San Francisco, CA, November 7, 2003 -- "Jumpstart Business in 2004!" is the theme for the annual Print Buyers Conferences in February 2004, sponsored by Printing Industries of Northern California and Pacific Printing & Imaging Association.   Designers, print buyers and graphic artists are invited to attend the shows in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. Participants can expect excellent afternoon seminars and an evening reception with aisles of tabletop exhibits, cool refreshments, lively entertainment plus a few surprises. Networking plus fun, supplemented with plenty of samples to take home. Let the good times roll...laissez les bon temp roulez!   Also known as Mardi Gras Madness, the San Francisco conference sponsored by PINC, has grown significantly over the past three years with more than 90 exhibitors and 1,200 attendees in 2003. For the second year in a row, PPI will sponsor its own Mardi Gras Madness Print Buyers' Conferences in Portland and Seattle, which boasted 1,500 in combined attendance at its first conferences in May 2003.   The festivities in the Pacific Northwest kick off on Tuesday, February 17 at the Portland Marriott Downtown and on Thursday, February 19 at the Red Lion Hotel on Fifth Avenue, Seattle. The following week designers, print buyers and graphic artists are invited to PINC's Print Buyers Conferences February 27 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco. Each Conference features a full day of educational opportunities for participants, followed by a trade show of tabletop exhibits featuring paper mills, paper merchants, printers, ink companies, press manufacturers and other graphic arts vendors, such as Kodak, Creo and Canon.   The afternoon lineup includes the six seminars listed below: 12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Why Don't the Proof & Press Sheets Match? – Sally Toth, Kodak Polychrome Graphics Hot New Paper Trends – Sabine Lenz, PaperSpecs   2:15 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Evaluating Costs Beyond the Invoice – Dick Gorelick, Gorelick & Associates Crops and Bleeds Don't Have to Hurt: Pain-free Prepress with Acrobat 6.0 – Kelly McCathran, Adobe Certified Expert   4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Establishing Trust With Suppliers – Dick Gorelick, Gorelick & Associates 10 Things You Didn't Know Adobe Acrobat Could Do – Kelly McCathran, Adobe Certified Expert PINC and PPI are regional printing trade associations dedicated to improving business conditions for their members in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, respectively. Contact Jim Frey at (800) 659-3363 for further information on any of the three conferences.