Dear member,

The transfer of trade know-how and exchange of information within the framework of the Forum has become an essential part of the Congress program. This year we offered 16 hours of trade program (8 forums) with altogether 30 speakers and moderators from 10 countries. For the first time in our history the second day of the congress was devoted to emerging markets, all forums of the day had their focus on selected emerging markets. Another premiere was the forum concentrating on environmental aspects of our industry.

More than 400 congress delegates attended the forums; the numbers of the participants varied between 15 and 90. The most popular topics were "Free versus paid for" and "Selling press in supermarkets". All presentations are  available for download on our website. Some of the forums will be continued on our website within the frame of the Distripress online forum.

Based on the positive experiences of the last years we are going to organize a program of similar size for the next year. Beside the traditional Forum events we would like to offer again a few special presentations under the headline of “Best Practice”. We are pleased to invite you to participate in this  program. In case you are ready to share your positive experiences with innovative changes in different fields of activity of your company with other Congress participants, please contact us (peter.emod@distripress.net). Our intention is to offer practice oriented presentations focusing on topics like sales promotion, cost reduction, draw regulation, successful introduction of new titles, retail marketing, logistic innovations, application of new technologies, digital printing, etc. The best ideas will be integrated in the Forum program. Please apply with topics that might be of interest for a large circle of Congress participants. The presentations should focus on trade issues and not on companies’ portraits. You should be able to present your thoughts in English. For each topic 30 minutes are available including 10 minutes for questions and answers.

Please submit your proposals until December 15th; we shall inform you as soon as possible whether your topic can be integrated in the trade program. We are looking forward to receiving your suggestions. In case you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Of course, we will be delighted to receive your proposals also regarding the topics and speakers of the different forums. The first draft of the trade program will be published in February 2009.

Best regards,

Peter Emöd                                                      Gabriela Rietmann
Managing Director                                           Communication