Ray of Hope —Polischuk

I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Dscoop5 Annual Conference held last month in Dallas. Dscoop (Digital Solutions Cooperative) is a conference for users of HP equipment, primarily those using HP Indigo digital presses and related technologies. The conference follows the generally successful format for similar user group meetings—numerous technical sessions, a healthy two-way customer/supplier dialog, and especially, the peer-to-peer interaction between printers and converters with common agendas.

What makes Dscoop stand out from a crowded field is its significant growth since its inception just five years ago. The large crowd of 1,300 attendees at last year's conference was dwarfed by the sold-out crowd of more than 1,800 at Dscoop5. This growth is a function of two important factors: digital printing is probably the healthiest segment in the printing industry with lots of upside growth potential and HP Indigo's significant market presence.

One of the keynote speakers at the conference was Stuart Varney, business and financial journalist for FOX News. He is by no means an expert in the printing arena, but he did make a number of interesting observations.

First, he noted how good it was to be part of a growing, dynamic conference. In his role, he is asked to speak at numerous similar gatherings and, of late, he said, it was rare to see such impressive growth in attendance.

He went on the say that one of the biggest looming problems facing a large number of countries throughout the world is the aging population. This means that over time, fewer younger workers will be supporting a large (and growing) retiring population. The U.S. and other countries will just not be able to keep their promises to their pensioners, he said. Unless it's addressed, it will be a significant drag on future economic growth.

Relative to the state of the current economy, Varney saw a ray of hope late in 2009 as business started to expand. He believes the U.S. economy will grow, albeit, at a relatively low two or three percent in 2010.

This is consistent with the observations made by Printing Industries of America's Ronnie Davis and Edward Gleeson in this year's State of the Industry Report. They predict a modest growth of less than three percent this year. However, consistent with the positive energy at Dscoop, they predict that digital printing will grow at a faster rate of 4 to 5 percent during the next two years. This report begins on p. 14.

Tom Polischuk, Editor-in-Chief

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