How can you grow a printing company in a difficult economy? Keys to success include selling better, signing up new clients, delivering more service to existing clients, pricing more effectively, and recognizing major new market opportunities. The upcoming 2003 GUTENBERG FESTIVAL offers print professionals throughout the West a complete guide to achieving all of these goals, and building profitable growth even in tough times. The GUTENBERG FESTIVAL will be held in Long Beach, CA, on May 1-3.

Some 12,000 industry professionals are expected to take part in the leading West Coast exhibition and conference. The exhibit hall will feature 225 company displays occupying about 60,000 net square feet.

In both the exhibit hall and seminar rooms, GUTENBERG FESTIVAL will stress business growth through more effective sales and penetration of new markets. The GUTENBERG FESTIVAL exhibit hall will offer not only a complete showcase of the latest high productivity technology, but the opportunity to discuss business needs and operational challenges directly with the most knowledgeable technical people in the industry. Special events and displays include two new exhibit pavilions focused on emerging markets, the Wide Format Opportunities Pavilion, and the FLEXOTEK ShowcaseSM. Both provide opportunities for printers to educate themselves on the possibilities for expansion and diversification into growing sales markets. There are also several seminars available on both topics, providing a well-rounded educational opportunity for printers to fully explore these developing sectors.

The event's schedule of nearly 40 educational workshops starts the day before the show opens, and includes a certification program for printing professionals, a free general session, and intensive training for business growth in sessions like:

• Growing Your Business Strategically! This full-day seminar on April 30, the day before the show's opening, will offer practical tips on how to assess a company's current situation, size up the competition, and apply the principles of strategic planning to developing a customized growth plan for every firm.
• Building New Business. Attendees will learn how to select above-average prospects, systematically sell target accounts, and communicate capabilities and expectations in a manner that leads to healthy, long-term customer relationships. This seminar will describe how to find hot prospects without cold calls.
• Sustaining Profitable Growth with Your Existing Accounts recognizes that current customers are generally the best source of profitable growth. This session will focus on practical steps for developing relationships that lead to increased sales at reduced costs.
• Effective Pricing Strategies for Today's Marketplace. This session starts with an understanding of traditional pricing methods, then explores how to re-evaluate hourly rates and mark-ups, think in terms of price and not costs, understand that customers are created equal, and create a feedback loop to analyze and validate pricing strategy.
• Selling the Whole Value Added Package: From Database Management, Inventory Management, Distribution, Fulfillment and more... As printers increasingly look toward diversifying their offerings and serving more of their customers' needs, this seminar focuseson how to market and sell "the complete package" to both existing and new customers.

In addition to these sessions addressing sales and growth strategies, the GUTENBERG FESTIVAL will focus on several "hot" growth markets. Four particularly valuable sessionsare:

• Value Added Opportunities in Variable Data Printing describes what many industry observers call the hottest application with the greatest potential for business growth in printing today.
• Wide Format Imaging...An Untapped Resource for Printers looks at how printers can apply and profit from this affordable, low-cost, high-value output resource.
• Digital Fine Art Reproduction...Opportunities Paint a Pretty Picture gives an overview of the art reproduction market, examines growth opportunities, and tells what's needed to excel in this robust specialty market.

Working With Databases for Value Added Dollars. Printers who can work with customer databases can turn this skill into a value added profit center.

Now in its 31st year, this annual Long Beach, CA event is the hot spot for graphic design, digital prepress, printing, publishing converting and digital equipment professionals.

GUTENBERG FESTIVAL is the largest show of its kind in the Western U.S., offering graphic communication professionals the best opportunity to make sales, see live demonstrations of the equipment your company needs to stay competitive, buy new equipment, "meet and greet" vital customers, exchange tips and tricks with industry colleagues, and capture your company's share of the Western prepress, publishing, printing, converting and digital equipment markets. GUTENBERG FESTIVAL has everything your business needs。

Show Facts
Where: Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA
When: May 1 -3, 2003
How Big: Over 60,000 square feet - the largest in the Western Region
How Many: 12,000 highly qualified prospects, with the power to buy
How Much: $17.50 per square foot ($18.50 with furniture included)
Whos There: Over 200 exhibitors ?your competition will be there
Whos Managing: Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC?, a leader in the industry, who also produces PRINT? GRAPH EXPO?and CONVERTING EXPO? THE CHARLOTTE SHOW? and VUE/POINT?Conference
Whats In It For Me: This is the only show in the West where you can find all types of buyers in one place, for 3 days of high impact selling.

GUTENBERG FESTIVAL Delivers the Buyers
Theres no other place where you can demonstrate your products and services as effectively as you can at GUTENBERG FESTIVAL!
The show delivers qualified buyers of:

• Prepress Equipment
• Digital Image Capture Equipment
• Digital and Traditional Presses
• Wide Format Inkjet Printers
• Bindery and Finishing Equipment
• Converting Equipment and Supplies
• Media and Substrates
• Chemicals and Supplies
• Services to the Trade

The GUTENBERG FESTIVAL features the most comprehensive gathering of prepress, printing and converting equipment/product manufacturers and suppliers in the region. On average companies send 4 employees to the show. These investigative buying teams watch live demonstrations and meet with exhibit representatives at the show. Then they buy the products and services that increase their productivity and profitability.