Mar. 24, 2008— The On Demand Conference and Expo, held in Boston March 4-6, brought together representatives from 125 Fortune 500 companies, with nearly 25,000 visitors from 50 states and more than 75 countries, including international printing delegates from China, Italy, Japan, and Russia. There were more than 175 exhibitors, more than 40 of which were brand new this year.

"The success of the exposition and conference demonstrates the critical importance of the digital printing marketplace," said Debra Brown, event director, On Demand Conference & Expo, Questex Media Group. "The conference program attracted global business and technology professionals, while the Expo floor was filled with attendees exploring innovative technology solutions. We are very pleased that the event was so well received from attendees, exhibitors and sponsors."

The headline keynote, entitled "The Power of Simplicity," was presented by David Pogue, best-selling author and New York Times personal technology columnist, and Matthew Glotzbach, head of products, Google Enterprise. Charles A. Pesko, executive vice president, Questex Media Group, presented a State of the Industry keynote entitled "From Print to Marketing Service Provider."

Other keynotes included a panel called "Reflections on Super Tuesday: What's at Stake & What's to Come" presented by Patrick J. Buchanan, political analyst, former advisor to three U.S. Presidents, and two-time Republican Presidential candidate, and Howard Fineman, Newsweek senior Washington correspondent and NBC News political analyst; and moderated by Carlos Watson, a former CNN News political commentator. Jim Hamilton, group director, InfoTrends, moderated the keynote panel "Emerging Technologies and What to Expect in 2008" and Barb Pellow, group leader, InfoTrends, moderated a keynote panel examining "The Changing Media Mix: A Marketing Perspective."

State of the Industry
Pesko's take on the industry and what's to come was particularly interesting, since, as he noted, the industry as a whole is moving from "megatrends to microtrends." There are small forces with a huge influence, and these are shaping the way the graphic communications world will look in the future.

The biggest, and most prominent of these small forces is the individual consumer. Digital technology hasn't just given printers the opportunity to reach individuals with variable-data printing—although that is most certainly part of the trend. It has also given those consumers the power to make their own voices heard. The Internet, with communities such as MySpace, YouTube, and the blogosphere, has given consumers the ability to reach out and do their own personal marketing, getting their opinion and agenda out to the world. In exchange, they expect, more and more, for companies and corporations who want to reach them to do the same. "One-size-fits-all marketing is no longer relevant," according to Pesko.

Keep it Simple, Stupid
Pogue and Glotzbach both focused on one aspect of this individualized phenomenon—the technology that allows it.

They both noted that software and hardware these days has become smaller and more feature-rich, trying to be everything to everyone. However, in the process, they have become much more difficult to use, with nested menus, complicated jargon, and proprietary interfaces. They advocated a much simpler, more intuitive approach.

Glotzbach used Google's homepage—which has not changed significantly since the original launch of the site—as an example. It is clean, with mostly white space, and has remained that way while the company has expanded its service offerings. Pogue used another technology company, Apple, to illustrate how simplifying things can have a huge impact on the consumer world. The iPod and iPhone, both of which are major cultural icons now, both offer clean, simple-to-use, intuitive interfaces that don't require an advanced degree to use. Particularly in the case of the iPhone, where the market was already saturated with competition, this market share is impressive.

So what does this have to do with print? Several things, actually.

First, this is the world your clients, and their own customers, now live, work, and play in. To effectively become a marketing partner, a route many shops today are taking, it is necessary to understand how marketing messages work, and how those consumers want to receive them.

Second, according to Pesko, direct mail is the number two form of advertising in the United States, second only to television. And with variable data and personalized messages gaining in popularity, that market category will only continue to increase. This demonstrates that print is still very much a vibrant and important part of the marketing landscape. Its role as the dominant form of communication may change over time, but it will always have a role to play—and savvy printers who learn and understand the new technologies and how they work with print, instead of viewing it as the competition, will have a huge advantage.

Best of Show
In addition to the show floor and conference program, On Demand offers a "Best of Show" program, recognizing exhibitors and technologies that were outstanding. The awards were open to all exhibitors. To be eligible, products must have been introduced after April 2007, be generally available at the time of the 2008 Expo, and be on display or in use during the exposition.

The awards were judged by professionals from the graphic arts and printing community. The judges were chosen for their accomplishments and knowledge in this market and its technologies. Judges used a weighted combination of subjective and objective criteria in making their selections for Best of Show.

One Best of Show award was presented in each of the following categories:

• Bindery, Finishing and Mailing Equipment— Ricoh, Ring Binder RB5000
• Document Creation Software—XMPie Inc., PersonalEffect
• Innovations in Paper Usage and Substrates— Mohawk Fine Papers, Beckett Cambric
• Innovative Use of Technology—interlinkONE, ilinkONE Version 8/Release 8.3
• Monochrome Digital Printing Equipment—Océ, VarioStream 8000
• Process Color Digital Printing Equipment—Canon U.S.A. Inc., imagePRESS C6000
• Web To Print Solutions—Rochester Software Associates Inc., WebCRD Enterprise System 7.0
• Wide Format Printing—Xerox Corp., 8265 Color Wide Format Printer
• Workflow Solutions—Ultimate Technographics Inc., Impostrip Book Stacker 2.0

• Bindery, Finishing and Mailing Equipment— Kompac Technologies, Kwik Finish
• Document Creation Software—GMC Software Technology, PrintNet Designer 5.2
• Innovations in Paper Usage and Substrates— Neenah Paper Inc., Coronado SST Papers
• Innovative Use of Technology—XMPie Inc., Marketplace
• Process Color Digital Printing Equipment—Océ, JetStream
• Web To Print Solutions—Firespring, PrinterPresence
• Wide Format Printing—Canon U.S.A. Inc., imagePrograf iPF8000S
• Workflow Solutions—Rochester Software Associates, QDirect.Scan