Robin Williamson

Nothing 'Static' About PIA/GATF VDP Conference PHOENIX—Somewhat akin to the early days of the California Gold Rush, there are endless growth opportunities in today's digital frontier. And the riches will go to those printers that can master variable data printing (VDP), database management and cross-media applications. There's no secret map to the gold, but shops that can provide these services—coupled with the ability to market, sell and then track the benefits of one-to-one marketing—will be the ones most likely to strike it rich. That seems to be the general consensus of the more than 300 participants who attended the 2005 PIA/GATF Variable Data and

Robin Williamson might have needed to get past some old preconceptions, but now she is completely on board with the art of variable data printing (VDP). It was just three or four years ago when Williamson—the director of print for the Dallas office of Rapp Collins, one of the largest direct marketing agencies in the world—was up to her eyes in conventional printing. But a creative director from the agency had just returned from a digital conference in Arizona, raving about the wonders of digital printing incorporating personalization. Williamson, a seven-year veteran of the company, was a little skeptical. But given what she'd heard