Education / Events | Show Floor Features

GOA 2012 will be the one-stop event of the year, where you can consult with the world's experts and see in action the technologies that alone or together will provide a platform for your graphic communications firm's success in the next decade – and beyond.

We want your experience at GOA to be inspirational and educational, making your business more profitable. In addition to a plethora of exhibiting companies at GOA. GOA also offers free feature opportunities including:

KEYNOTE
Thursday, March 1 • 9:00–10:15 AM – Christopher Smith

Publishing 2012: What it means to be a modern publisher

Putting ink on paper is no longer enough as customers expect to find their favorite content in print and on their favorite devices: smart phones, tablets, and e-readers. In Publishing 2012, publishing technology expert Christopher Smith helps you gain an understanding of new and emerging devices, tools, and applications that are changing the way content is consumed and delivered. In this presentation you will:

• Learn about devices and tools that are reshaping the way content is created and viewed.
• Discover how to get your content onto multiple platforms including those from Apple, Google, and Microsoft.
• Find out ways to adapt your business to succeed as a modern publisher in this useful and informative session that's essential for anyone working in the field of publishing in 2012.
• Achieve a better understanding of the major forces impacting graphics, media, and publishing firms and ways you can use new media, new tools, and new technologies to empower yourself and your business.

Christopher Smith is president of American Graphics Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the creator and series editor of the Digital Classroom book series, an imprint of Wiley publishing. He was instrumental in making the series among the first books available on Apple's iBooks store, Amazon's Kindle, the nook, and other e-reading devices. At American Graphics Institute, Chris has provided strategic technology consulting to some of the largest catalog, book, magazine, and newspaper publishers. He is the author of more than 10 books on electronic publishing software, including the Adobe Creative Suite for Dummies. He has served as a consultant to technology companies including Adobe and Microsoft. Chris studied Journalism at the University of Minnesota, and then worked for Quark prior to joining American Graphics Institute where he has worked for more than a decade. He is also a partner of Avlade, a marketing and technical communications company.

EXPO THEATER
GOA will organize at least 10 sessions that will be free of charge in the Expo Theater on the show floor. The sessions will be presented by senior leadership from exhibiting companies. Companies that have participated in the past have included Adobe, DTG, Xerox, Heidelberg, Presstek, Kodak and American Graphics Institute.

DIRECT-TO-GARMENT CENTER
In this exciting area of the show floor, attendees will get a firsthand look at digital garment decoration technologies. Attendees will search this area for solutions that fit their needs – and to learn techniques, tips, tricks and trends to improve production accuracy and prevent errors.

WIDE FORMAT PRINT SHOP LIVE!
Visitors will be able to engage with this innovative platform of live end-to-end workflow. Production managers will be invited to bring real job files to test-run on an array of digital technologies, software and consumables to reflect a live working environment on the show floor. You can observe this 'how to' area, hosted by independent wide format industry consultant Sophie Matthews-Paul, to discover the best way to employ technologies and optimize production efficiency, as well as see the variety of innovative applications possible.

VEHICLE WRAP CENTER
Always a show floor favorite, the Vehicle Wrap Center features live demonstrations of vinyl installations. Installers will get firsthand tips, tricks and techniques to improve their skills, and graphic imagers can use this area toconnect with qualified installers. MUTOH and Arlon will be presenting live vehicle wrap demonstrations. Graphics are printed by the 64" ValueJet 1614, The Wrappers Choice, using Arlon's DPF 6000XRP, a 2-mil gloss white cast film with bubble releasing, tinted, repositionable, permanent pressure-sensitive adhesive.

FESPA WRAP CUP CHAMPION OF THE AMERICAS
FESPA will present this adrenaline-fueled vehicle wrap competition where the wrap stars of the Americas region will be pitted against each other and the clock to find the FESPA Wrap Cup Champion of the Americas. Click here for more information.

 

BONUS SESSIONS
GOA will organize Bonus Sessions that are free to attendees through the exhibition. The bonus sessions will focus on technology trends that will have a future impact on attendees' businesses.

Bonus Sessions this year include:

B2. Increase Response Rates through Integrated Digital Print and Electronic Media
David Murphy, HP
Thursday, March 1 • 10:30–11:45 AM

Low-cost electronic communications have combined with today's tight marketing budgets to make some believe that print is no longer an effective demand generation or brand awareness medium. Let's change that misconception now. This presentation offers proof of how digital print, when strategically integrated with social media, email, and other electronic technologies, generates higher response rates and greater customer engagement than pure electronic channels can yield on their own.

What you will learn:
• What is digital print's role in the communications mix? 
• Why marketers should invest in digital print even when social media and email
appear less expensive. 
• How real-life business cases have proven that integrated marketing campaigns can
yield higher returns on marketing investment.
• What tools are needed to get started in offering integrated marketing campaigns?

B3. Color Management
Heidelberg
Thursday, March 1 • 2:00–3:15 PM

If you're a printing company executive wondering how to increase profits in a down economy, this is the best 1.5 hours you can possibly spend. In a fast-paced one and half-hour question and answer format, Heidelberg experts will present the answers to questions like:

• How can I actually reduce makeready times, saving labor and material costs,
with my existing equipment?
• I think I'm making money, but how do I truly find my actual production costs for
specific customers?
• How do I go about getting this "G7 certification" my clients are asking me about?

This information can propel your company to profits when all others are struggling.

B4. The New Business of Communications… Opportunities for Printers
Regina Testa, Vice President,Graphic Communication Industry Business, Xerox Corporation
Friday, March 2 • 10:30-11:45 AM
 
Learn about the opportunities in the print industry to serve your customers with new services and solutions that meet their communications needs.

Hear from some of your peers on how they successfully transformed their businesses to not just survive but thrive in the new business of communications model.

B5. Workflow Efficiencies through Automation and Integration
Nick Benkovich, Director of Print Workflow
Friday, March 2 • 2:00–3:15 PM
 
The challenges in today's marketplace requires true automation and integration to separate best-in-class print service providers from their competition. A 2011 InfoTrends study shows over 60% of printers are prioritizing workflow automation as a best-practice competitive advantage.

Whether you are a packaging printer or specialize in publishing or commercial print, your success lies on your investments are being utilized to their fullest potential. By automating and integrating your business production workflow systems, printers will drive costs out of their workflow systems through increased visibility, streamlined efficiencies, reduction of manual touch points and minimizing human error.

Nick Benkovich, Director of Print Workflow, will discuss these challenges and the solutions Kodak provides to solve them. In addition to our current portfolio, Nick will provide a look ahead to Kodak Unified Workflow Solutions at Drupa 2012, and preview the next generation of workflow products including InSite PrePress Portal and Prinergy Workflow System.