June 17, 2002 -- Printing is everywhere. It’s part of daily life for businesses of all sizes and types. Yet many executives approach their print buying decisions with an understanding of the industry that’s many years out of date and they’re missing some important opportunities as a result. GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO 2002, held October 6-9 at McCormick Place South in Chicago, IL, aims to change all that with a special appeal to print’s ultimate consumers to come and see all the new choices the industry is putting at their command. Several important trends that affect communicators will have their most complete exploration of 2002 at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO. One-to-one marketing goes to press. Print industry headlines in recent years have focused on "variable data printing," a form of direct digital printing that completely re-images printing press cylinders with every revolution. This means every copy of a high quality color brochure or product sheet can be different. "Variable data printing is the technological side of one-to-one marketing," said John Kapriotakis, founder of Lysis International, a top-level consulting firm that is offering a seminar titled "What Print Buyers Really Want" at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO. "It’s the key to really personalizing your message and the show can help buyers become conversant enough with the new technology to see how they can use it." How much do non-specialists need to know about these new options? Enough, says Kapriotakis, not only to evaluate proposals but also to steer their own course. "Don’t rely on your vendors to be the visionaries," he advised. Instead, the knowledgeable user can always be sure his or her communications strategies make the right use of the latest tools. Control is moving to the desktop. Many functions traditionally considered "prepress" are no longer being performed in service bureaus or printing plants. "New digital technologies are reshaping both the demand and markets for print and the manner in which print is manufactured," said Professor Frank Romano, Chairman of the School of Printing Management and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. A big part of this change is a new approach to print workflows. For example, job proofing no longer requires waiting for the printer’s representative to bring a hardcopy proof, marking it up and then waiting for revisions to be made. Today the printer can send the client a proof through the Internet and it can be output on a digital color inkjet printer in quality high enough for most art-checking and layout approval functions. Control of business functions, from soliciting bids to tracking the progress of a job through the print shop, is also Web-enabled these days and increasingly driven from the customer’s office. Cross-media is coming to the forefront. "The real key today is that you cannot use a single medium, you have to use multiple media; the key is to know how to integrate the whole thing," said William Lamparter, president of PrintCom Consulting. Lamparter will chair a special full-day forecasting conference called EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK the day before GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO opens. "A catalog publisher, for example, has to know the best way to design in a reference to the web site. It’s not simple." The printing and publishing industry has tackled these very issues of file portability and cross-media compatibility in recent years, resulting in a host of new products that support and simplify all-digital workflows throughout the communications process. A comprehensive sampling of all these products will be on display at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO. But for the ultimate user of print—the executive who needs to communicate to succeed—the real value of the new technology goes beyond a simple statement of capabilities. "It all comes down to ease of doing business and peace of mind," said Rick Lamos, Kapriotakis’s partner in Lysis International. "Today’s technologies are all about much more control, at a lower cost, with better turnaround." All of the products and information you need to know about as a top business communicator can be found at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO. Be sure to attend this comprehensive tradeshow for the latest tools and techniques available to help you be a driving force in your business and a resource to your clients and colleagues. You’ll see the newest digital prepress, printing, finishing and converting equipment, and all the unique capabilities they offer designers and business communicators to maximize the impact of printed communications. Complete information about GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO can be found at www.graphexpo.com.