"Digital printing is the way we will print as we move forward," said Frank Romano, professor emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology, in his keynote address at the recent Xerox Corporation and Fuji Xerox Premier Partner Congress in Manchester, U.K. The meeting marked the 10th anniversary of the Xerox Premier Partners Global Network, which has more than 800 leading print providers as members from 48 countries.

The meeting was the organization's first global gathering and had 428 Premier Partners from 43 countries in attendance. Until now, the largest meetings covered regions such as Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. "That's the reason I came," said John Lacagnina, president and CEO, ColorCentric Corporation, Rochester, N.Y. "We're looking to globally expand our licensing of prInternet, our distributed fulfillment network. This is the perfect venue for that. We met with companies from France, India, Mexico and China to name a few and plan to continue those discussions in the future."

"The Premier Partners network has grown from a handful of companies 10 years ago to a global network of 800 of the world's most innovative and successful digital print providers," said Valentin Govaerts, senior vice president, Integrated Marketing and Communications, Xerox Europe. "This event is a testament to the value of both the Premier Partners network and the role of digital printing in driving business success around the world."

Many of the 20 main stage and breakout sessions – focused on new business opportunities and new high-growth applications – resonated with attendees. "I came to get a sense of what new technologies are on the horizon, to network, and to benchmark where we are as a company," said Steven Southwell, general manager, franchising, Snap Franchising Ltd., the largest print network in Australia, with 147 centres nationally. "I'm particularly interested in the digital packaging covered in the sessions. That's very much suited to our corporate account program, and I plan to pursue it."

Other activities at the congress included honoring the 18 winners of the Best-of–the-Best awards for top digital printing applications, the unveiling of an enhanced web portal for Premier Partners, and booth displays from Xerox Business Innovation Partners that sponsored the event. Platinum Sponsors were GMC Software Technology, Mediaware Digital and XMPie, a Xerox company. Gold sponsors were C.P. Bourg, CGS Publishing Technologies International, ePrint Direct Ltd., Hunkeler AG and the Xerox FreeFlow Digital Workflow Collection.