Emerge Travels to The Big Easy

With nearly 1,000 print executives, manufacturers, suppliers and customers in attendance, Consolidated Graphics’ third annual emerge^TM conference was a smashing success. From April 17^th through 20^th, we set up shop in New Orleans, where we transformed the Hyatt Regency into a creative display of large format print, business exhibits and demonstrations of cutting edge print technology.

From personalized invitations to the Kyp webkey guests were given upon check-in, emerge showcased all that Consolidated Graphics and the printing industry is capable of providing to customers. As in years past, the focus of emerge was on pooling the minds of everyone we know who is committed to elevating the print industry and coming up with new and innovative solutions, and continuing to raise the bar of what ink on paper can accomplish.

In addition, emerge 2012 unveiled new groundbreaking developments, including Consolidated Graphics’ partnership with Blurb to create Publish, a commercial book publishing platform that is powered by Blurb and utilizes Consolidated Graphics’ workflow solutions to print as few as one bound unit of collateral or up to as many as our customers’ needs require. We also announced our joint venture with YAMAGATA Corporation in a move to expand our international operations with a dedicated facility in Gero, Japan.

We were delighted to announce our second year of Encore^TM Awards winners, and, as many of the conference attendees will attest, the quality of submitted entries to the competition was significantly higher this year with anticipation already growing to see what our customers will submit for consideration ins 2013. A special congratulations to 2012 Peoples’ Encore Award winner IKON Public Affairs/Can of Creative!

The breakout sessions and keynotes were packed with information (many guests commented that it was the best content yet), and we’ll be posting presentation and taped sessions on cgx.com soon, so you can pass along and share emerge 2012 with your colleagues.

Of course, no emerge conference is complete without a fabulous party to say thanks to everyone for a great few days of spirited discussion about the possibilities of print in today’s marketing environment. This year, we loaded up our guests on 18 authentic Mardi Gras floats, enlisted three local bands, and paraded through the streets of downtown New Orleans, ending the evening at the House of Blues, where we enjoyed a brass band, jazz room, contemporary music and more.

Stay tuned for updates on next year’s event, scheduled April 30^th through May 2^nd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas!

Introducing emerge Magazine

Every year, we invite our top customers to emerge, our annual conference for clients that highlights print, technology and marketing innovation. The event features breakout sessions, showcases major developments from print suppliers and manufacturers, and shares best practices from some of the biggest names in business: Merck, Aviva, Tyco, Adobe and more.

While we've gotten rave reviews about emerge over the years, one of the things we've discovered is the need to continue education and knowledge transfer among our clients in-between the annual conferences. As a result we recently launched a bi-monthly magazine (also called emerge).

Our goal for emerge, both conference and magazine, is simple: to explore new perspectives and solutions so that we, our customers, suppliers and the entire industry can improve our respective businesses. We want your input, comments, thoughts and musings, and we've also put together an online digital subscription version for you to conveniently view anytime, anywhere.