Charlottesville, VA - INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm in digital printing and publishing, today announced a successful 2009 Digital Printing in Government and Higher Education Forum, with nearly 100 attendees from federal, state, and local government, and colleges and universities. The seminar took place in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, November 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Omni Shoreham Hotel.

According to Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, "We couldn't be any more pleased with the synergies we realized this year by expanding our annual event, which has in the past focused on government, to include the higher education sector. As we witnessed throughout the day, these two environments have much in common and much to share."

The event kicked off with a morning session geared toward both environments. Speakers from leading printing systems vendors shared their companies' strategies, product offerings, and initiatives in these markets. Speakers included Jim Strief, Eastern Regional Manager for Hewlett-Packard's Publications Sector for High Speed Inkjet and Indigo; Jay Ainslie, Americas Director for Software, Services and Solutions Marketing for the InfoPrint Solutions Company; Bryan Beauchamp, Vice President of Business Development and Federal Sales for Océ Document Printing Systems Division; and David Murphy, Vice President of Marketing for RISO Inc.

Gilles Biscos of INTERQUEST provided an update of the overall digital printing market, including key trends in publishing, print-on-demand, transactional, and graphic arts. He also presented recent technological and market developments, discussed the impact of recent vendor announcements, and examined future changes. The morning portion of the program continued with case studies from government and higher education users.

Leslie Rutledge, Manager, ReproGraphics Services for San Diego State University profiled the facility's operations and its innovative use of digital printing to competitively fulfill its mission to the campus and to target customers. Jon Mumma, Project Manager, Advanced Printing Technology Assessment Program, Government Printing Office (GPO), discussed the GPO's program to develop a printing technology roadmap that supports GPO's printing needs as its product mix and run lengths evolve. David Mastervich, Manager for Catalogs and Publications, United States Postal Service (USPS), shared two innovative, award-winning direct mail campaigns developed by the USPS to help set the record straight on direct mail and environmental issues and to raise awareness of the effectiveness of direct mail in a down economy. Jane Bloodworth, Manager, General Service Department's Printing, Graphics and Map Design Unit for the World Bank, provided an u pdate of the organization's overall printing strategy, its use of digital printing, and its plans to move major production operations off site.

Afternoon sessions featured two tracks targeted at each of the environments. During the Government track, David Davis of INTERQUEST presented key results from recent INTERQUEST research into digital printing in the government market. A panel of publishing and printing executives from key government agencies followed with speakers presenting current applications and discussing their needs from suppliers. Wilma Grant, Publishing Manager, Print/Digital Media, the Supreme Court of the United States, discussed the evolution of the Supreme Court's Legal Opinion and Book Printing Department, including its transition to digital printing and electronic delivery. Steven Howe, Manager, Printing Services, Stores, and Mail Operations, City of Cincinnati, outlined the facility's use of digital printing to produce a variety of products, including personalized direct mail and plastic parking tags. Christine Engel, Academic Director for Visual Com munications, Defense Information School, discussed the School's mission to train Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and Coast Guard members as well as government civilians and international personnel in a variety of communications media including digital printing.

In the Higher Education track Toby Cobrin of INTERQUEST presented key results from a recent INTERQUEST survey of the higher education market. Following the presentation, three speakers with a range of educational perspectives shared their experiences with the audience. Kate Dunn, President of Digital Innovations Group, a marketing firm specializing in targeted direct marketing campaigns for higher education, discussed the two biggest applications for variable data on college campuses-recruiting and development. Connie Kessen, Manager of the Copy Center/ Printing & Mailing Services at Kishwaukee College, a two-year community college located in Northern Illinois, explained how her decision to update her equipment lead to a more productive center for the college. Arnold Hammann, Director of Information Management and Instructional Technology for the Washington County Public Schools (WCPS) in Maryland discussed how he converted the production print shop from all offset presses to being primarily a digital printing facility known as the E-Print Center.

The forum was sponsored by leading industry players, including Cascades, Hewlett-Packard, InfoPrint Solutions Company, Kodak, MGI, Océ, Rimage, and RISO, with additional support from American Printer, the Association of College and University Mail Services, Inc. (ACUMS), the Federal Electronic Document Systems Association (FEDS), the Franklin Technical Society (FTS) In-plant Graphics, the Interagency Council on Printing & Publications Services (ICPPS), the National Association of College and University Mail Services (NACUMS), the National Government Publishing Association (NGPA), the University Mail Managers Association (UMMA), and the Xplor Mid Atlantic Region (MAR).