EFI Connect: Wynn's Way to Go
June 10, 2007

Was I to the manner born? In Vegas that means the Wynn hotel, a $2.7 billion AAA 5 Diamond exercise in resort excess, where I am co-located with EFI’s Connect 2007 users group.
[Uncertain how things would be playing out in this newly opened venue, hotel management offered EFI favorable terms, says EFI CEO Guy Gecht, and the annual Connect conference moved there this year, having twice outgrown previous Las Vegas hotels.]

Meet Me At the Baccarat Tables
It’s a serious conference in a sensational setting, with up to 1,500 expected (including 250 EFI personnel) and 19 exhibitors (Komori, MAN Roland, Konica-Minolta, Xerox, Heidelberg, Canon among them) for 160+ sessions spread over four days. The theme of the event - “Discover, Innovate, Integrate” - is reflected in sessions, keynote topics and customer panels covering EFI’s five major points of industry interest and concern, outlined by Gecht in a welcome presentation Sunday evening.
These are:

1. Consolidation of print industry players
This is pretty evident as the total number of print locations declines and high profile acqusitions play out regularly in print industry news reports.

2. Power of information to automate
production and to reduce errors:
Gecht quotes Charlie Pesko who notes “every time you touch something you can make a mistake.” Better to automate.

3. Digital printing
for short runs, faster turnover, and personalization

4. Industrial printing
is among the newer areas for EFI, which here include wide format, point of purchase and inkjet label print. Gecht sees great opportunities for EFI and the commercial print sector in entering the $300 billion packaging market and $130 billion speciality printing market, and including the $30 billion label segment that EFI is approaching with its Jetrion inkjet label printing unit, acquired from Flint Ink.

5. Green and sustainable printing
“It’s not actually going to be an option; it’s going to be a requirement,” says Gecht, describing the rapid embrace of “carbon neutral” and sustainable operations in many aras, including print and packaging.

MIS, digital workflow, superwide and industrial inkjet printing are on the docket for sessions through Wednesday. Connect attendees will also hear keynotes from EFI executive Marc Olin, ex-Apple executive Guy Kawasaki and a special session with antivirus software magnate John Thompson, CEO of Symantec which is hosting its own Symantec World event down the street.

Canon USA, this year’s Platinum sponsor, will be hosting a luncheon for attendees on Tuesday, June 12th at 12:30 p.m. focused on a behind the scenes look at the imagePRESS C7000VP.

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