Question:
My company encourages participation and attendance at seminars and conferences. What are some of the better ones for print buyers to attend?
-- Barbara

Answer:
I believe that Print Buyers Online.com’s own annual conference, Print Oasis, is the most targeted educational conference for print buyers and an excellent value (this year’s three-day conference will cost around $399). Print Oasis 2003 will be held in Spring 2003 in the Metro Washington, DC area and is attended by print buyers across the country. Last year we had a very successful first conference, with over 87% of attendees rating our conference as excellent or very good. We’ll release the exact dates for 2003 in the next month or two.

There are a handful of other conferences that I believe are useful for buyers, including the following:

• Spectrum 2002 Conference – September 22-25, 2002
  This annual conference is presented by IDEAlliance, formerly the Graphic Communications Association. This conference is pricey, but packed with good speakers; focused on new technologies.
  http://www.idealliance.org/spectrum/

• On Demand Conference – April 2003
  "The premier event for professionals looking to improve ROI through digital printing and publishing initiatives." Although this conference is geared to printers, print buyers and marketers will also find it useful for building knowledge and contacts for digital print.
  http://www.ondemandexpo.com/ondemandexpo/v31/index.cvn?id=10000&p_navID=1

• IPEX
  This is a European based conference that runs every two years and came recommended by a few of PBO’s European print buyer members.
  http://www.ipex.org/

• Direct Marketing Association’s Annual Conference – October 2002
  This conference is of course focused on direct mail and direct marketing. It’s held this year in San Francisco. The educational seminars can be hit or miss, but the networking is great if direct marketing is your cup of tea.
  http://www.the-dma.org/dmaannual/index.shtml

Suzanne