I was recently informed that Forbes Magazine reports companies have cut back on travel for their employees by 30% this year. I, unfortunately, fall into that 30%. I have been told by my employer that I will not have an opportunity to attend PRINT ’01 this year. Due to the current merger/acquisition we are living through, (Juno and NetZero) all trips to seminars have been cut back.

Many people ask me why, as a print production professional, I want to attend shows geared to the vendor population of our business. To these people, I answer, If I can know as much as my vendor-partners, I can then do my job better.

Obviously I am not a happy camper. I was looking forward to getting answers to many questions I have about our industry and how the multitude of new technology will allow me to fulfill my job function going forward.

Alas, I can only now ask the following questions and hope my compatriots here in this community will provide all of us non-attendees the answers.

So, here are my questions….

- What are the new trends in VDP? Are any of the press manufacturers planning on enlarging the press sizes in the near future?

- What are the newest trends in bindery and finishing? Will the digital revolution make it’s way into the back end of most printing operations? What new equipment is being marketed? How will it effect my ability to "break-the-box" with interesting techniques?

- What are the upcoming trends in CTP?

- What new trends are out there for remote hard proofing? Who is going to break this segment of the market place open?

- Who is going to win the e-commerce race? Which platform is most widely used by the vendors? Are there any new players about to enter this arena?

- Will CreoScitex host a party at the House of Blues as they have the last four years during GraphExpo? (I know this last one is not a technical question, but this party has been the best of the best the last few years, and everyone loves a good party!)

This is just a short list of my top questions.

I will be reading this site daily, even hourly to see if my questions are answered.

To those of you not attending PRINT ’01, write me and ask me your questions. I will pass them on to the folks who will be reporting from there.

For those of you lucky enough to attend, especially if your are a print production professional, send me your impressions of the show. I can the share them with others who could not attend. I am off for a week vacation. I will return on August 27th. I would love to have some mail to welcome me home.

Remember…The more we communicate, the better we will be at our careers.