Coming soon!
Rick brings over 20+ years of experience in offset, flexo and digital printing production, along with functional background in sales enablement, outbound marketing execution, product development and demand generation for Kodak solutions that help commercial, publications and packaging printers participate more profitably with their customers.
Today, Rick leads Kodak’s efforts worldwide to employ inkjet digital printing to introduce innovative solutions that enable packaging designers and converters to deliver on a wide range of brand strategies including consumer engagement, package functionality, sustainability, and improved time to market, that only digital print can deliver. This is accomplished by leveraging Kodak’s leading research and development competencies in digital imaging, material science and deposition technologies that are the building blocks for delivering the most productive inkjet printing solutions in the market today.
Rick has held previous leadership positions with Kodak Polychrome Graphics and International Paper and has been active within industry organizations, such as Printing Industries of America, National Printing Equipment and Supplies (NPES), Book Manufacturers Institute (BMI) and Primir.
Rick holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University and MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University and resides with his wife Susan and four children in Ridgefield, CT.
In 1935, Stan Avery invented the world’s first self-adhesive label - creating a new technology and a new industry. Today, Avery Dennison is a $6.6 billion global supplier of labeling and packaging materials.
Paul has enjoyed 22 years with Avery Dennison where he has held increasingly responsible roles in research and development, custom product solutions, and most recently, business development. He has a background in digital print technologies that include HP Indigo, dry toner technologies and his current focus of water based inkjet platforms. He works closely with digital printer OEMs and label converters to uncover product gaps, and with the Avery Dennison digital team to fill them. Paul likes to spend his free time relaxing with photography, kayaking and fishing.
Matthew Condon has an extensive 30-year background focusing on electronic and digital printing throughout his career. His past included positions at Scitex America and Fujifilm Graphic Systems, where his expertise in software applications, digital printing, and traditional print was used to help numerous customers maximize print quality and efficiencies.
Matthew is currently employed at Domino Amjet, Inc as a Corrugated Business Development Manager for Digital Print, bringing forward the Domino X630i to the corrugated market. Matthew has been instrumental with successful U.S. launches of the Domino N610i Digital Color Press and the Domino K600i digital printing system. Matthew is a graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology with a Bachelors of Science in Imaging and Photo Technology.
Coming Soon!
Valerie Hawks
Head of Production and Sustainability @ Interact Boulder, Boulder, CO
Valerie Hawks is the spirited Head of Production and Sustainability at Interact Boulder, a branding and packaging design agency shepherding tomorrow's brands with creative consequence. Valerie's 13 years of print production experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm guides clients from bright eyed startups to courageous industry vets. She's passionate in areas of the circular packaging economy that allow brands to maximize the sustainability of their packaging while minimizing their carbon footprint.
Rob has over 25 years’ experience in the digital printing industry, beginning in R&D before moving into project and business management. For the past two years he has been CEO at Tonejet and before that spent over 20 years at TTP, one of Europe’s leading independent technology companies, developing print technology for a wide range of US and European OEMs. Rob has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from King’s College, London.
Karen Goeller is an experienced and visionary web strategist and tech leader who specializes in finding innovative technical and process solutions for human challenges. Prior to joining Packlane shortly after its founding, she guided the development of key internet technologies and applications in telecommunications, academia, and small business. Karen brings broad and deep experience in understanding industry trends and predicting how they can drive business growth. As Packlane’s Product Manager, she’s now at the forefront of revolutionizing and democratizing the custom packaging market.
Coming soon!
Bill is the Marketing Manager for Domino Digital Printing North America. Bill’s career spans more than 25 years in the printing and packaging industries. He joined Domino in November 2012, where his focus has been on building the brand awareness and visibility of Domino’s digital printing solutions within the label printing industry. Today, Domino is known as a major player of digital inkjet in the label sector. As the company continues to grow, corrugated packaging is the next market that Domino has set its sights on. “It’s an exciting time at Domino and to be with such a tremendous organization…with the best people, the best products, and our tremendous growth year on year…it doesn’t get much better than this,” says Myers. Prior to joining Domino, Bill was with Diagraph, An ITW Company for 18 years marketing product identification solutions to brand owners. Bill is a graduate of the University of Missouri – Columbia.
Domino is a leading manufacturer and distributor of digital printing and product identification solutions. Celebrating its 42nd year in business, Domino is a global organization with world headquarters in the UK, and North America headquarters in Gurnee, IL. Domino has 25 subsidiaries, representation in over 120 countries, and over 2,800 employees worldwide. For more information on Domino, please visit dominodigitalprinting.com
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Carl Joachim is Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of ePac, an all-digital manufacturer of flexible packaging. Carl has over 25 years of executive marketing management experience with Xerox, Ocè, and Ricoh, developing markets for production digital printing technologies used by data centers, commercial printers, and in-plant print centers across the US. In 2013 he turned his focus to the packaging industry, and in 2016 he, along with two business partners, created ePac as the first all-digital flexible packaging company in North America.
Ed Zumbiel, a recovering attorney and self-described malcontent, has despised analog printing for almost as long as he has been alive. After working in and around his family's packaging firm for nearly forty years (beginning as a Heidelberg letterpress operator), Ed finally achieved packaging nirvana when he installed North America's first high speed continuous inkjet production line for folding cartons.
Ed now serves as President of Zumbiel Digital, Zumbiel Packaging’s SBU tasked with developing and implementing digitally printed paperboard packaging solutions. Ed's experience in the field of high volume digital packaging provides him with a unique perspective in terms of what large and small brands and clients really want from a digital packaging supplier. And now that Zumbiel leads the digital folding carton industry, Ed despises analog printing more than ever.
Alexis is a Project Manager at KURZ - a worldwide leader in thin film technology - where he coordinates all aspects of sustainability for the packaging and print industry and has a strong drive to bring sustainable packaging to a higher level. Alexis combines powerful customer focus with a clear understanding of technological challenges.
Before starting at KURZ, Alexis worked three years at L'Oréal in the Finishing & Printing Expertise where he helps developing people knowledge and improving efficiency, quality and time-to-market by implementing solutions with suppliers.
Alexis is a qualified mechanical engineer and holds a Master Degree from the engineering school ICAM, in Lille, France. When not dealing with wicked problems related to sustainable business, Alexis goes running or road cycling. His true passion is alpinism that has taken him to the summit of the most beautiful mountains in the Alps.
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Over the past 25+ years Tom has proven himself where it counts – in the trenches. Tom is currently the owner of FORCEpkg. Prior to his latest business endeavor, he managed multiple titles, including principal/co-owner of WFM, head of new business development, account service representative, chief operations officer, art director, designer. Tom has worked with a variety of consumer products companies helping them develop effective branding solutions. These companies include Adelphia Seafood, Dorman, eatKeenwa, Fresh Solutions Network (Side Delights), Klamath Basin Fresh Organics, Koch’s Turkey, Stoner (Invisible Glass & Stoner Car Care), and Tom Sturgis. In addition, Tom’s award-winning package/brand design firms have served national and international clients including The Hershey Company (Breath Savers, Brookside, Cadbury, 5th Avenue, Jolly Rancher, Kit Kat, Krave, Kisses, Miniatures, Ice Breakers, PayDay, Reese's, Scharffen Berger, Twizzlers, York and more), Pfizer (Advil, Caltrate, Centrum, ChapStick, Dimetapp, Emergen-C, Nexium 24HR, Preparation H, Robitussin, ThermaCare), Ronzoni, San Giorgio, W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex), and Zippo.
Tom has written articles for Brand Packaging and FLEXO Magazine.
Richard Brown has over 35 years’ experience in the packaging industry, mainly in sales and general management. For the past 17 years he has led The BoxMaker®, a diversified packaging company and sheet plant serving the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
The BoxMaker was an early adopter of digital print for corrugated, launching the industry’s first true web-to-print e-commerce solution for fully customizable packaging (Fantastapack.com) and presently operates one of North America’s highest capacity digital production centers for corrugated products, featuring the HP PageWide C500 Press and numerous automated CAD tables for die-less finishing.
Richard enjoys sharing his knowledge with brand owners, agencies, and other packaging firms in an effort to help them receive the many benefits of digital print and finishing for their brand and supply chain. Richard is a frequent writer and presenter to the industry, where he shares openly about his experiences with this rapidly developing technology.
Sean Smyth has spent over 25 years in the industry in senior technology positions for a variety of print businesses across the supply chain, in hands on and consultancy roles. He helps companies make money through the appropriate use of technology.
Sean has a deep knowledge of the global print market, and a key member of the team providing quantitative market data and forecasts for the printing, paper and packaging industry. He authors off-the-shelf market studies and provides strategic consultancy services to a range of clients across the value chain.
Sean has a strong background in appropriate application of technology to print, implementing digital print systems, MIS and workflows to take time and cost out of the print supply chain. In 1994 he became Technical Director of Rexam, where the first colour digital presses in the UK were installed and he has extensive experience of digital printing. He has written many books and market studies on the future, print technology and digital print, including Smithers' flagship title "The Print & Production Manual" and the "Future of Global Print Markets".
James Gill is Account Director for FUJIFILM Dimatix with over 25 years of global digital inkjet development in North America, Europe, Israel and Southeast Asia.
Also advisory capacity:
Technical Advisory Board/Assoc Professor - Philadelphia University MS Surface Imaging
Associate Chairman - Executive Board of the SGIA soon to be expanded to Print Unlimited.
Editorial Advisory Board for several industry groups including 'Digital Graphics' magazine
Current key projects include in-line industrial single pass, digital upgrading of textile mills in India and Brazil, and the successful commercialization of a number of 3D rapid prototype OEM start-ups in the US.
FUJIFILM Dimatix is a worldwide market leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of precision piezoelectric printheads and micro pumps.
James lives with his family in the quiet lakes region of New Hampshire while maintaining a busy global travel schedule.
Trevor Schroeder is the Product Marketing & Business Development manager for HP PageWide Industrial Corrugated Preprint solutions. Trevor holds immense passion for packaging printing technologies having completed a Packaging minor while earning his B.S. in Graphic Communication from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. He went on to complete his M.S. in Print Media from Rochester Institute of Technology where he studied the adoption of digital print technologies in the label printing industry. Throughout his career, Trevor has held a sharp focus on customer needs and has previously served as a technical advisor to flexographic printers in both narrow-web label and wide-web flexible packaging markets.
At HP, Trevor’s focus has been to accelerate the adoption of digital printing in the corrugated industry. He has worked with key customers to drive efficiencies and reduce overall corrugated manufacturing costs with the introduction of inkjet printing. As a Product Marketing manager, he is responsible for current and future product development and he brings his energy and enthusiasm to this rapidly changing market.
Jay Sperry is a color and print quality management leader and practitioner with 20-years-experience in packaging & specialty printing – from flexographic print operations to academic research patents to global product & business development.
Jay now represents Digimarc as a passionate advocate for transforming yesterdays printed barcodes to a future where packaging graphics are the digital link for a product in its lifecycle.
Jay discovered printing and graphic arts in high school in his hometown of Wilmington, NC where he now resides with his two young children. Jay completed graphic communication degrees at Appalachian State and Clemson University and is active in trade associations and industry committees.
Tyler Thompson is the Director of Technologies at Tilia Labs. Having completed a B.S in Graphic Communications from Clemson University and a M.S. in Computer Science from University of Denver, Tyler is a thought-leader in AI and emerging software technology.
An innovator and product conceptualizer, Mr. Allred has worked with inkjet technology for over 35 years, in a variety of technical, marketing, and business leadership positions. He holds patents in inks, inkjet systems, inkjet applications, and inkjet materials. Mr. Allred has been working with inkjet and packaging from the early days of inkjet at Iris Graphics (a Scitex Company), Accent Color Sciences (one of the first inkjet integrators), through the more recent times with Kodak (bringing Prosper technology into packaging and various applications). After a very brief retirement this past summer from Kodak, Mr. Allred returned to the inkjet community with Memjet to help expand the business with the introduction of the newest Memjet technology, DuraLink.
Will Dowden is Technical Sales Manager for Digital Printing with Colorants Solutions USA, LLC (Clariant’s Pigments business unit). He is primarily responsible for delivering solutions to digital ink and toner manufacturers in North America from Clariant’s wide range of pigments and dyes.
Will has over 30 years’ experience in the printing industry. He joined Clariant in 2000 after holding R&D and technical management positions at multiple firms including Electrocal, Dunmore and Kurz Transfer Products.
Will Dowden holds a BS degree in chemistry from the Central Connecticut State University.
Debbie Thorp has worked in digital printing for over 25 years and is Business Development Director at Global Inkjet Systems Ltd (GIS), a leading developer of RIP software, drivers, electronics and ink system components for industrial inkjet printheads.
In the late 1990’s Debbie was Head of Group Marketing at Xaar plc and then moved on to be Director of Business Development at AIP Ltd, a liquid toner technology development project. Before joining GIS, Debbie was VP EMEA Operations at iTi - an inkjet integrator and materials deposition device manufacturer. Earlier in her career, Debbie worked for over 10 years in senior positions at specialist digital printing consultancy companies - BIS Strategic Decisions, IT Strategies and CAP Ventures (now InfoTrends).
Debbie has a BA degree in Modern Languages from Manchester University and an MBA from Durham University Business School.
