FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2006

SGIA ’06 Home to Expo-nential Potential

Events, displays & conference facilitate & inspire growth plans

Fairfax, Virginia — By combining more than 500 exhibitors and 50-plus seminars with a wealth of special programs and features, SGIA is creating a growth-inducing SGIA ’06 experience.

“We’re laying the groundwork for specialty imaging professionals to make breakthroughs in their businesses,” said SGIA President/CEO Michael Robertson, noting that the programs will provide networking opportunities as well as a chance to explore new markets, applications and technologies. Expo hall features — including the Wrap Display Area, Dynamic Display Pavilion, Interior Design Display and the Digital Workflow Pavilion — spotlight ways to make the most of new technologies and techniques. There are also important networking options on the agenda.

“Everyone who’s at SGIA ’06 will have a chance to mix business with pleasure. Here’s one: the Thursday Night Dinner Party. We’ll have Vince Vance and the Valiants rocking with tunes from the 1950s through the 1990s, dancing till midnight and dinner. It’s always a great party, and this year’s will be outstanding,” Robertson said.

Another “must” on your networking list: the Keynote Luncheon, featuring Joe Calloway, author of “Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison” (Tuesday, September 26).

“The nice thing about the keynote luncheon is that it also provides food for thought — a starting point for conversations afterward,” Robertson said. These special programs complement a conference schedule packed with more than 50 sessions. Conference sessions are grouped in nine informal course clusters: “Images to Wear,” “Management — Best Practices,” “Managing Multiple Technologies,” “Membrane Switch Group,” “New Horizons in Imaging,” “New Media, New Opportunities,” “New to Digital Imaging,” “Nuts, Bolts and Technology” and “Solutions for Digital Production,” “We’re at a time in history where innovation is key to business survival, and the Expo’s special features and programs are all about providing the insight, information and inspiration you need,” Robertson noted.

A partial list and descriptions of SGIA ’06 special programs are below. For more information about any of them, visit SGIA.org

• The SGIA ’06 Keynote Luncheon investigates what it takes to be the one and only in a category. Speaker Joe Calloway will show you how to set your business apart from the competition. (Tuesday, September 26, noon­1:45)
• Future Forums give you tools for addressing the issues of your business future. Think about how you address digital flatbed printing equipment purchases with “Considerations for Flatbed Inkjet Printing” (Wednesday, September 27). “Steps Forward: The Future of Imaging” (Thursday, September 28) explores specialty imaging’s potential frontier.
• The Thursday Night Dinner Party features rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s through the 1990s with madcap musicians Vince Vance and the Valiants — accompanied by the vivacious Valianettes. Close out your SGIA ’06 with dancing, networking a great show and dinner, the presentations of the Parmele and DPI innovator Awards and the new Chairman of the SGIA Board of Directors.
• An Image Flows Through It: Check out the optimum in digital imaging workflow every day at the Digital Workflow Pavilion. You’ll go with the workflow, following an image from design, to RIP, to printing, and finally to finishing.
• It’s a Wrap! At 10:30 each morning, an exhibitor will demonstrate the very latest vehicle wrapping technologies and techniques. On the wrapping agenda (one per day, in order of appearance): SGIA ’06 Platinum Sponsor 3M Graphics Market Center (Tuesday), and fellow exhibitors Avery Dennison Graphics Division North America (Wednesday), Oracal USA (Thursday) and Arlon Inc. (Friday).
• Look Inside. The room, the restaurant, the store — all can inspire your next generation of business. For insight into interior design, stop at the Interior Design Display. Meet there again Wednesday, September 27, at 2:00 pm, for a free seminar about expanding into interior design.
• Changing signs. The Dynamic Display Pavilion shines with the latest in signage ideas.
• Caffeine connection. The SGIA Eye Opener shows you want the SGIA membership buzz is all about. Wednesday, September 27­Friday, September 29, 9:00 am­9:20 am.
• Product of the Year. Digital-imaging-oriented equipment and consumables compared side by side. The output device competition display includes a common test print produced by each competing press.
• Golden Image and Schellenberg competition display areas. Both esteemed competitions are open to SGIA members only, but the display is available for anyone to view. (Entry details at SGIA.org, keyword “printing competition”.)