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Solutions June 2006
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Solutions 2006
Oct.
3-5 • Chicago
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Solutions 2006,
THE
marketplace for innovation and
networking
One
distributor who attended last
year’s show discovered its
numerous take-home benefits: long-lasting
relationships, successful self-promotion
tactics and one very big order.
By
Kara Gebhart Uhl
Like
many trade shows that feature
flashy booths, exciting after-hours
entertainment and fabulous prizes,
distributors who attend Print
Solutions 2006 are guaranteed
a good time. But unlike many trade
shows that focus on entertainment
versus knowledge, distributors
who attend Print Solutions 2006
also are guaranteed a wealth of
education, solid resources, valuable
networking opportunities and moneymaking
applications that can be taken
home and immediately put to good
use.
Scott
Keiser, president of New York
City-based distributorship Pegasus
Printing, is new to DMIA. Upon
being introduced to DMIA, Keiser
says, it looked like an organization
that could supply solid support
for someone in his position. Intrigued,
he attended last year’s
Print Solutions 2005 in Orlando.
The show and membership in DMIA
have resulted in new vendors,
better self-promotion tactics
and an order worth more than $40,000.
Keiser
says events like the annual Print
Solutions show often can be overwhelming.
Distributors return from a show
with a notebook filled with ideas
and are then unsure of where to
begin. Keiser carried a notebook
around last year’s show,
he says, but upon returning home
decided to focus only on a few
solid ideas. His plan proved most
effective.
“After
attending one of the seminars,
I followed through with the speaker’s
marketing suggestions and I implemented
a sales letter plan that seems
to be getting a good response,”
Keiser says. He also started a
self-promotion campaign involving
writing pads with a calendar on
them—another tip he picked
up from the show. “Customers
seem to love them,” he says.
In
addition to taking tips home and
putting them to use, Keiser says
he met with several vendors at
last year’s show and is
now enjoying excellent relationships.
“The contacts I made at
the show are still paying
off,” Keiser says. He connected
with a shipping broker, someone
he says he now uses all the time.
Other vendors he met with, including
Apollo and Ward/Kraft, “are
terrific resources,” he
adds.
Impressed
with the show, Keiser returned
home and decided to give DMIA’s
Source Hotline a try. One of his
clients, a design firm, requested
what Keiser calls an oddball brochure—a
thin, perfect-bound book. Although
Keiser couldn’t find a vendor
to manufacture the brochure, DMIA’s
Source Hotline did. “And
boy did it pay off,” Keiser
says. The order was worth more
than $40,000.
The
river of knowledge at Print Solutions
2006 will run even deeper this
year thanks to some exciting new
additions. Thirty-four Idea Exchange
Centers will offer roundtable
presentations and discussions
taught by DMIA members or industry
consultants that will allow distributors
to learn about and take home tried-and-true
techniques. Also new this year:
Each booth will feature Innovative
Applications—products and
solutions far from traditional.
Interactive kiosks will help direct
distributors to various applications
throughout the show floor. Finally,
the 2006 Peak Award-Winning Solutions
will allow distributors to touch,
feel and take home award-winning
applications. In addition to a
notebook, distributors would be
wise to carry a large bag.
While
knowledge is priority, Print Solutions
2006 also guarantees a good time.
At Casino Night, sponsored by
Appleton, distributors can eat,
drink and play Blackjack, Craps
and Texas Hold-em, earn Appleton
Dollars, win great prizes and,
of course, network. “Casino
night is another way of getting
people close together and interacting
rather than just standing around
and talking,” says Mike
Pramstaller, DMIA’s vice
president of meetings and exhibitions.
Distributors who purchase the
ADD-ON Conference Package can
attend the Opening Reception sponsored
by Glatfelter and the PEAK Awards
Banquet. In addition to sharing
drinks and networking, dinner
will be served with entertainment
by singer/impressionist Ken Block
and his band.
Distributors
who attend Print Solutions 2006
will have fun. But, as Keiser
points out, they’re also
guaranteed numerous take-home
benefits guaranteed to put them
a step ahead of their competitors.
For
more information on Print Solutions
2006, The marketplace for innovation
and networking, visit www.printsolutionsshow.com.
This year’s event will take
place Oct. 3-5 at the Donald E.
Stephens Convention Center in
Chicago. Register today. Compact
schedules (1- and 2-night stays)
are available.
Just
Booked!
Newt
Gingrich, former Republican Speaker
of the House, will be the keynote
speaker Thursday, Oct. 5 at the
Print Solutions Conference &
Expo in Chicago. Come hear this
influential leader‘s views
on the country right before mid-term
elections!
Gingrich
is a senior fellow at the American
Enterprise Institute, a conservative
Washington-based think tank, and
is widely recognized for pioneering
the “Contract with America”
strategy that led to the Republican
sweep of mid-term elections in
1994.
