Tustin, CA – He’s baaaaaack! Once again, 25-year industry veteran Chris Jacobson is taking an active role in trade show production in the printing industry. Jacobson, who’s family previously created and operated the legendary Gutenberg Festival for 27 years before selling it in 1999 to the Graphic Arts Show Company, decided that the timing was right for a launch. “At just about every show we traveled to throughout the country this past year, customers asked us if and when we would produce a printing show in southern California,” says Jacobson. “In fact, we were so busy in 2004 with our Digital Lifestyle consumer shows and outsourced management business that we didn’t have the resources to consider adding anything new to our plates. But come January 2005, with DLexpo firmly established, we were able to review and take action on other opportunities.” After careful research and continued prodding from customers, Print Fest was born. Print Fest will be held Friday and Saturday, May 12-13, 2006 at the Long Beach Convention Center. It will cater to traditional sheet-fed offset printing processes as the bread-and-butter for most attendees, but will focus its offering on teaching them how to remain in business and be profitable while they transition and adopt digital printing technologies and workflows. Profit and growth areas that will be discussed and displayed at Print Fest include variable data printing, database management, versioning, mailing and fulfillment, flexography, and packaging. “Our market research indicates that these are the areas of growth and profitability, so that’s what we’ll target at Print Fest 2006,” says Jacobson. He asserts that most printing companies understand that they will need to adopt new digital technologies some time in the near future in order to survive and grow, but many are not quite sure how to do so. Print Fest’s purpose is to help companies gain a clear understanding of what their businesses are all about and to figure out a gradual evolutionary strategy to get them to the next level. Jacobson pontificates that, “… it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a question of ‘when’ and ‘how.’ No matter what business you’re in, we all face the same challenges. New technologies and workflows come in and markets change. You have to be flexible and adapt with the changing times, and at the same time, you have to stay profitable with what equipment and systems you already have in place as you go through the transition. Print Fest is designed to give you the training and tools that you will need to bridge the gap.” In addition to the expo floor, one of the ways Print Fest will deliver on this promise is through peer-to-peer training in the form of user panel discussions. “Lecture formats and hands-on workshops are great too, and there are certain topics for which they are absolutely necessary,” says Jacobson, “but panels of early adopters telling stories about when they used to be sitting in your shoes, and specifically what they did that was successful and unsuccessful – now that information is something you can take back to your own shop and implement immediately!” Jacobson says his primary job is to help attendees get a clear idea of their needs by asking probing questions such as, “How would you define what your company is and does right now vs. what you will be in 5 years?” and “What tools – training, equipment, supplies, systems and services – will you need in order to get you there?” and “Do you have a game plan as to how you want to evolve and over what period of time so that you will remain in business and be profitable through the transition?” He points to his family’s reputation for providing outstanding customer service and says you can expect that and more from Print Fest. “We know what you need, we know how to deliver it, and we care about your success,” he says. “Let us know how we can help you.” For more information, to exhibit, or to be added to the mailing list, please contact Chris Jacobson at: Print Fest 2006, c/o Cal Events • PO Box 369 • Tustin, CA 92781 • (877) CAL-EVENTS • Fax: (707) 922-8852 • [email protected] • www.PrintFest.com