Amherst, New York - Printing Industries Alliance, the trade organization dedicated to supporting the success of the New York State, northern New Jersey, and northwestern Pennsylvania graphic communications industry have named the first six sponsors for their program titled “DIGITAL PRINTING THINK TANK” that will take place on Wednesday, October 28^th in Manhattan at Club 101, located at 101 Park Avenue, NY, NY at 40^th Street.  The early sponsors include Xerox, HP, Muller Martini, International Paper, Konica Minolta and RedTie. Several new sponsors will be named shortly. The number of sponsors for the event is limited to twenty.

The interactive event will be designed to detail the trends and patterns in digital printing from high quality short run sheetfed to production run web inkjet. All applications will be explored including high-end and production commercial printing; wide format; labels and packaging and publications.

 The event’s first panel will be a group of large and small printers that cut across the digital printing market. Moderator Mark Michelson, Editor of Printing Impressions will lead the printers in a discussion that will talk about their path to the present and their path for the years ahead .It is predicted that digital printing, which launched in 1993 and is currently more than 20% of all printing, will become 50% of all printing by 2030. Interactivity from the audience will be encouraged and a Q&A session will follow. Other panels will be made up of leading marketing executives from digital printing vendors as well as consultants. They will discuss how they provide press owners guidance in marketing digital printing and assistance in growing the market .Some very exciting keynoters will round out the day.  A combination of highly experienced speakers and actual printer experiences will provide printers with the information they need to navigate the very fast evolving and growing digital printing market. 

The all day event will also offer a late afternoon networking opportunity which will allow participants to compare notes and speak with sponsoring vendors who will distribute literature. The cost for an individual to register for the event is $149 and includes lunch and refreshments. Vendor sponsorships will include two vendor staff tickets and three tickets for their customers or prospects. The vendor sponsorship is $650 for those who are already annual PIA Platinum sponsors and $950 for PIA Associate Members and $1250 for non members A low cost conversion to Platinum Sponsorship status will be available. Sponsors will receive recognition through event PR, literature and signage.