INTERQUEST, a leading market and technology research and consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry, today announced a highly successful third annual 2012 Toronto Digital Printing Forum. The educational forum—organized in partnership with Ryerson University—focused on trends and opportunities in three of the highest growth digital printing markets: direct mail marketing, transactional/transpromo, and book manufacturing. More than 130 industry professionals attended the full-day event, which was held on May 24 on the Ryerson campus in Toronto.

According to Gilles Biscos, President of INTERQUEST, "We see digital printing continue to expand its value in key printing areas such as direct marketing, transactional applications, and book manufacturing. The Toronto forum provided a superb venue to highlight all of these areas. The rich mix of speakers provided terrific content in all facets of digital printing, and as in prior years we find the attendees in Toronto highly motivated and engaged."

Toby Cobrin, a Director at INTERQUEST, kicked off the morning sessions by presenting key results from a recent INTERQUEST direct marketing study conducted with Canadian print service providers. The INTERQUEST presentation was followed by a panel of leading marketing firms, direct marketing providers, and corporate users/buyers who presented successful integrated multi-channel campaigns they have developed. Speakers included: Kelly-Jo Wellings, General Manager for Partner Development and Lettermail Sales, Canada Post; Melissa Houghton, Marketing Manager, Direct Response, Corporate Advertising, BMO Financial; Lee Eldridge, Director Interactive Solutions, CJ Interactive Solutions, C.J. Digital Inc.; Dave Mathews, Managing Director, Stratafly; and Alex Nuta, Director of Technology, Varibase.

In the second part of the morning program, Gilles Biscos presented key findings from recent INTERQUEST studies in the North American transactional printing market and then moderated a panel focused on the convergence of direct mail and transactional printing applications. Leading transactional service bureaus and corporate users/buyers presented successful transactional/transpromo applications they have recently implemented. They also discussed key industry topics such as mail volume trends, the evolution of electronic presentment, and the use of color. Speakers included: Andrew Idzior, Executive VP, Sales & Marketing, DST Output Canada Inc.; Dennis Quon, EDP, Vice President National Sales, Gilmore Doculink; and Kim Snell, Senior Business Systems Analyst, Telus Communications.

The afternoon sessions focused on digital book and manual printing and featured key results from the recent INTERQUEST research followed by a panel of leading book printers. Panelists presented their experiences, applications, and challenges in digital book manufacturing and explained how recent technological developments are helping them enhance their solutions. Speakers included: Bruce Jacobsen, Executive Vice President, Bridgeport National Bindery, Inc.; Jay Mandarino, President, C.J. Oyster Publishing; and Gerry Cronin, Digital Product Manager, Webcom. Robert Legault, an industry consultant, joined the panel to share technology highlights from drupa that will affect the book manufacturing market.

A panel of publishers and book retailers then shared their experiences with digital printing and their perspective on the future of paper books & eBooks. Speakers included: Dan Finos, General Manager, Carswell; Barry Gallant, Vice President of Finance & Operations, Penguin Canada; Erin Mallory, Manager Cross-Media Group, House of Anansi Press; and Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Consultant, Print on Demand, University of Toronto Bookstore.

The event concluded with a cocktail party for all attendees hosted by Webcom. The 2012 Toronto Digital Printing Forum was sponsored by leading players in the digital printing market, including CanadaPost, Cascades, Domtar, GMC Software Technology, Heidelberg, KBR Graphics, Konica Minolta, NewPage, Océ/Canon, Ricoh, RISO, Spicers, and Webcom. It was also supported by leading industry associations including, the Canadian Book Professionals' Association (CanBPA); the Canadian Printing Industries Association (CPIA); the Direct Marketing Association of Toronto (DMAT); and Xplor Canada.