FAIRFAX, VA July 1, 2002 -- Attendees of the Digital Printing & Imaging Association's DPI Conference - St. Louis can bank on this certainty: that DPI is putting together the same top-notch Educational Program for which the Association is known. For the first time, the Conference will take place concurrently with SGIA'02: The Imaging Technology Show, the annual SGIA Convention & Exposition, October 30 through November 2, 2002, at The America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. "We are delighted with the new format, and the fact that the DPI Conference is once again the purely educational conference that it was originally set up to be," said DPI executive John S. Shaw. "We are confident the agenda we are developing will enable those digital graphics firms that participate, to succeed in the marketplace of today, and to successfully meet the opportunities, and the challenges, of tomorrow. Much of the program will be sessions building on seminars at the DPI’02 Conference in Palm Springs, while much is also entirely new programming." The DPI Educational Program is positioned to present leading edge technology and bring to member firms the knowledge and expertise they need to succeed. Highlights include: - A challenge to "Break Out of the Box" in thinking about "New Inkjet Applications & Markets." Stewart Partridge of Web Consulting in Ardington, UK, debates such new capabilities as durable printheads, versatile solvent and UV-cure inks and 3D and rigid media. Into what market sectors will these capabilities take graphics producers? Is this new ground, requiring new business models for each separate vertical market, or can lessons be learned from the successes and limitations of inkjet in wide format graphics? - A tour of "The Digital Factory: Reality or Myth." Patti Williams of IT Strategies in Hanover, MA, moderates a panel discussion of new markets for digital print, such as wall coverings, ceramics and home furnishings. Panel members are print providers who are growing their businesses by moving into these new areas of opportunity. Audience comments and questions are encouraged. - A free-wheeling session "Electronic Displays — Leveraging Your Graphic Output." David Williamson of the Visual Information Group in Cincinnati, OH, leads a panel of three graphics producers in a discussion of the technologies, the applications and the markets for electronic displays, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Starting off the entire program at the DPI Conference - St. Louis will be keynoter Edward D. Barlow, Jr., a respected futurist, who will present his dynamic approach to anticipating and preparing for what’s ahead in his presentation, "Creating the Future" at the Keynote Luncheon on October 31. The DPI Conference registration system allows for participants to sign up for three full days and a full slate of seminars – or as little as three seminars. DPI conference attendees also will have full access to the SGIA '02 Exposition, the largest annual show of graphics imaging products and materials in the world. For complete details and for registration information and procedures, log on to DPI's website at www.dpia.org or contact DPI headquarters at: 10015 Main Street, Fairfax, VA 22031-3489 USA. Telephone: 703-385-1339. Fax: 703-359-1336. E-Mail: [email protected].