New Zealand’s Single Width Users Group (SWUG) has confirmed over 126 delegates and sponsors registered for this year’s SWUG NZ conference in August, in what is shaping up to be a record number for the annual event.
The conference, which will be held in Christchurch on August 15-16, will feature a line up of speakers from NZ and internationally who will be presenting on, among other things, European heatset and coldest markets, plate technology, rollers, chemistry, inks, pre-press, drupa 2012 and press installations.
Featured speakers include Dr. Michael Zenke, product director of Heatset and Publishing Europe for Sun Chemical; Jenny Stiles, Business and Marketing manager for industry body, Newspaper Work; and Böttcher expert, Mitch Mulligan. Also featured this year will be former All Blacks captain, Todd Blackadder.
With the event’s venue, Christchurch’s Chateau on the Park (pictured), already entirely booked out, Dan Blackbourn (pictured), chairman of SWUG NZ, says this year’s conference looks set to reach record attendance numbers.
“This conference is shaping up to follow on the successful conferences of the past. This number of attendees is a record for SWUG NZ and shows the commitment to the industry from delegates and sponsors alike,” says Blackbourn. “Accommodation is now booked out and this conference will be a welcome revenue generator for the city of Christchurch.”
Blackbourn says that, in addition to the featured speakers and their presentations, this year’s event will also feature a site visit to the new Fairfax facility in Christchurch.
“This conference will again be filled with a number of insightful and educational presentations and will also include site visits to the new Fairfax site in Christchurch and the Guardian Print site in Ashburton,” he says.
After holding the 2011 conference in Wellington 
following Christchursh’s earthquake last year, this year’s event has returned to the city.
“This was a commitment that the SWUG committee made and was supported by SWUG members and is our way of supporting the region and fellow print members,” says Blackbourn.
The slogan for this year’s conference is ‘Print for Tomorrow,’ with the industry group pushing to highlight the rich future that print has. “We believe there is plenty of traction left for print,” says Blackbourn.
The SWUG NZ 2012 conference will run from August 15 to 16 at Christchurch’s Chateau on the Park. For more info or to book, click here.