Dscoop returned to the Americas this spring, as the HP users conference took over the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center from March 25-28. The event, which featured the theme of “Unleashing Print,” welcomed print service providers who use HP Graphics Technology–including HP Indigo digital presses and solutions–along with creative designers, marketers and brand leaders.
 
Dscoop Dallas was the first of three global events, with the next edition scheduled for Seoul, South Korea from May 14-16. Dscoop’s Unleashing Print conference will then head to Vienna, Austria from June 13-15. The American edition of the event featured record attendance, including 237 participants from 18 different countries. Many of these visitors hailed from Latin America and the Caribbean.
 
The show featured a wide range of speakers, including Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com, Dan Heath, a Senior Fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, Dana Arnett, founding partner and vice chairman of VSA Partners, and Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manager of the HP Indigo Division. Andrew Davis, a best-selling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, served as the conference emcee.

Heath, who delivered the keynote presentation on the event’s opening day, explored how to create meaningful moments for print customers. “We live in the era of experience. Everywhere you look, there’s someone looking to make your experience better,” he said. “If you study great service experiences, they’re mostly forgettable and occasionally remarkable. Those remarkable, peak moments, don’t plan themselves, but we’re so busy fixing small problems that we ignore the potential peak moments that will make our customers overlook small flaws.”

When identifying peak moments, Heath used HP’s “Share A Coke” campaign to illustrate a memorable idea that left a lasting impact.

“I’m a 44-year-old man, and I still get a charge out of seeing my name ‘Dan’ on a soda label. That’s how you turn a transaction into a moment.

“Print is the medium of memories," he added. 

Davis, the conference’s emcee, also told attendees, “It’s not about what you print, it’s about how what you print makes them feel.”
 
Dscoop also provided attendees with the opportunity to learn more about digital inkjet printing, how to appeal to brands, and the evolving role of press operators.

Gutsche said that as an industry, "we need to get better at adapting to change and faster at implementing ideas." The goal is to avoid complacency, redundancy and closed-mindedness. “Almost all innovation happens by making connections between fields that other people don’t realize,” he explained. “It’s about finding hidden opportunity.”

Dscoop's deep dives
Dscoop’s general sessions touched on a wide range of industry topics. S-One Labels & Packaging took a deep dive into the opportunities available for label converters in the flexible packaging space. Meanwhile, Michelman looked at how new coating and primer technology can optimize digital printing.

As part of a presentation of the hottest trends in print design, Sabine Lenz said, “Most designers have no idea what’s possible in print today. They’re surprised by what digital technology can do.”

She added that 71% of creatives are producing 10 times more work than five years ago. In addition, 7 out of 10 designers report they are understaffed.

In the labels and packaging space, Lenz said the use of foil is one of the great trends. “Hot-foil stamping can provide a tactile experience,” she said. “The shine never falters. You have hundreds of foil choices, and the softer the paper the better.”

Thinking Tree Spirits embodied many of these trends in one of its newest spirits labels. The craft distillery based in Eugene, OR utilized the Hired Guns Creative design team to develop a unique label template. CCL printed the labels, which included hot stamping, as well. The color matching and streamlined production achieved on the HP Indigo digital press highlighted the label, Lenz added.

Lenz said that interactive elements are one of the key trends now, and augmented reality could very well be a hot topic in the future.

Alon Bar-Shany, VP and GM of HP Indigo, detailed the history of Indigo, as well as how the technology will continue to evolve for sustained success. Keeping in line with Gutsche’s message of adaptation, Bar-Shany said, “This is the time to think ahead and make the right decisions. What drove Indigo was the impact of the recession. It forced change.”