Reston, VA — As globalization increasingly impacts the U.S. printing market, and mobile marketing gains momentum among consumers, graphic communications executives are grappling with how to harness these megatrends to increase profits and get ahead of the competition. At the Vision 3 Summit, they'll wonder no more as the brand-new leadership conference will offer a session addressing these megatrends—and how company leaders can use them to their advantage. The Vision 3 Summit will take place March 13–16, 2011, at the Desert Springs JW Marriott in Palm Desert, CA, and is jointly produced by the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL); NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies (NPES); and Printing Industries of America.

Can—or should—you expand your business to the emerging nations of the world? How do you convince your customer of the power and value of print? What new technologies should you track? In the session, "Harnessing Megatrends for Print Profitability," NPES' Global Programs Vice President Kip Smythe will answer these questions and more, and provide a research-based analysis of the megatrends impacting the U.S. printing industry. From globalization and emerging print markets to mobile marketing via smartphones, iPads and e-readers, Smythe will outline just how graphic communications executives can turn these potential challenges into opportunities for success.

"Graphic communications companies are often on the front lines of the trends, but when several are all coming at you at once, it's difficult to accurately assess which megatrends will have the greatest impact on your business and which will offer the greatest opportunities," observed Ralph Nappi, President of NPES. "This session takes years of rich industry research to analyze the megatrends affecting our industry and really lay out for executives where the opportunities—and challenges—lie."

The Vision 3 Summit will feature other educational sessions that address issues of interest to management-level executives. These include future growth markets, new-media marketing strategies and sales tactics, customers' sustainability expectations, compliance issues, and more. All sessions emphasize real-world applications and best practices and will offer actionable "how-to" advice. The Vision 3 Summit will also feature a variety of networking events and a number of receptions.

The Vision 3 Summit replaces NAPL's, NPES' and Printing Industries of America's individual leadership programs, including NAPL's Top Management Conference; NPES' Industry Summit that included the PRINT OUTLOOK Conference and PRIMIR Spring Meeting; and, Printing Industries of America's Presidents Conference. Both NAPL and NPES will hold their individual board of directors meetings in conjunction with this conference. Additionally PRIMIR will hold its Spring Meeting in conjunction with the Vision 3 Summit.

While the first co-produced conference by NAPL, NPES and Printing Industries of America, the Vision 3 Summit is not the first joint venture between the three organizations. NAPL, NPES and Printing Industries of America also co-own the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), which produces the popular industry GRAPH EXPO and PRINT exhibitions.

For more information about the Vision 3 Summit, or to register for the Conference, visit: www.vision3summit.org. For all of the pre-event updates and news follow the Vision 3 Summit community online at: Facebook.com/Vision3Summit; Twitter.com/Vision3Summit; and Youtube.com/Vision3Summit.