Rochester, NY - December 15, 2008 - PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, announced today that early registrations for the 7th Annual PODi AppForum in Las Vegas, January 19-21, 2009 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel have exceeded expectations.

"Factoring in the economic downturn and the difficulties other events have experienced over the past year, we've been pleasantly surprised by our initial numbers," says Rab Govil, President of PODi. "Digital print remains a bright spot in the industry and people recognize that the AppForum is the premier event for learning how to harness its potential for growth. This is promising to be a well-attended and very exciting event."

2009 AppForum attendees hail from all over the globe - at last count, France, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, Canada, India and New Zealand - and from 32 US states. They represent all facets of the digital print ecosphere - print service providers, marketing service providers, agencies, enterprise marketers, software and hardware vendors.

 "We're seeing a trend towards companies sending teams to the AppForum," says Govil. "For folks working with tighter budgets, this 3-day intensive event is a fast and economical way to get people trained, motivated and ready to sell or create digital print. We're making it easier for companies to do this by offering group discounts and special hotel rates."

 Support from sponsors has also been solid. Industry giants, Xerox, Canon and HP head the list and will be presenting special Gold Sponsor Track sessions, which are always popular draws for attendees. Adobe Systems, Creo, EFI, Kodak, Online Print Solutions, Pitney Bowes, Press-sense and Ricoh are on the growing Silver Sponsor list. Current Bronze Sponsors include GMC Software, Indros Group, Printable Technologies, PrinterPresence, Siemens, Xeikon and XMPie.

 An informal survey of last year's attendees showed that 65% of them had experienced double digit revenue growth with digital print in 2007. The strong showing for early 2009 AppForum registration is an affirmation of the continuing confidence the industry has in digital print.

 For more information or to register for the 2009 AppForum, visit www.podi.org