Minneapolis Expo Will Offer Educational Program in Association With PIM Oct. 18, 2002--Cygnus Expositions, a leader in business-to-business expositions and conferences, announced today it will launch the Mid-America Print Expo in May of 2003. Cygnus Expositions' parent company, Cygnus Business Media, currently publishes nine printing and graphics-related publications reaching over 150,000 professionals. In addition, it also owns and manages nine online companion Websites which are visited by over 400,000 unique visitors annually. The Mid-America Print Expo will be sponsored by the Printing Industry of Minnesota, Inc. (PIM) and will be co-located with Cygnus Expos' Strictly Business Solutions Expo in Minneapolis. The two-decade old Strictly Business show is the largest technology exposition in the Midwestern region of the United States, attracting thousands of business professionals and manufacturers annually. "Printing is the second largest manufacturing industry in the mid-American region, shipping over $31 billion in product annually," says Group Show Director Layne Skoyen. "With that in mind, we look forward to reaching those professionals that consistently search out better processes, IT solutions and opportunities to build their businesses." The Mid-America Print Expo will work to address such critical issues as digital technologies, converting, flexography and bar coding. Thousands of square feet of exhibitor space will cover the print process from beginning to end and feature pre-press, press, post-press, screen printing, converting, mailing and fulfillment products and services. Conference sessions will be produced by PIM and offer detailed information on techniques, processes and solutions. "PIM's tradition of excellent educational programming makes it possible for printing businesses to maintain their competitive edge in an arena of constantly changing software equipment and workflow processes. We are excited to bring our expertise in training to an expanded audience through this partnership with Cygnus," Kel Johnson, President/CEO, Printing Industry of Minnesota, Inc. Cygnus Business Media's nine print publications include four regional magazines that reach an exclusive group of owners, CEOs, and top managers of commercial and in-house printing plants, pre-press services, and binding and finishing plants. The popular Printing Views, which reaches thousands of subscribers in 13 Midwestern states will provide an essential communications outlet for the Expo. "Since 1934, Printing Views has been the Midwest's source of regional graphics art news and information," says Cygnus Graphics Group Publisher Jann Levesque. "In addition, each publication within the Graphics Network offers different perspectives and expertise, making the Mid-America Print Expo diverse and offering varied opportunities for all companies, manufacturers, retailers and professionals within the printing industry." The Mid-America Print Expo will debut on May 14 & 15 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Expo is sponsored by The Printing Industry of Minnesota, Inc. and Printing Views, and will work in association with properties within the Cygnus Graphics Network including Ink Maker, Modern Reprographics, Print On Demand and Quick Printing. The purpose of Printing Industry of Minnesota, Inc. (PIM) is to continually improve industry stability, growth and economic soundness and to strengthen Minnesota's position as an international center with quality print communications products and services. Cygnus Expositions is a division of Cygnus Business Media, a CommerceConnect Media Company. For more information about Cygnus Business Media's integrated media solutions, log onto CygnusB2B.com.