On 25th May, Solopress’ team attended the Smart Directions Conference 2017, organised by the Digital Printer Magazine. The event was held at the Royal College of Physicians in London.
We were extremely lucky on that day – the Spanish heatwave had begun, making it the hottest day in London so far this year. The Royal College of Physicians is located next to the evergreen Regent’s Park, surrounded by stunning architecture.
The venue selected for Smart Directions was really impressive – a modernist masterpiece designed by renowned architect, Sir Denys Lasdun.
The conference’s agenda was packed with a variety of print and business related presentations. Michael Walker, Chairman and Editor of Digital Printer, stressed the importance of networking in the print business, whilst introducing the participants.
The presentations started off with body language expert, India Ford, talking about the importance of the ‘Halo effect’ – a type of cognitive bias in which our overall impression of a person influences how we think about them. Needless to say, her speech left us all very cautious of our behaviour for the rest of the day!
For us, the most anticipated part of the Smart Directions Conference was the panel, which connected print business directors and managers from Europe’s top printing companies.
One of the most important topics discussed, was how print businesses visualise the industry in 10 years. Everybody agreed that even in 10 years print will continue to strive, and there will be enough space for both online and traditional print companies. Aron happily participated in the discussion with a few comments to share as well.
During the break, we had a chance to meet all participants of the panel in person, sharing our thoughts and ideas, whilst discussing the future of printing over a cup of coffee.
The Smart Directions Conference 2017 was a great opportunity to meet the top players in printing, find potential suppliers and discuss the latest trends in business. We are now looking forward to visiting (and hopefully participating!) next year.
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