WAN-IFRA Launches Printing Summit in April

By: E&P Staff Because print technologies are advancing along with digital news delivery channels -- developments that often get less public attention despite their significance for the future of the news business -- the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) is launching The Printing Summit.

The event brings together publishers, printing managers and production directors for presentations and discussions of new ideas and tactics that advanced printing technologies generate.

The April 13-15 conference in Salzburg, Austria, is organized into three one-day modules comprising all aspects of print. Day one is dedicated to materials, mailrooms and printing technology; day two to new business models, marketing and the future of newspaper printing; and day three covers sustainability models and environmental issues.

Designed for publishers, editors, printing managers and production directors, the event will be held at the modern conference center at the Salzburger Nachrichten, and will include visits to that newspaper's plant and newsroom. For conference program information and registration details (early bird rate now available), go here.

"Press technology is developing rapidly towards automatic newspaper production, including automatic plate transportation and plate change, closed-loop controls for web tension, cut-off and color register as well as automatic density control," Manfred Werfel, WAN-IFRA deputy CEO and executive director of newspaper production, said in a statement.

"At the same time, new business models for newspaper production are emerging and new newspaper products are tested in the market," Werfel continued. "What will be the future of newspaper printing? How will it position itself in an even more competitive and environmentally sensitive market? What will be the product range newspaper printers will have to produce, and what will be the production conditions?"

The Printing Summit will take up these issues with experts from around the world of newspaper publishing: practitioners, scientists, publishers, technicians, designers and marketers.

Speakers include: Tack Whan Kim, multimedia lab director at Korea's JoongAng Ilbo; Michael Hack, marketing consultant, Marketing f?r Druckereien, Germany; Jacek Utko, Bonnier Business Press International design director, Poland; Niko Ruokosuo, chief operating officer for the Saudi Special Publishing Holding Co., Saudi Arabia; Rick Stunt, Associated Newspapers group paper director, United Kingdom; Ronald Weidel, researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig, Germany; Asa Moberg, researcher at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden; Martha Stone, director of WAN-IFRA's Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Project; Hans-Joachim Putz, chairs of paper technology and mechanical process engineering at Technical University Darmstadt, in Germany; Beatrice Klose, secretary general of the International Confederation for Printing and Allied Industries, in Belgium; R.D. Bhatnagar, Bhaskar Group chief technology officer, DB Corp., India.