-eight thought-provoking sessions were led by creative technology experts who spoke to moving designs and content between print, Web, and interactive mediums. Attendees were busy attending the five conference tracks, which included: Layout & Design, Photoshop, Acrobat & PDF, Web & Interactive Design, Strategy & Management.

Popular sessions included:
- Graphic Secrets for Creative Pros - Greg Heald (AGI)
- Optimizing the Publishing Workflow from Design to Print - Haziel Olivera (AGI)
- Adobe Acrobat: Checking, Correcting, and Editing PDFs - Chad Chelius (AGI)
- Integrating Social Media into Your Business - Christopher Smith (AGI)
- Fundamentals of XHTML and CSS - Jeremy Osborn (AGI)

Brand Protection Conference
The Brand Protection Conference, co-produced with Package Design Magazine, was a topic of conversation for many at GOA. The comprehensive, two-day conference centered on the very real and serious matter of counterfeit printing. Presentations focused on pharmaceutical counterfeiting, label and packaging security, biometric brand protection, and more.

A session of particular interest was a hands-on case study about counterfeit wine labels. Presenters Frank Kanonik, Richard Warner and Dr. James A. Hayward produced a counterfeit 2007 North Fork Syrah label from a Long Island, NY winery. They discussed the latest technologies being used to identify counterfeit items, as well as ways to help companies prevent this type of illegal practice.