Printers and converters who attend the technical sessions at this year’s Annual Forum will find the program content specifically geared to their objectives. “Our primary goal when developing the program was to make sure we offered subjectmatter attune to keeping their [printers/converters] operations competitive in today’s ever-evolving business climate,” said Scott Gilbert, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp., 2008 Forum Chair.

“We’ve taken a ‘by the people, for the people’ approach” he added. “Each session is chaired by a printer/converter, which helped tremendously in developing the content because he/she could ask himself/herself ‘Is this something I would want to hear as an attendee?'”

Mark Mazur, DuPont Imaging Technologies, Forum 2008 co-chair added “What sets this Forum apart, aside from the energy brought by the fact that it celebrates FTA’s 50 year anniversary, is that there is very little supplier influence. We wanted to make sure the topics addressed what printers and converters want and need.”

Printers and converters are expected to show up in droves to attend the 10 sessions and more than 50 presentations. There they will learn about: achieving color quickly, controlling variables, waste reduction initiatives, and tools that will optimize productivity. As an added bonus, printers/converters and consumer product companies (CPCs) receive more than 25 percent off the regular Forum registration rates.

“Our goal is to have attendees leave with a notepad full of to-dos.” commented Gilbert. “And that’s something easily accomplished with sessions like ‘Faster, Better, Cheaper’, ‘Sustainablity’ and ‘FIRST/FQC’ (Flexographic Image Reproduction Specifications & Tolerances / Flexo Quality Consortium).”

Mazur added “Each session in some way or another addresses the challenges and opportunities facing a printer/converter today. The best thing to do, really, is bring more than one person, so every session is covered and more information is brought back to the plant. Plus, people are always interacting with one another and an attendee might get a great idea from simply networking with seatmates and other attendees.”

Mazur summed it up by saying “Being at Forum, talking with others, evaluating what’s happened in the past 50 years, and envisioning what is to come in the next, is how you keep abreast of everything that’s going on.”

The 2008 Forum & INFO*FLEX Exhibition themed “FTA's Golden Anniversary: 50 Years of Making Flexo Stronger” will take place April 27 -30, 2008 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas Texas. Coinciding with the Annual Forum is the INFO*FLEX Exhibition, the flexographic industry's most widely anticipated and highly attended annual gathering of buyers, sellers, educators, students, and professional flexographers representing all aspects of flexography and in-line converting. The show floor is nearly 85 percent reserved with a sold-out exhibit floor expected by show time.

Additionally, golden anniversary celebrations paying tribute to the 50-year founding of FTA are slated to take place during Forum & INFO*FLEX. Sunday night will play host to the ever-popular Annual Banquet and Awards Reception. On Monday, attendees are invited to a special 50th Anniversary Luncheon where FTA will unveil the hotly anticipated, limited edition, 50-year commemorative journal. Finally, Tuesday night's special event, aptly dubbed the Golden Jubilee, will take place at the ever-popular SpeedZone® race park.

The Early Bird rate (through March 14) for a printer/converter/CPC Full Forum registration is $645.00 for FTA members and $1,290.00 for non-members. A regular Full Forum registration totals $895.00 for FTA members and $1,790.00 for non-members. Registrations can be made online at the FTAStore or by calling FFTA's customer service department at 631-737-6020.

Premier sponsors of the events include 3M; All Printing Resources, Inc.; ARC International; DuPont Imaging Technologies; Environmental Inks & Coatings Corp.; Fluid Ink Technologies; Mekrom-Degraf; Rogers Corporation; tesa tape, inc.; Nazdar, Inc.; and Sun Chemical Performance Pigments.

Prospective attendees looking for more information about FFTA’s 2008 Annual Forum & INFO*FLEX Exhibition, including sponsorship and exhibitor opportunities, and venue and hotel details, can point their browsers to the conference webpage.