Pittsburgh, PA, May 8, 2008 -- On April 26-29, 2008, the Offset & Beyond Conference teamed up with the annual BIA Mid-Management Conference, hosted by the Binding Industries Association (BIA) and the brand new Go Beyond With Digital Briefing, hosted by  Digital Print Council (DPC) and E-Business Council (EBC), to truly create a "one-stop" conference for all printers.

Three conferences held together in one place and at one time created an efficient, all-inclusive resource center for hundreds of people in the graphic communications industry. PIA/GATF and the WOA first combined web and sheetfed offset printing last year in an effort to build a conference that would appeal to commercial printers regardless of size or printing platform. By combining the conference with the BIA and DPC/EBC events this year, they opened the door not only to all offset printers, but to binders and digital printers as well.

The three conferences held their own specialized programming with key industry experts and practitioners. They also shared several signature keynote speakers in the combined general sessions. Among these were James Bradley, the author of Flags of our Fathers, and David Gregory, NBC Chief White House Correspondent. Both offered tremendous presentations and were very well received by all attendees. In addition to the sessions, there were also numerous opportunities for attendees and sponsors of all three conferences to network.

The essence of the conference was captured eloquently by Vince Lapinski, CEO of MAN Roland, "This conference has traditionally been a great idea exchange for best practices and future technologies. This year, faced with a looming economic downturn, the graphic arts industry, more so than ever, looked to its vendors to provide new insights into those developing technologies and support programs. Yes, printing executives at the conference were able to glean perspectives on both sheetfed and web, but what really came through was the importance of targeting investments now, during a downturn, to maximize the payback as the market upturn begins."

During the BIA Mid-Management Conference, which boasted record numbers this year, James R. Niesen became the first person to be inducted into the BIA Hall of Fame. Mr. Niesen was a former executive director of BIA, and under his leadership, expanded BIA membership worldwide. One hundred and seventeen people were present at this inaugural ceremony.

The Offset & Beyond Conference introduced a new "green" printer showcase and offered a day-long fulfillment services course new this year-both popular features. Awards given out during the conference included the Harry V. Quadracci VISION Award given to Ken W. Field, Sr. and the Howard Flint II Pressroom Manager of the Year Award which was presented to Jeff Wendt.

Go Beyond with Digital, a cut-to-the-chase, day-long event, focused on the key topics that make for a successful digital printing operation. Attendees heard from industry leaders, including Steve Johnson of Copresco, Frank McPherson of Custom Data Imaging, Ron Kendig of Winning Stance, Brad Lena of PIA/GATF, and Dr. John Leininger, of Clemson University. One attendee commented, "I like that I was told 'how' to go after digital/VDP clients versus being shown pretty samples."  

Due to the tremendous response from this year's event, the three conferences will be held together again next year in Las Vegas, NV from May 3-6, 2009. For more information on this Triple Crown event, contact PIA/GATF at 800-910-4283.