Association Insights: Owners Conference Keynoter Looks at the Industry's Future

For quick and small commercial printers, the Graph Expo experience actually begins three days earlier with the start of the 2012 NAQP Owners Conference, October 4-6, in Chicago. Bob Sacks, president and publisher of Precision Media Group, will kick off the conference with his keynote address: “The Future of Printing and Publishing—How Print and Magazines Will Not Only Survive but Thrive.”

An industry member for 40+ years, Sacks has been a director of manufacturing and distribution, senior sales manager, chief of operations, pressman, and developer of website companies. His keynote will cover “the technological past, present, and future possibilities for printing and publishing at the digital edge,” offering a mix of “information, facts, myth busting, and humor.”

Sacks promises to bring to light the disruptive factors of changing technologies, social patterns, and market predictions of printed paginated products, and why digital paginated products drive revenue. His address is a fitting start to a conference themed, “Embracing Change: Finding New Paths to Profits”.

Unique Event

The only industry event exclusively for quick and small commercial printing company owners and managers, the Owners Conference has a rich history of delivering top-rated programming and networking opportunities for this industry segment.

“The program has been put together by a group of knowledgeable quick and small commercial printer members who used their frontline experience to identify today’s most important industry issues and assembled speakers and panelists to address them from a real-world perspective,” says NAPL president and CEO Joseph P. Truncale, Ph.D. “Those who attend will return to their offices with innumerable takeaways they can make use of immediately.”

Sessions such as, “The Power of Follow-up” with Nancy Proffitt; “Transitioning from Ownership: What Works and What Doesn’t” with John Hyde; “Understanding and Making Google Work for You” with Jennifer Adelman; “Equipment Financing” with Harvey Hosid; and “Selling Cross-Media is Really Selling Results” with Kate Dunn will provide attendees with the latest and most knowledgeable insights and information for their businesses.

There will be panel discussions with frontline printing company owners on topics such as “Balancing the Business of Sales as an Owner with the Business of the Business”, “Where Are the New Paths to Profits?”, and “Finding Success in Online Marketing.” And I’ll be moderating a special closing session, “Where Are the New Paths to Profits?” that will feature panelists Frank Romano, Barb Pellow, Julie Shaffer, and Dr. Joe Webb.

The DoubleTree Hotel Chicago-Magnificent Mile is the site of the 2012 Owners Conference, which will also feature the popular Ideas Exchange and Supplier Showcase. The conference content is geared toward arming owners and managers with strategies, tactics, and tools to face the business challenges ahead.

“The Owners Conference allows us to share our knowledge and ideas, and hear what others are doing to grow their companies, while adding new innovative products and services,” says Scott Cappel, president of Sorrento Mesa Printing and 2010 Printer of the Year. “Connecting with others via phone, email, or social media is a great way to share information to help us run our companies, but those methods lack the richness and engagement of personal time spent with colleagues and industry friends.”

Best of the Best

The 2012 Owners Conference will also play host to presentations of the NAQP Industry Awards and Print Excellence Awards (formerly the PrintImage Excellence Awards). The five Industry Awards honor those who have made significant contributions to, and had a positive impact on, the quick and small commercial printing industry. Award categories include: