5 Reasons to Attend Graphics of the Americas

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Now in its 40th year, Graphics of the Americas is one of the graphic communications industry’s largest annual combined expositions and conferences. Produced by the Printing Association of Florida, GOA returns to the Miami Beach Convention Center on Feb. 26-28. Whether you are thinking about attending GOA or are already registered, here are five tips to help you get around or entice you to make the trip. It’s not too late!

1. GOA attracts over 8,000 printers, designers and creative professionals from North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean and all corners of the world. It is THE place to discover new opportunities and learn what you can do to ensure you will be a long-term player in the new world of blended communications.
2. Connect with interesting, inspirational, thought-provoking and forward-thinking icons in the industry by attending seminars at GOA. Tracks will cover such topics as: Prepress and Production, Sales and Marketing, Management and Wide Format. Over 20 seminars will be presented in Spanish. Plus, the American Graphics Institute will offer tracks on Design and Creative, Photoshop, and InDesign and Publishing.
3. See the latest equipment, concepts, workflow and production solutions on the expo show floor. Targeted demonstrations can be found in the Wide Format Print Shop Live!, The Flexo/Label Zone, The Wrap Center and 3D Printing Zone, as well as the Dye Sublimation and Direct-to-Garment Center.
4. Use the interactive map on the GOA website to search out anything of interest. Then, get it listed and organized using My Expo Plan. Check it out here.
5. Two words: South. Beach. Let’s face it, it’s been a long, cold winter. Who doesn’t want to be in sunny Florida in February?

For more information, visit www.goaexpo.com.

BOBST Introduces New Folder-Gluer

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SUBMITTED

The Bobst EXPERTFOLD 165 features intuitive controls.

BOBST, with headquarters in Mex, Switzerland, and US offices in Roseland, New Jersey, has unveiled its new folder-gluer, EXPERTFOLD 165. It features high levels of uptime and excellent control of the blank.

The EXPERTFOLD 165 model is able to fold and glue substrates from N-flute to A-flute, including double wall and litho-laminates, and can handle blanks of up to 1,700×1,100mm in size and up to 25mm thick when folded. The flexibility of the line means that it can process blanks as small as 296x60mm.

The design of the folding section itself minimizes fishtailing and gap with its extra length creating smoother folding. It also features new creasing units at the entry. A high accuracy pre-breaker ensures excellent box performance on machine-erect lines.

For more information, visit www.bobst.com.

GOA Hits South Beach

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Beginning today, the Printing Association of Florida welcomes professionals in the graphics communications industry in North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean to South Beach for Graphics of the Americas 2016.

Taking place Feb. 18-20 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, GOA is one of the graphic communications industry’s largest annual, combined expositions and conferences. It is jam-packed with ideas that will help businesses grow – from demonstrations by major manufacturers and suppliers, to education and training sessions and peer networking opportunities.

New equipment, technologies and techniques covering a wide range of vertical segments will all be featured. The show floor will feature live exhibition centers, including the Dye Sublimation Application Center, Short Run Digital Center, Direct-to-Garment Center, Wide Format Print Shop and Vehicle Wrap Center.

For more information, visit www.goaexpo.com.

Label Impressions Acquires New Manufacturing Space

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Label Impressions, Inc., Orange, California, has expanded its operations into a new 30,000-sq. ft. manufacturing space.

This new space will help Label Impressions provide custom label solutions for its New York- and California-based companies. It will house two new presses from Nilpeter, as well as the company’s finishing operation; new, wider web flexible package printing and converting equipment; and a digital label printing press.

For more information, visit www.labelimpressions.com.

PostPress

The entry period for the 2016 Premier Print Awards, sponsored by Printing Industries of America, will close on May 20. Five categories have been updated to reflect postpress work that in the past would have been entered in the BIA’s Product of Excellence Awards.

The Premier Print Awards highlight companies with one of the three awards: the Certificate of Merit, the Award of Recognition and the Benny – a widely recognized symbol of printing excellence. Small-, medium- and large-sized companies alike gain industry exposure through the competition.

Categories targeting BIA-member companies include

• O-2 Diecuts and Pop-ups,
• O-4 Folding, Unique Folds and Involvement Devices,
• O-5 Binding,
• O-6 Other Special Finishing Techniques and
• T-1 Cartons, Containers, Boxes and Totes.
• See a full list of categories.

Judging will take place in early June and winners and non winners will be notified later in the month. An awards gala will take place Sept. 25.

To enter, visit the online entry system at awards.printing.org. If you have any questions while entering, contact Mike Packard at 800.910.4283 Ext. 704 for assistance.

For more information about the awards, visit www.printing.org/ppa.