PRINTING United Expo Roars Into Second Day

After the glitz and glamour of the opening night party at Zouk night club, Attendees were still bright eyed and bushy-tailed as they walked into day two of PRINTING United Expo.

If you're having some FOMO, don't worry — we have you covered. Here are key takeaways from PRINTING United Expo Day Two .

Dan Marx: Day Two Takeaways

Knowledge is Essential: In a panel discussion I moderated this morning about the quest for value-adds and higher margins through additional capabilities and services, the discussion included the concept that success in that area requires, among other things, accurate estimating and pricing. While you operation may have pricing “locked in” for bread-and-butter products, how about for a custom-fabricated retail display that includes printed textural elements and must also be installed? Doing your research in advance, and improving your estimating for materials and labor, may help keep your efforts in the black.

Just Because You Can: Seeing the breadth of technologies (and possibilities) available to today’s wide-format producers can send the mind reeling. So many cool things to do! But just because you can invest in possibility-stretching technologies doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Ask yourself the business case for offering those capabilities for your customers: Can your sales team sell it? How will you communicate these capabilities to your customers? Is it wanted? Will the production time needed to, say, print Braille, be supported by a price point that makes the efforts profitable?

Keep the Blinders Off: Truly grasping the breadth of PRINTING United Expo requires you, of course, to check out what’s new in the spaces you serve. That said, attendees should not do themselves a disservice by failing to look beyond their current product mix. Driven by both industry convergence and the necessity (my opinion) to keep refining, even accessing adjacent segment (e.g. apparel, packaging, industrial applications). Look at it this way: The Expo is PRINTING United Alliance’s candy store. Your job here in Las Vegas is to choose what will keep you satisfied in the near term.

Gabby Houck: Day Two Takeaways

Students are the future of our industry: Day two of expo featured Student Day, where students from an array of colleges and universities, including Rochester Institute of Technology, California Polytechnic State University, Scottsdale Community College, Clemson, and more. As our industry veterans age out, the need for Gen Z workers is more dire than ever. To help attract a younger generation to print, this year’s Student Day was designed to introduce students to the limitless career opportunities across the printing industry. Students in attendance this year experienced enhanced career development programming, expanded mentorship opportunities, and greater one-on-one engagement with industry professionals.

Women find Community at Women in Print Alliance Luncheon: Day two also featured the Annual Women in Print Alliance Luncheon – where almost 200 women from across the industry could take a break from the show floor to network, chat, enjoy a delicious lunch, and hear from keynote executive coach Corrie LoGuidice, who presented “The 5 Overwhelm Culprits,” an engaging and inspirational session exploring the hidden drivers of overwhelm and the practical strategies high-performing women can use to reclaim focus, energy, and effectiveness in both their careers and personal lives.

"In a legacy industry like print, that's experiencing exponential change, clarity becomes even more important. And some of you are leading businesses through new technology, changing customer expectations, workforce shifts, consolidation, or maybe even completely new ways of selling and producing print," LoGuidice said to the crowd. 

PRINTING United Alliance, the industry association that presents the annual PRINTING United Expo gains strength thorough member support. Join to make a positive difference in printing!

Mark your calendar! The 2027 PRINTING United Expo will be in Las Vegas, September 14-16. Be there!