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We round up the speakers you can catch on the show’s final day, including talks from representatives of Canon Europe and Solopress
With The Print Show 2024 in its final day, visitors have a final chance to see the myriad of exhibitors and experiences at the printing exhibition, running at the NEC in Birmingham.
Here is a breakdown of the speakers you can see over at The Knowledge Zone on the show’s final day, including talks from representatives of Canon Europe and Solopress.
Attracting young people to the print industry has been seen as one of the biggest challenges facing the industry at present.
The Independent Print Industries Association’s (IPIA) recent research report, ‘A New Narrative for Print’, highlighted an ageing workforce as a key factor to address within the industry, while initiatives like Young People in Print have been launched to try to bring younger people into the sector.
This hot topic is the focus of ‘Crafting Print’s Future’ hosted by senior lecturer for graphic design at Arts University Bournemouth, Marten Sims. The session hopes to answer how print companies and their partners can get younger people excited about print and secure a new generation of industry talent.
Running from 11.00am to 11.30am, visitors can explore a special collaboration between Arts University Bournemouth, printing business Dayfold Group, hot stamping foil specialist Foilco, and high street cosmetics brand Lush. The session looks at how initiatives like this can help highlight and allow young people to access opportunities in the print industry.
Participants in the session include senior R&D creative production support executive for Lush, Simon Allen, managing director at Dayfold Printers, Del Simmons, and commercial director at Folico, Mark Fenton, as well as Arts University Bournemouth students Lauren Gardner and Anabelle Turner.
With businesses competing within an increasingly competitive online market, having an effective search engine optimisation (SEO) strategy is seen as key to ensuring continued success, regardless of the sector.
In this half-hour session, beginning at 12.00pm, founder of Roar Digital marketing (Roar), Michael Knowles, will help attendees learn how SEO can improve online visibility and increase website traffic.
Utilising his experience and knowledge as an ex-Google trainer, Knowles will reveal the SEO steps required to help a business get found online and “turn clicks into customers”.
Knowles founded Roar in 2016. The company, which specialises in search engine marketing, was recently awarded the Good Work Pledge from the North East Combined Authority, awarded for the company’s commitment to effective communication, representation, and social responsibility.
Sustainability has been a key point of focus across the printing industry in 2024. Companies such as paper supplier EBB has seen strong trends of customers choosing paper types based on the environmental impact of its production.
With demand for eco-friendly print and paper on the rise, print companies are tasked with responding to market trends and providing customers with more sustainable options.
In this session, running from 1.00pm to 1.30pm, managing director of Karis Copp Media, Karis Copp, and a panel of experts discuss what cost-effective steps a print business can take to become a more environmentally friendly operation and, in doing so, make itself more attractive to clients.
Joining Copp will be sales and customer success director at Tradeprint, Anthony Rowell, co-founder of CarbonQuota, Dominic Harris, and semi-finished brand marketing manager at Brett Martin, Adam Louden.
Earlier this year, we spoke to Copp about how AI is changing the way printers work. Among the benefits highlighted, efficiency was named as a key potential value-add, for example, using AI for increased ink efficiency optimisation in printers.
In April this year, Canon Europe, in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), launched ‘World Unseen’, its first completely accessible, immersive experience at Somerset House in London.
This first-of-its kind photography exhibition was designed to enable blind, partially sighted, and sighted visitors to experience imagery in an entirely new way.
We covered the exhibition in our Print7 video series, speaking to broadcaster and activist, Lucy Edwards, about the importance of tactile print and how much impact the World Unseen exhibition has had on the blind community.
In this session, Mathew Faulkner, director of marketing and innovation, Wide-Format Printing Group at Canon UK, will delve into how Canon used its cutting-edge technologies to deliver the exhibition.
In the session, running from 2.00pm to 2.30pm, Faulkner will discuss how photography has been “brought to life” with elevated print through Canon’s PRISMAElevate XL software.
Joining Faulkner is the inclusive design ambassador of the RNIB, Dave Williams. Williams will discuss the RNIB’s strategic partnership with Canon, and how the exhibition helped people with different types of visual impairments to develop a greater understanding of accessibility to arts and culture.
Last up at 3.00pm to 3.30pm is a special live episode of The Printerviews podcast, run by Colin Sinclair McDermott aka The Online Print Coach.
In the live podcast episode, Sinclair McDermott will interview Simon Cooper, managing director of Solopress, delving into his career, the mission behind Solopress, and his own challenges and experiences from within the printing industry.
Cooper is seen as a popular and respected figure in the industry, with three decades of experience including Cimpress companies, Tradeprint and Exaprint. He was recently named managing director of Onlineprinters’ and Solopress’ online business.
In August, Solopress made a £3.4m investment in litho and digital printing technologies. The strategic investment included the acquisition of a Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 4 litho press with coating unit; a HP Indigo 120K digital press; a Konica Minolta AccurioShine 3600 with iFoil One; a Horizon AFV-566FTK Ice Folder; and an MBO T800 section folder.
Sinclair McDermott is also the creator of the industry online training platform and community ‘The Print Growth Academy’. In his regular feature for Print Monthly, he recently offered his advice on dealing with trade suppliers in the print industry. The article can be found in full here.
