DIGITAL digest

2010 GUA Conference Returns to Its Birthplace

VANCOUVER, BC—As they say, what goes around comes around. That held true for the 15th annual Graphic Users' Association (GUA) North American Conference held here April 11-14, since the group traces its roots to an initial meeting in Vancouver 15 years ago. And, although some of the session topics may have evolved during that time, the event's mission to foster learning opportunities, peer-to-peer networking, and the ability for Kodak users to interact directly with company executives and product managers hasn't changed.

After brief welcome addresses on the opening day by Tom Clifford, GUA president and Web-to-print manager at HC Miller in Green Bay, WI, and Michele Laird-Williams, GUA executive director and Kodak's association manager, a keynote roundtable discussion featured select industry editors and analysts, including Mark Michelson, editor-in-chief of Printing Impressions. Alan Darling, senior vice president of sales and marketing at newly formed Content Critical LLC in Carlstadt, NJ, was the keynote speaker the following morning.

The morning keynotes each day were followed by breakout sessions for the 185 attendees on topics such as Kodak's Prosper inkjet press platform based on Stream Technology, ways to grow your business with digital printing, hybrid workflows, leveraging Kodak InSite prepress portal and Storefront solutions, and much more. A full program of GUA University classes was offered during the weekend prior to the event and a lab featuring Kodak and partner solutions for hands-on learning was open during the conference itself.

Bullpen sessions with Kodak executives and developers also gave GUA attendees forums to ask questions, address issues of concern and provide their input for future product development.

Evening entertainment included a welcome reception and a private tour of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia.

Digital Book Printing Puts CPI in the Black

MESNIL SUR L'ESTRÉE, FRANCE—Book printer CPI has claim to two firsts with the HP T300 Inkjet Web digital press at its Firmin-Didot plant. It's the first installation completed in Europe and the first configured only with black, not CMYK, printing units. This seven-figure installation also is notable because it came at a time when CPI was completing a major financial restructuring that was required for the business' continued operation.

During a briefing for analysts and the media arranged by HP, Pierre-Francois Catté, chairman, noted that the book printer is now producing about double the number of individual jobs that it previously did to reach its 500 million annual production total. The downward trend in quantities, combined with CPI's new digital capabilities, gave rise to its slogan—"1 to 1 Million Books."

• MORE ON
• DIGITAL PRINTING