(May 27, 2003) Content Management was a pervasive topic at the IPA Technical Seminar, May 13-15, in Chicago. Almost 300 participants, a 45 percent increase in paid attendance over the previous year, learned they have the knowledge base and tools to take advantage of their customer's need to manage content for a variety of uses.
A highlight of the IPA Technical Seminar was the Color Proofing Roundup. Twenty proofing vendors participated in this first-ever North American event, offering attendees an excellent opportunity to determine how well proofing vendors could make proofs that support PDF/X-3 file formats by testing both known and blind color reference print conditions.
As a result of the Color Proofing Roundup, both seminar attendees and vendor participants gained a better understanding of what needs to be done to address today's critical RIP issues to meet today's color proofing requirements. Results of the Roundup will be made available in a future white paper as well as in an upcoming IPA Webinar on June 3.
Additional seminar sessions covered dynamic publishing, RGB workflows, OS X migration, color management, PDF/X, Acrobat 6.0, soft and remote proofing, digital photography, new production techniques, and future technology as well as color prepress for flexo. Overwhelmingly, attendees gave the seminar a thumbs up, noting that it not only helped them take a far-reaching look at their future, but also provided information, ideas, and techniques they could begin implementing immediately. In fact, one graphic solutions provider remarked that one session alone saved him $35,000.
According to Dean Bott Discover Color, McFarland, Wisconsin, "The recent seminar in Chicago was one of the best. The majority of the content was timely, relevant and well presented." Industry consultant Chris Heric added, "It was a great show. The best ever!" Addressing the dramatic increase in attendance at this year's Seminar, Steve Bonoff, IPA president commented "Due to the hard work of so many individuals, the seminar content was right on target. Also, the success of our Webinar training has dramatically increased the number of people we interact with on a regular basis, allowing more people to see the kind of value our programs offer in helping operate an efficient, profitable graphic solutions service organization."