Frank Romano, professor emeritus at RIT asked the speakers at an Ipex World Print Summit session yesterday if print is doomed or on the verge of a new digital renaissance. They agreed that they see evidence already of print's expansion into new and innovative directions such as variable data or high-margin industrial applications. Keynote speakers EFI™ CEO Guy Gecht and Landa Corp CEO Benny Landa addressed a packed audience on the second day of the London based exhibition.

Printing Industries of America is pleased to announce the Manitoba Print Industry Association has joined the team of Canadian Affiliate Organizations of Printing Industries of America.

The organization of Grafitalia is now proceeding at full steam in view of the upcoming edition of the exhibition, part of the great event taking place in 2015 at Fieramilano.

The presidency of the exhibition was confirmed to Vincenzo Boccia, a prominent president and leading user of graphic arts technology. Exhibition organizer Centrexpo Spa chose not to renounce the prestige such notable figure will bring to the exhibitions in 2015 – especially since the next edition of Grafitalia will be a special one: for the first time they will combine graphic arts, printing, communication and paper converting technology (of the parallel Converflex) into a single event unparalleled anywhere in the world.

Grafitalia and Converflex look to the future with confidence - a future that is now getting very close. 2015 will see the first edition of a one-of-a-kind event: from May 19 to 23 2015 seven leading exhibitions will be staged jointly: Grafitalia and Converflex will be joined by IPACK-IMA (Europe's leading exhibition specializing in processing and packaging technology, of great world renown) and three related shows: Meat-Tech (Ipack-Ima's brand new event specializing in technology and solutions for the meat industry), Fruitech Innovation (the most comprehensive and innovative show in the fruit & vegetable industry), Dairytech (the new specialized exhibition for processing and packaging in the dairy industry) and Intralogistica Italia (the first edition of the exhibition for logistic and material handling technology organized by Deutsche Messe in partnership with Ipack-Ima Spa).

For the seventh year running, Heidelberg USA hosted the annual SkillsUSA Georgia Training Day and competition in Advertising and Design and Graphic Communications at its North American Print and Packaging Technology Center (NAPPTC) in Kennesaw, GA March 13-14. The Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG) partnered with Heidelberg USA to sponsor the event, for which Heidelberg USA also loaned the use of three Printmaster QM 46 presses.

PIAG's Educational Foundation awarded $2000 in scholarships to the first-, second-, and third-place winners.

Robert C. Ross Jr., CEO and Founder of Xanté headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, will be the keynote speaker for The Tiara Group Toners 2014 Conference in Santa Barbara, California at the Fess Parker Resort Hotel from June 2 – 4, 2014.

Xanté is a pioneer in production printing with a portfolio encompassing chemical and process-free technology, workflow solutions, and digital print output. Ross founded Xanté in 1989 with the goal of offering upgrade boards for Apple and HP laser printers, which increased the speed and brought the resolution to 600 x 600 dpi. Xanté was the first to offer this technology and continued to be the first on the market with 1200 x 1200 dpi, and now 2400 x 2400 dpi on graphics printing solutions. Xanté also developed patented technologies in encrypted data transfer, electrophotography, and image dimensional accuracy.

Standard Register (NYSE: SR), a leading provider of workflow, content and analytics solutions, announced that its Mexico operations have received an award from Carrier México SA DE CV for outstanding performance. Carrier, the world's leader in heating, air conditioning and refrigeration solutions, is a part of UTC Building & Industrial Systems, a unit of United Technologies Corp.

Standard Register de México, with facilities in Monterrey and Ciudad Juárez, was cited for its 100% on-time delivery, cost reduction initiatives and superior quality performance. Standard Register produces more than 20 million printed items annually for four Carrier plants in Mexico, including 3,500 different label parts, achieving best-in-class standards for defective parts per million.

Leader in Local Print and Digital Coupons Targets Florida, California, Louisiana, Texas and New York

Valpak, a leader in local print and digital coupons, announced today it is building off the momentum of a successful 2013 and plans to add 18 new franchise territories in 2014. The company is targeting expansion in Miami, Fla., San Diego, Calif., New Orleans, La., Corpus Christi, Texas and Syracuse, N.Y., among others.

Innovation occurs when creative people work within an area of transforming technology. And it does not always come from large companies. In fact, some of the most interesting innovation at InPrint will be shown by smaller organisations within the industrial print sector.SALON IRIS is a great example of this. Led by inkjet pioneer Stefan Fiedler, SALON IRIS is the vital link between the LFP inkjet industry and the surface decorating industries at the InPrint Show.

Honors Include Awards for Safety, Environmental Sustainability and Employee Development

R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company (Nasdaq:RRD) announced today that it has been named Company of the Year in the 2014 Gravure Management Excellence Awards presented by the Gravure Association of the Americas. The Gravure Association of the Americas is the leading marketing, educational and technical resource for the gravure industry. RR Donnelley also won awards in the categories of Employee Safety, Environmental Sustainability, and Employee Development.

A simple yet significant time investment to grow your print business

With only a week to go, the global print industry is counting down the days until Ipex (24-29 March) finally opens the doors to its new home at the ExCel London. Ipex will be the first international print-centric event to combine an exhibition with a comprehensive content programme – striking an exciting balance between the latest technologies and education that promises to galvanise any print business. If visitors haven't already registered, they're encouraged to pre-register free-of-charge now via www.ipex.org to avoid paying £30.00 on the day.

Key industry vendors line up to present and demo at AppForum

PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, announced that gold sponsorship opportunities have sold out for this year's AppForum conference March 31 – April 2 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, NV. Executives and exemplary customers of Canon, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Ricoh and Xerox will be presenting best practices of how their technology is being implemented and utilized to grow business, improve profitability and evolve the industry.