FINAT, the world-wide association for the self-adhesive labels and related products, has announced the entry and participation details of its annual international labeling competition and the program of its congress. On the occasion of its 55th birthday, FINAT is joining forces with the German national label association VskE to host this European label industry’s annual leadership congress. The congress will take place in the Westin Grand Hotel in Munich, Germany from June 12-15. FINAT also reveals the winner of the congress logo contest of this year’s edition.

The FINAT/VskE congress provides not only the perfect place for delegates to meet and network with peers, but offers also the opportunity to collect input for the development and implementation of their future business strategies. Both members and non-members are welcome to attend and become inspired.

Congress 2013 Theme: ‘Label Your Future’
The organizing committee responsible for the preparation of this year’s conference program has chosen ‘Label Your Future’ as the theme for the event. “After all, labeling our future’ is a matter of actively controlling our own destiny by making the right choices, taking into account the relevant forces and mega-trends,” says Kurt Walker, president of FINAT.

Congress 2013 Program
“From this year’s program, participants will gain a multidimensional perspective of the future from authoritative speakers in the areas of social science, economy, ecology, sustainability, label printing technology, business trends, management and entrepreneurship,” Walker continues.

To kick off the program, one of Germany’s leading future thinkers Horst Opaschowski presents an insight into the lifestyles and guiding principles of modern society in the 21st Century.

Werner Dornscheidt, fighting global food loss with his initiative Save Food, will speak about the industry’s responsibilities in developing and securing solutions for sustainable food management.

Richard Pott will address the biodiversity crisis, since habitat loss and climate change are causing the “sixth era of mass extinction.” Following up on the outcome of the global L9 label associations’ summit in Tokyo last year, Don Nolan of Avery Dennison and Jussi Vanhanen of UPM Raflatac will share their views on the label industry’s business agenda for a sustainable future. Helmut Schreiner will talk about the continuity of a family-owned company through successful generation change. On behalf of VskE and FINAT, Robert Mägerlein and Jules Lejeune will present updates on the respective label markets. And in this Labelexpo Europe year, Mike Fairley will lead a panel of printing equipment experts who will assess the future of printing technology in the labeling sector. Closing keynote speaker Marc de Vos will present a challenging and inspirational perspective of the future once the global crises and mega-trends that the world is facing at the moment are in the past.

FINAT Label Competition 2013 edition: Final Call for Entries
FINAT converter members and other label printers that are not yet affiliated to FINAT and who have not yet entered their labels are encouraged to do so before March 8. The FINAT label competition recognizes and rewards achievements in terms of both end use/marketing impact and print and converting quality. The awards will be presented to the winners during the FINAT Awards ceremony on June 13. Click here for the details.

FINAT Congress Logo Students’ Design Competition 2013
Each year the FINAT Congress logo competition is open to graphic design students from the hosting country. Hence local colleges and schools with a design course in Munich were approached late in 2012. Around fifty designs were submitted.

The winning design for the 2013 congress logo was submitted by Lena Lidl, a student from the Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule in Stuttgart. Sarah Peters and Verena Müller, also from the Johannes-Gutenberg-Schule, respectively will receive the second and third prize.