Toronto, ON, – Webcom is gearing up for the biggest Open House event in the company's history. Game Changers 2011, which will involve 250 publishers, industry associations and media from across North America, will be throwing open its doors on June 15 and 16. With an exciting line-up of live demonstrations, the event will showcase the full production of Webcom's newest equipment and upgrades, marking the completion of key installations. Even beyond the viewing of some of the most advanced printing equipment in the country, the event will be rife with appeal for industry professionals with an informative and experience-rich occasion that provides a full day of engaging and interactive sessions and demonstrations.
 
"Game Changers 2011 marks the culmination of careful planning and development of a whole new publishing program that will allow our customers to save throughout the supply chain in a way that has not been available in the industry until now." – Mike Collinge, Webcom President
 
The event will bring to life multiple installations of new equipment announced in perpetuity in the past six months. There are more than a dozen significant additions to the range of book production equipment and upgrades contributing to the transformation of Webcom's operations. "All told, the addition of our HP T300 inkjet press, the Indigo 7000, complete new bindery lines and the subsequent BookFWD publishing plan are changing the face of our company by strengthening the foundation of our programs, adding to the flexibility of our offer to customers and most importantly reducing their cost of doing business on many levels." – Cris Vortisch, Webcom's Director of Sales.
 
This trilogy of transformed foundations, flexibility and significant cost savings has been woven into the Game Changers Rock Paper Scissors theme. Along with it, there will be three exciting art installations to enrich the visit and keep creativity and imagination at the tops of everybody's minds.
 
The theme of the event is a three-pronged statement about Webcom's commitment to their customers and about making intelligent changes in response to the transformation of the industry. The company's newly installed foundation of reliable, powerful technology, most notably the T300 - the first of its kind in digital inkjet printing for high-quality, low-quantity printing - is the "rock" element of this combination.
 
The HP new technology presents another benefit: the ability to print equally on coated and uncoated paper without compromise in cost or quality. The T300 makes use of digital printing in a way never seen before, emphasizing the flexibility and adaptability of paper that makes up the second part of the Game Changers 2011 theme.
 
The essence of Webcom's "scissors" comes to life in our new BookFWD program, which puts to use a business strategy of complete customization for each customer, reducing print runs and minimizing returns. Cutting cost and cutting waste in one go, BookFWD tailors itself to the vastly different needs of every individual customer and never misses an opportunity to trim away excess expenditures.
 
Featured at Game Changers 2011 are three talented Canadian artists who will work with the theme of Rock, Paper Scissors and create pieces that are both relevant to the day and interesting to the eye. Peter Riedel is a rock balancing artist and photographer, who will be creating his sculptures live during the event. Jennifer Spinner, paper sculpting artist and graphic designer, will be creating a number of exciting pieces that utilize materials recycled from paper trim inside the Webcom plant itself. Finally, Jean Pierre Schoss, a metalworking artist, will present a unique metal sculpture of a pair of scissors.
 
Through a collection of panels, speakers and demonstrations that channel the creativity of these three talented artists as they communicate the exciting new developments Webcom is debuting, Game Changers 2011 promises to be both informative and memorable. With the support of major industry suppliers as sponsors and speakers, anticipation is high for drawing a large audience of media, publishers and key industry associations and influencers.
 
An event of this magnitude could never happen without the support of the entire printing community. The sponsors of the event are all suppliers who have worked closely with Webcom over the years and who understand the value of working together to strengthen the industry. The transformation that printing and publishing industries are currently undergoing is fast-paced and exciting, and matched by the intensity of support and broad base of partners - starting with Hewlett-Packard as the Platinum Rock Sponsor - Webcom is thrilled to work with in the making of Game Changers 2011.
 
"We are witnessing a transformation in the publishing industry, enabled by digital technologies such as the HP T300 Color Inkjet Web Press," said Danny Ionescu, Vice President, Graphics Solutions Business, HP Canada. "Webcom's decision to use the HP T300 as part of its innovative BookFWD program will enable its customers to reduce waste, increase efficiency and boost profits."

In association with Webcom, HP Global will be presenting for the first time their "The Environmental Case for Digitally Printed Books: A life cycle assessment study", which will provide valuable new data to the publishing
and printing industry as well as establish credibility for environmental savings within the supply chain. The HP presentation will feature this newly released study on industry returns, which was conducted in North America using actual data from publishers. Their research identifies a potential reduction of carbon footprint by 12 – 40% when switching from traditional printing practices to digital on demand.
 
Game Changers 2011 will run June 15th and June 16th with a repeated agenda for publishers of varied markets. The June 16th agenda will engage the Trade and Education publishers, while the preceding day will cater to those publishing Professional Reference, Directory and Catalog products.
 
Additional sponsors of the Game Changers 2011 include AbitibiBowater, Cascades, Domtar, HB Fuller, Magnum, Muller Martini, Spicers, Unisource and Softchoice. Further details to be revealed through the week via the Game Changers 2011 Event Mobi: EventMobi.com/GC.