Ghent, Belgium - Adobe will host the October 14-16 meeting of The Ghent Workgroup (GWG) in San Jose, CA. The GWG develops standard specifications and best practices for international graphic arts production and exchange. Non-members interested in securing one of a few observer seats, at no charge, should contact Carole Demeulemeester -
[email protected].
GWG Chairman David Zwang says, "This is where the greatest minds are meeting - the ground floor of graphic arts innovation, where the seeds of breakthrough ideas take root.
"Competitors stand shoulder to shoulder with each other, as well as expert analysts and production professionals, to collaborate on the technologies that are shaping our future," Zwang says.
There are typically 10 or fewer free seats available for observers at GWG meetings, which are held in various, international locations three times a year. Several seminars are also held throughout the year, and members can participate as attendees or presenters.
"The meetings are dynamic forums for exciting discussion, and the results are the foundation of the most important technologies in graphic arts," says Zwang. "If you are, or know, a graphic arts technology visionary; encourage them to join us for a meeting. They will feel greatly inspired, and yet feel right at home."
GWG Membership
There are many ways to become involved in the GWG. Interested parties can become a GWG member, observer, or join a GWG subcommittee.
The GWG currently offers five different types of membership:
Association Members- Associations in the publishing space give feedback from the real world. The individual representatives are the driving force behind the development of GWG specifications, test suites, and more.
Vendor Members - Adobe, Agfa, EFI, Enfocus, Esko, Kodak, GMG, Heidelberg, and many more vendors are active GWG members, participating in order to stay up-to-date and develop the compliant GWG solutions their customers look for.
Industry Members - Analysts and consultants including researchers can become industry members, and therefore participate in best practice and specifications development.
Education Members - Education members are schools of higher learning that specialize in Design, Graphic Arts, and related Publishing disciplines. There are two "classes" of educational members in this group: those from accredited institutions, and those who are not from an accredited institution, but one that offers educational curricula.
Liaison Members - Liaison members are comprised of international standards organizations working in a field similar, or complementary, to the GWG. Liaison members reciprocate with comparable membership in their own organizations - further solidifying compatibility across objectives and solutions themselves.
A Global Resource
Since its inception, the GWG has successfully produced and made available free, by download, specifications for the use of PDF and PDF/X-PLUS in a variety of vertical graphic arts segment applications. Members also have access to the Ghent Output Suite, widely used to test the ability of workflows to correctly handle PDF files in production.
The GWG also publishes white papers and instructional documents to help the industry understand many of the issues that affect graphic arts production. Members receive priority access to all GWG products; including specifications, Ghent Output Suite, GWG white papers and other educational materials or presentations. The industry at-large has free access to all final versions of these products.
Joining GWG
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