Print Management Conference set for Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 at The Samoset Resort in Maine
Paul Reilly is keynote; fulfillment, selling to creative agencies on agenda as is slate of fun events
Paul Reilly, the former president and chief executive officer at Cenveo who has earned rave conference reviews in the past, will be a keynote speaker at the 26th annual Northeast Regional Print Management Conference.

This year’s conference is scheduled for Sept. 29 – Oct. 2 at The Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine.

Other invited speakers include Tom Quinn, director of fulfillment services for the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association; Tom Curtin, president of TCa Creative Services, a marketing communications company; Bob Wagner, a Xerox executive who works in its creative services business segment; lean manufacturing consultant Rena Janus; Jerry Gagne, a principal in the IT Assurance Group at Wolf & Company, a business consulting and CPA firm in Boston; and Ronnie Davis, Ph.D., chief economist of Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation.

Also, Maine Senators Susan M. Collins and Olympia J. Snowe have been invited to the conference to share their views on pending legislation in Congress that affects business owners and the graphic communications industry.

Jim Tepper, president of Printing Industries of New England, which is hosting the conference, was enthusiastic that Reilly has accepted an invitation to join the conference.

“Paul has worked in the senior management levels of the commercial printing industry for many years prior to his taking the top spot at Mail Well, which later became Cenveo,” Tepper said. “He has great insight into what is happening nationally in our industry and how those trends impact our business on the regional levels. He drew very positive reviews when he joined us in 2002 and we’re thrilled he’ll be joining us again.”

The conference’s management sessions will include two keynote discussions on Friday, Sept. 30 and two others on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Executive program
The executive program will begin Friday morning with sessions hosted by Davis and Gagne. Davis will give an update on the current state of the national printing industry economy and what kinds profits printers can expect by year’s end. He’ll also offer trends and projections for 2006.

Gagne will host a talk on the growing importance of protecting digital assets beyond just creative files that printers handle each day. Protection of personal business data including confidential customer information that is necessary for a printer to have in order to complete a job order is becoming a sensitive business topic with the rise of information theft in today’s society.

Tom Curtin will devote one afternoon session to the printing and communications solutions that are needed in the industries of health care, financial services, high technology and retail, and what printers need to do to exploit those opportunities for profitable gain.

Tom Quinn will offer his insight into how printers are ideal players for getting involved in fulfillment.

Wagner will offer his expertise in a Saturday morning session into how printers can sell their services successfully to ad agencies and other creative service organizations. He’ll discuss the behavior and philosophy of the relationships required for successful partnerships.

Rena Janus will break down the concept of lean manufacturing and include specific examples related to the printing industry of how executives can continually weed out unnecessary costs and streamline processes that contribute to improved profit margins. Her talk is scheduled for Saturday morning.

Leisure activities
Despite a full executive program for industry leaders, Tepper emphasized leisure activities and the opportunity to relax away from the daily grind are an important part of the conference.

“Historically, we’ve always structured the conference to include as much relaxing time and leisure activities to get people away from the work environment,” he said. “This gives all attendees, our industry executives and their mates, the chance to do other things, whether it is simply to enjoy fine cuisine, walk along the ocean, browse in downtown shops, or get out and play golf.”

Leisure activities this year include the traditional golf outing Thursday afternoon, a welcome reception Thursday night, and a companion brunch for non-industry attendees Friday morning. There is wine tasting, walks along a breakwater to the Rockland Lighthouse, a trip to nearby Camden Harbor for the fall HarborArts, a juried arts and crafts show, and an excursion to the Owls Head Transportation Museum.

PINE has secured a block of rooms for individuals to reserve until Aug. 30. The conference is not limited to PINE members. Any individual working in the printing and graphic communications industry is welcome to attend all or part of the event.

This years conference is sponsored by Xerox, Utica National Insurance, United Insurance, Komori America Corp., Heidelberg USA, Wolf & Company, P.C., Lindenmeyr Munroe and Curry Printing.

More information is available on PINE’s Web site at www.pine.org. Printed brochures with pricing information for the conference and rooms are also available.