Award-winning journalist Joe Cappo, retired executive with Crain Communications, Inc. and former president of the International Advertising Association, will keynote the 24th annual PRINT OUTLOOK economic and marketing conference, December 9-10, 2004 at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center in Alexandria, Virginia. The conference is sponsored by NPES The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies. Cappo will speak on “Future Demands for Print in Publishing and Marketing Communications,” focusing on changes in newspaper and magazine circulation and advertising.   The author of The Future of Advertising: New Media, New Clients, New Consumers in the Post-Television Age, Cappo recently retired after a 25-year career with Crain Communications, Inc., where he most recently served as senior vice president, international and licensing. He also served as publisher of Crain’s Chicago Business and Advertising Age, as well as group publisher over seven journals. From 1998 to 2000, he was world president of the International Advertising Association.  He has also served on the international committees of the American Business Media and the Magazine Publishers of America and as a board member of the Chicago Advertising Federation. Since the conference will take place about a month after the general election, several presentations will provide an analysis of the election and the outlook for the economy and tax policy. Luncheon speaker and noted political commentator Michael Barone is a senior writer with U.S. News & World Report and the principal co-author of The Almanac of American Politics. Pamela Olson, a partner with NPES counsel Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and former Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, will discuss the outlook for tax policy in the next presidential administration and 109th Congress. NPES Consulting Economist Michael K. Evans will speak on the outlook for the global economy. One panel will look at print's future in three key market niches: direct mail, newspapers and magazines. Panelists will include Owen Smith, President/Managing Director, NAA/Ifra Technical Solutions LLC, a joint venture of the Newspaper Association of America and the German-based international newspaper organization; Rita Cohen, Senior Vice President, Magazine Publishers Association, and Bruce Biegel, Managing Director, Winterberry Group LLC Direct Mail Consultants. A second panel will forecast what's ahead in three "basic necessity" areas: paper, ink and postal services, with speakers Stan Lancey, Chief Economist, American Forest & Paper Association; James Coleman, Executive Director, National Association of Printing Ink Manufacturers (NAPIM), and Benjamin Cooper, Executive Vice President, Printing Industries of America. Additional panels will present the outlook from the printers' perspective and prospects for profits in print. In the latter presentation, Ron Davis, Chief Economist with PIA, will discuss opportunities and threats in global print markets; Harris DeWese, Chairman and Principal, Compass Capital Partners, Ltd., will speak on trends in mergers and acquisitions, and Vincent Mallardi, Chairman, Printing Brokerage/Buyers Association, will report on niche markets. The outlook for advertising will be presented by Carolyn Bivens, President and Chief Operating Officer of Initiative North America, the U.S. based branch of a worldwide full-service media management company, offering all facets of communication planning and buying. Patricia Sorce, co-director of the Sloan Printing Industry Center at Rochester Institute of Technology and Administrative Chair, School of Print Media, will present the Sloan Center's latest findings on variable data and demand creation. Complete conference information and registration materials are available in the Conferences section of the NPES web site at www.npes.org/conferences/index.html.