Chicago – More than 1,800 HP Indigo owners and users gathered at Dscoop5, the 2010 Dscoop Annual Conference that ran February 18-20 at the Gaylord Texan Hotel & Convention Center in Dallas. Both attendees and exhibitors increased significantly from 2009, the previous record-setting event for Dscoop. In addition to a sizable increase in participating attendees from across the globe, the event's Solutions Showcase exhibition also set new benchmarks with 90 participating vendors highlighting their products and services.

"Dscoop5 was absolutely phenomenal and blew away all of our expectations," said Larry Vaughn, Dscoop chairman and president of Ideal Printers. "The strong showing from our members and support from our Partners shows that everyone is connecting with the whole idea of Dscoop-that as a cooperative, we can all help each other to achieve more."

Conference attendees chose from 110 educational sessions and five hands-on workshops that addressed important business and operational issues that face HP Indigo and Scitex owners and their staff teams.  Featured session topics included sales and marketing, sustainable practices, lean manufacturing and partnering with agencies. Key sessions were translated into Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish for the international attendees.

"Dscoop5 soared above and beyond my expectations!" said Krista Fischer, marketing director at L&D Mail Masters. "When brainstorming with my team, we come up with many amazing ideas, but sometimes we don't know the best ways to bring them to life. Dscoop5 provided the opportunity to network, see solutions in action and stretch my thought process to make our ideas come together."

Highlights from Dscoop5 included:
The opening keynote presentation on Feb. 18 came from Ken Schmidt, marketing visionary and former communications director for Harley-Davidson, who spoke about the importance of listening to your clients and making them feel special to retain and acquire new customers. He also advised company leaders to take a close look at their marketing collateral and do something different to stand out from their competitors.

On Feb. 19, Christopher Morgan, senior vice president, Graphics Solutions Business, HP Imaging and Printing Group, said HP is continuing to invest in the graphic arts market for long-term success. Keynote speaker Stuart Varney, business and financial journalist for FOX News, shared his take on the economic climate, giving a layman's overview of current events, including the Federal Reserve increasing the discount rate for banks and Toyota's recall troubles. He also spoke about how the declining fertility rate worldwide will lead to more difficult lives for the aging population who are depending on smaller and smaller younger generations.

Other HP executive presenters included Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, HP Indigo Digital Press Business, who spoke about the state of Indigo and the printing industry. Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager, HP Americas Graphics Solutions Business, participated in a panel discussion along with Morgan and Bar-Shany.

"Dscoop continues to impart a great deal of value to our members, and seeing our tremendous success year after year shows me that we truly are addressing a critical customer need," said Francis McMahon, director of marketing, HP Americas Graphics Solutions Business, and Dscoop Board member. "I couldn't be more thrilled to see Dscoop grow and offer more to our members."

The 2010 Jack Glacken Award for outstanding contributions to the Dscoop community was presented to Moe Farsheed, CEO and co-founder of MindFireInc. Farsheed was an influential player in Dscoop from the organization's founding-from helping with marketing strategies such as branding and identifying Dscoop's unique value proposition, to sharing his knowledge with members at the conferences and on Webinars. Farsheed also served as a trusted advisor to the Dscoop Board of Directors.

"Words escaped me when I learned that I received this prestigious award, and I do not believe it has sunk in yet," Farsheed said. "I am thrilled to have followed my good friends Jack Glacken and Alon Bar-Shany in receiving this great honor. I hope that I can live up to their example of dedication and commitment to Dscoop and the industry more generally."