Foray to the Future

Published: January 01, 2010, By By Claudia Hine, Managing Editor

Now in its 35th year, Graphics of the Americas (GOA) anticipates drawing nearly 10,000 attendees to the Miami Beach Convention Center in Florida February 25-27. This graphic arts industry event, organized by Orlando-based Printing Assn. of Florida (PAF), offers an exposition and conference program that attracts an international crowd from more than 78 countries.

“The sun is rising on a new year, a renewed economy, and a new era in communications,” says George Ryan, president of GOA. “Every option for printers, prepress, publishers, packagers, and designers' growth and viability for the long term will be in Miami.”

This year's theme is “Take Your Business to Another Dimension,” and on Thursday, February 25, August de los Reyes, principal director of user experience at Microsoft Surface, will deliver the keynote address, “The Future of Communication: Design and Delivery.” Described as one of the world's most renowned futurists, de los Reyes will offer a peek into the latest communications technology and its effect on the graphic arts.

On Wednesday evening, February 24, PAF will present the Graphic Arts Leaders of the Americas (GALA) Awards. John R. Berthelsen, president and CEO of Suttle-Straus, Waunakee, WI, is named this year's North American Graphic Leader. Carlos Hernan Aguirre Vargas, director and general manager of Quebecor World Chile S.A. (now Worldcolor Chile SA) in Santiago is the recipient of the Latin American Graphic Leader.

GALA award winners are chosen for their leadership in areas of management, technology, business, and quality, as well as for their contributions to the graphic arts industry, their community, and society in general.

Session Topics

Educational opportunities abound at Graphics of the Americas. Seminars covering all aspects of the graphic arts, including sessions in Spanish, will be presented. Topics of particular interest to converters include the following:

Color Management for Profit | Presented by Heidelberg
The ROI of Soft Proofing | Abhay Sharma, Ryerson Univ.
The Business of Wide Format Printing | David King
Integrating Social Media into Your Business | Christopher Smith, American Graphics Inst.
100+ Ideas on How To Improve Productivity | Raymond Prince, NAPL
Web to Print Primer | Joe Marin, Printing Industries of America
New Technologies in Wide Format Printing | Nicholas Hellmuth, FLAAR
7 Deadly Sins in Printing Companies | Steven Schnoll
Introduction to UV and Hybrid UV Printing | Raymond Prince, NAPL
Do More with FLEXO! | Dr. John Anderson, Kodak
Color Management Using GRACOL7 | Joe Fazzi, IdeAlliance
How Leading Companies Shift from Surviving to Thriving | Howie Fenton, NAPL
Best Practices for Estimating & Planning | Craig Press, Profectus

On Thursday and Friday, February 26-27, industry consultant Richard Warner will moderate a separate conference on brand protection. Speakers will cover the latest technologies and techniques to protect packages from counterfeiting, including security inks and substrates. A US winery will be participating in a demonstration concerning wine labels, one of the most prevalent forms of counterfeiting.

For more information and a list of exhibitors, visit www.graphicsoftheamericas.com.