Ipex 2010 seminars cover print's pressing issues

A series of expert panel debates at the Ipex 2010 exhibition to be staged by Pira International will address some of the most critical issues facing the printing industry today.

To be staged during Ipex 2010 from 18-25 May 2010 the debate will focus on what Pira international described as four pressing questions.

These include how printing companies can sell printed products and print services, as well as examining what printer of the future will be like.

At the same time, the question of whether an Ipod for publishing will kill printed media will be asked, together with whether or not environmental print is worth it.

According to Pira International the debates come at a critical time.

Pira consultant and the chairman of the debate, Sean Smyth, said: 'The industry is in an unprecedented period of change, exacerbated by the deep recession.

Cash conservation is a short-term tactic, not a strategy to build a successful business.

These debates provide an opportunity for industry players to put their heads above the parapet and think about how their businesses, and their careers, might progress satisfactorily under new conditions.

Joining Sean Smyth and Frank Romano as bebate chairmen will be Neil Falconer, senior consultant of Pira International and Laurel Brunner of Digital Dots.

Panellists will include Rob Haak, president of SPIKIX, Adam Dewitz, director of technology at What They Think.com, Stephen Goddard, environmental leadership programme manager at Hewlett Packard and Marcia Balisciano, director of corporate responsibility at Reed Elsevier.

Debate participants will take away a study with scenarios and forecasts to 2020.

With input from a panel of authoritative print and publishing experts from around the world, Print to 2020 will provide a global summary of the challenges, threats and opportunities facing the printing industry.

Building upon the themes discussed at the Ipex and Pira forums, the study will offer a road map for how these issues are likely to develop over the next 10 years.

Print to 2020 is published by Pira International.

Frank Romano, professor emeritus at the Rochester Institute of Technology, commented: 'The printing industry needs more debate and discussion.

We are at a crossroads in terms of new printing technology, changes in customer marketing and challenges to print.

We need to band together to develop new markets, new print products, and new ideas - and convince the world that print is still an important and viable form of communication.

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