More than 2,000 digital print professionals gathered at Dscoop7, the 2012 Dscoop Annual Conference that ran March 22-24 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in Washington, D.C. This turnout marked a 30 percent increase in core North American attendees from last year’s event and included attendees from 38 countries around the world. In addition, 95 Partners participated in the Solutions Showcase exhibition.

"Dscoop7 was a success in every sense of the word,” said Craig Curran, Dscoop7 chairman and vice president of sales at Nosco. “Our attendees heard exciting pre-drupa announcements from HP and Partners and received top-notch education from experts such as Sally Hogshead, Chad Dick and Josh Linkner. The ability to connect with each other is a unique benefit that only Dscoop offers.”

In addition to the more than 150 educational sessions throughout the three-day event, the organization also launched the Marketing to Win Toolkit. The idea for the toolkit grew from the member base, which expressed the need for education and turnkey tools to help them market their business.

Additional highlights from Dscoop7 included:

• Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager, Indigo Digital Press Division, Graphic Solutions Business, HP, opened the conference on March 22 with a musical journey through print. From Led Zeppelin to Bruce Springsteen, he gave his insights on how HP Indigo has changed the digital print industry and what is still to come with the 10000 press, which opens up a wide range of formats, including posters, book covers and folders. The 20000 and 30000 presses make inroads into the new applications of folding cartons and flexible packaging. 
  
  
• Twelve-time Olympic medalist Dara Torres discussed with Chris Morgan, senior vice president, Graphic Solutions Business in HP’s Printing and Personal Systems Group, what it takes to persevere and win against all odds. 
  
  
• Author and marketing expert Sally Hogshead spoke about how to attract customers by being fascinating. The seven triggers of fascination are: passion, alarm, mystique, power, prestige, rebellion and trust—seven different ways to respond to customers and market your brand. She mentioned that the Dscoop7 audience over-indexed on the power trigger of fascination compared to the general population.

• The Dscoop Board of Directors presented the 2012 Jack Glacken Award for outstanding contributions to the Dscoop community to GPA, Specialty Substrate Solutions. GPA has been involved with Dscoop since its inception in 2005, and has supported the community through its passion for the industry and passion for what they do. GPA has helped Dscoop members become more successful through education initiatives such as their Red Cooler Roadshow.

• The inaugural Dscoop EMEA Conference was announced for November 8-9, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. 
  
  
• Dscoop as a global organization is overseeing strategy across all the regional Boards and will create value by implementing a global Partner program for its third-party vendors who want to reach HP Graphic Arts customers around the world.
  

“Dscoop conferences continue to be an extremely valuable nexus between HP and our customers,” said Jan Riecher, vice president and general manager of the Americas Graphic Solutions Business in HP’s Printing and Personal Systems Group. “Most of the innovations HP introduced this month resulted from feedback from the Dscoop organization and from our customer advisory councils worldwide. This user community is an amazingly influential dynamic in the market and a driving force that is helping to shape the future of the graphic arts industry.” 

“It is important to continue to find inspiration and find new ways to see and think,” said Marilee Clark, general manager of C2 Imaging Headquarters. “The Dscoop conference gives you a new perspective. Instead of trying to find your way out of the maze of your job role, you start to look at the entire setting to see that there are multiple ways to get to where you and your company want to go.”  

"Dscoop7 has once again raised the bar,” said Eric Hawkinson, Dscoop global executive director. “The excitement around drupa and the global expansion of Dscoop has been undeniable. We see great things for the future of the print industry because all of our members are working together to become more successful.”

Conference proceedings will be available on the website for Dscoop members to access starting next week.

Dscoop8 will be held Feb. 14-16, 2013, at the Gaylord Texan Hotel and Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.