Miami Beach, FL -- Technology, networking, and education once again brought thousands of graphic communications professionals together in Miami Beach, Florida for the annual Graphics of the Americas (GOA) Exposition and Conference held from February 23-24.
 
Attendees from the U.S., Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe came to do business with more than 400+ exhibiting vendors. 
"This was our 10th year exhibiting at Graphics of the Americas, and this year's show definitely met our expectations. The visitors were higher quality and ready to buy. In fact, we sold more equipment right on the show floor than we did last year," says Si Nguyen, product marketing director at DUPLO USA.
 
"Exhibitors walked onto the show floor to set up with a pessimistic attitude. After the third day, there was nothing but praise for the sales that were conducted on the show floor and for the contacts that were made both with U.S. and buyers from the Latin American countries," says Orazio "Omike" Fichera, dealer/marketing strategist and publisher, Dealer Communicator.
 
"There was a lot of excitement about vehicle wraps at Graphics of the Americas.  The reactions, solid leads and sales we received from both Latin and North American attendees confirmed the vehicle wrap advertising segment growth we've all been hearing about. Our demos on a Mustang were created with a Mutoh ValueJet printer and Arlon technology.  The crowds loved it," says Randy Rickert, General Manager, Mutoh.
 
"This was a very well put together show and we are glad we attended!  We secured a couple of new partnerships during the show and we were able to also talk with potential new customers. We have seen very good results and benefits from this event and look forward to the 2010 GOA show," says Jeffrey Strahl, Vice President H.W. Sands Corp.
 
Attendees also took advantage of the plethora of educational sessions.  Among the highlights of the 34th Annual GOA event were:
 
Pulitzer prize-winning humorist Dave Barry, who entertained audiences at the keynote session with his unique and hilarious perspectives on life -- especially in Miami.
 
Brand Protection Conference, where Robert C. Tapella, the Public Printer of the U.S., delivered a powerful and revealing specialty keynote on his agency's efforts to establish secure documents, both digitally and in print.
 
GOA offered 44 seminar sessions on prepress, production, digital print and more.  Additionally, for designers, GOA teamed with Aquent Graphics Institute in 16 session tracks.
 
Industry notables presented from leading organizations including Clemson University, RIT, NAPL, Printing Industries of America, the Ghent PDF Workgroup and Print Buyers International.
 
Also popular were the 11 Spanish-only seminars, and a half-day Print Buyers Boot Camp conducted by Margie Dana of Print Buyers International and Frank Romano of RIT.   Romano also delivered a compelling session titled TrendVision: Future of Print, and led an inkjet Printing Symposia. Printing Industries' Supervising Print Production, led by Lou Prestia, and How to Market to Latin America, were also popular seminar sessions.
 
Chuck Weger reprised his popular Publish or Perish! game show, where audience members tried to stump the panel of industry experts and judges comprised of Frank Romano, David Zwang, Richard Romano, Jay Nelson, Jill Roth, David Kew, Julie Shaffer and Kirk Brauch.
 
Hot show floor activities included a "vehicle wrap center", sponsored by Mutoh and Arlon, at which printers were taught how to create vehicle wraps; special theater presentations including Connect the Dots: Leadership Seminars by Kodak and an overview of Adobe Creative Suite; a Gallery of Addy and Florida Print Award winners featuring award-winning printers and designers; and the Miami Heat cheerleaders, a crowd pleaser at Printing Association of Florida's booth.
 
Attendees and exhibitors alike had plenty of opportunities to interact not only on the show floor but also at the festive South Beach Party, which featured music as well as flamenco and belly dancers.
 
George Ryan, president of Printing Association of Florida, the sponsor of GOA, says, "We were very pleased with the turnout for GOA.  People came knowing they would have the opportunity to get a close look at the latest technologies and hear the most relevant information that will help companies meet the challenges of today's and tomorrow's marketplace.  GOA 2009 exceeded our expectations in attendance and our exhibitors have remarked that they met with quality level business prospects.  We look forward to next year's event."
 
In 2010, Graphics of the Americas will celebrate its 35th year during the event's February 25-27 stay in Miami Beach, Florida. 

For more information visit: www.graphicsoftheamericas.com.