PRINT 18 Chicago puts industry out in front

“PRINT 18 was a great investment for Ricoh and we have already committed to participating in PRINT 19,” said Brian Dollard, director of the commercial & industrial printing business group at Ricoh, USA. “We had significant booth traffic providing us the opportunity to showcase our award-winning products, solutions, and real-world applications that can be created with our portfolio. We continue to see the print community, including our customers and perspective customers, travelling to Chicago to see what is new and relevant in the print industry.”

“This year’s PRINT event demonstrated that the print industry is alive, well and relevant,” said Francis McMahon, executive vice-president, production printing, Canon Solutions, America. “Walking the exhibit hall you continue to see the investments and commitments that are being made through the entire print value chain to help businesses grow and thrive. We had a very successful event and look forward to continuing to partner with the Association for PRINT Technologies (APTech).”

Seth Godin, noted author and marketing visionary, presented PRINT’s opening keynote, offering nugget after nugget of marketing and print-related insights that both challenged and entertained the audience, resulting in rave reviews from many.

Industry experts gave educational sessions on industry-specific topics, followed by exhibit hall tours of relevant booths, adding dimension to the learning experience beyond the classroom format. First-time exhibits focusing on emerging technologies included a new RED HOT opportunities booth featuring select vendors with game-changing technologies. With the new virtual reality area, visitors enjoyed a fully immersive experience interacting with presses in ways they never could in the real world.

The first-ever Brand Inspiration Forum at PRINT, organised in partnership with the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council brought together marketers, creatives, engagement experts and print providers to spark insights to make customer engagement channels more effective, efficient and engaging.

The new RED HOT Technology Recognition Program helped visitors easily navigate the exhibit hall and find the newest technologies on display by PRINT 18 exhibitors. A total of 76 products and solutions from 45 exhibitors in 11 product categories were recognised. Nine of those products were further honoured with RED HOT Technology Vanguard Awards, for game-changing solutions that are expected to have significant impact in the industry.

New networking opportunities included a VIP lounge near the educational meeting rooms for between-sessions mingling, a “First-Timer’s Reception” for PRINT newcomers, and a Student Career Fair on the event’s final day.

Greater awareness of the need to do business across borders was evident at the packed-to-capacity International Reception. CONLATINGRAF is now partnering with APTech to bring South and Latin American attendees from 60,000 print shops in 14 countries to PRINT.