2009 On Demand Preview

The On Demand Conference & Exposition returns to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia March 30-April 2. This year, while printers are looking for ideas and insights that can help them weather the economic storms, On Demand has many solutions to offer.

Make plans to sit in on both keynote addresses on Tuesday. Charles Pesko of InfoTrends kicks off early with his annual state of the industry address, "2009: The Year for Digital Efficiency." He will be followed by Mary Lee Schneider, RR Donnelley's president of Digital Solutions and chief technology officer. She will address the question of whether the new digital print technologies deliver on their promise. Wednesday morning's keynote is "Innovation: Turning Inspiration into Critical Customer Assets" by Dr. Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox's chief technology officer and president of the Xerox Innovation Group.

Educational Sessions

The educational program features more than 75 sessions, broken out into 10 separate tracks. This makes it easier to narrow your focus and find the information you truly want to pursue. The tracks of most interest to quick and small commercial printers are:

• Sales & Business Development Strategies
• Web-to-Print Technologies
• Business Management
• Variable Data Printing & Personalization/One-to-One Communications
• Hardware & Software Investment Analysis
• Mailing & Fulfillment
• Vendor Assessment & Selection Tools
• Digital Workflows
• Becoming a Marketing Service Provider
• Print MIS
• Pricing Strategies

There are also several "Intensives." These are highly focused, in-depth sessions that include a guided tour of the trade show to see related products. The Intensives run concurrently on Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Available topics include Green Printing, Transitioning to Digital Color, Web-to-Print, Customized Communications, and Making Money in Mailing.

Trade Show

Of course, the main attraction is spending time on the trade show floor. And this year promises plenty of opportunities for software and hardware demonstrations as well as general tire kicking. There will, no doubt, be a plethora of new product introductions and upgrades to existing products.

On Tuesday, the Best of Show awards will be announced in 10 categories: 1:1 Communications; Bindery, Finishing & Mailing Equipment; Color Digital Printing Equipment; Document Creation Software; Innovations in Paper Usage and Substrates; Innovative Use of Technology; Monochrome Digital Printing Equipment; Print MIS/ERP; Web To Print Solutions; and Workflow Solutions. The winners in each category are certain to become top draws throughout the trade show.

No matter what you're looking for, there will be plenty of ideas, products, and information to draw from at this year's On Demand.