The seventh annual EFI Connect was kicked off on Sunday, April 30th at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas with a theme of “ Expand Your Opportunities.” This event has turned into the largest and most successful user group in the industry. This year, there were over 1,300 attendees—about 1,000 of whom were EFI users—20% more than last year. The event featured 21 partners in the exhibit area and over 140 different seminars. Many of the attendees are regulars, and the event attracts new attendees each year who are interested in the learning and networking opportunities that Connect offers.

Additionally, Connect offers users the opportunity to express their satisfaction—or dissatisfaction—with EFI’s progress on their favorite products, gaining the attention of senior executives and product managers. This exchange of information benefits both the user community and EFI, helping the company to prioritize resources as it continues the process of integrating its various acquisitions and leveraging common platforms where appropriate.

As usual, CEO Guy Gecht kicked off the event Sunday evening with a discussion about the increasing personalization of business. He said, “Business is becoming more personal. We are in the people business—the people that use our products, that’s our business.” And he pointed out that while EFI styles itself as Essential to Print, it is in the business of digitizing not only print, but the entire process. He said, “It is really about a way to enable efficiency and personalization.” As a demonstration of that, he pointed out that EFI printed very few brochures for the conference. Instead, attendees had the ability to designate the products they were interested in and have a customized, personalized brochure printed for them on the spot.