WFX: Wide-Format Exchange, a brand new conference scheduled for May 21-23 in Minneapolis, aims to provide wide-format leaders insight into the future of print. Educational sessions, networking events, and interactive discussions throughout the three-day program will explore business strategies and technologies in an evolving market.
The event will be held at the newly renovated, historic Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot, in the center of downtown Minneapolis. Special discounted room rates are available until April 26.
Hosted by SGIA and ST Media Group (publisher of Screen Printing, Big Picture, and Signs of the Times), WFX kicks off with opening keynote speaker Ryan Estis, a former chief strategy officer for the McCann Worldgroup advertising agency NAS, who will present “Managing Breakthrough Performance in the New Economy.”
The “WFX Buyers’ Panel” will be an interactive session featuring the signage and graphics decision makers for three major brands: Wells Fargo, SuperValu, and REI. The session will provide a rare opportunity for attending PSPs to glean insight into how major brands approach their signage programs and how they can better serve such lucrative clients.
Another session titled “How a Punk Rocker from LA Became a One-Stop-Shop Rockstar in Vegas,” features James Swanson, the principal and founder of Screaming Images, the vendor for MGM Resorts and Caesars Harrah’s. Swanson will share why he made the move to becoming a one-stop shop, the challenges along the way, and the successes he has to show for it.
Inna Semenyuk will present “Leveraging the Power of Technology and Social Media to Maximize Profit.” Semenyuk is founder and CEO of InnavationLabs, an innovative marketing consultancy based in San Francisco, and SnapchatDaily.com, the only professional blog about using Snapchat for business. She has worked with Facebook, Skype, eBay, SanDisk, NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting, Starbucks, OKI Printing Solutions, Visa International, and many other international brands and startups.
A session titled “Why Sustainability and Profitability Go Hand in Hand” will be moderated by Marci Kinter of SGIA and SGP, and includes panelists Jenny Dela Cruz, Snowball Print Marketing; Marco Ugarte, MillerCoors; and Scott Schulte, Modernistic. In this interactive discussion, you’ll get actionable ideas from both the printer’s and brand’s perspective that will help you create a sustainable and profitable business.
In “Managing the Dynamics of Family-Held Businesses,” speaker Greg Root, CEO of GMN, one of the largest specialty printing companies in the world, will explore the unique set of business challenges – and how to handle them – that arise when your business includes family.
For the full lineup of sessions and events, visit wfxconference.com.