Flexographic Technical Association (FTA) has announced the official theme of Forum 2019 is “All Flexo, All of the Time.” The event is set to take place at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel May 5-8.

Once a small gathering of 300 flexographers in 1959, 60 years later Forum will be the largest assembly of the package printing and converting marketplace in 2019. Chair and co-chair, Ann Michaud of 3M Co. and Hank Welter of TC Transcontinental Packaging, are diligently working to cultivate informative educational content with an intent of placing 100% attention on flexographic printing.

Attendees gathering in “The Big Easy” should expect things to be changed up a bit at Forum 2019. Many fresh faces will be visiting the stage, ready to impart their flexographic knowledge to the eager audience. Keeping energy levels up and attention toward the stage, sessions will run no longer than two hours throughout the duration of the four-day event. The initial start of Forum, Sunday, May 5, will host the first session at 11:30 a.m., instead of the usual 9:30 a.m. thereby giving travelers more time to settle in once they arrive in New Orleans. Finally, recurring sessions, including the traditional Flexography 101 and 102 sessions and the fact-based Flexo Quality Consortium (FQC) session, have been rearranged to land on different days and times, as compared to past Forums, to give all attendees an equal opportunity to see the sessions of their choosing.

As content for sessions slowly percolates over the next several months, topics will be strongly concentrated on the size, stature and ever-evolving posture of the flexographic printing industry, including briefings on:

• New market research study outcomes
• Today’s enhanced printing techniques
• Process controls, defect detection and other corrective actions
• Basic fundamentals of flexo, and more

Attendees will see the Brand Owners Council identify standards that are relevant to today’s packaging workflows, then provide full details on how their adoption can equip printers to meet the top-quality concerns of their Consumer Product Company (CPC) customers. Leading prepress software developers will demonstrate and educate conference-goers on the latest technologies by identifying leading screening options, demonstrating use of the software, and the action taken to produce a graphic.

Planning is also well underway for INFOFLEX, the trade show co-located with Forum. The show floor will be open from May 6-7 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. While the event is already 70% sold, turnkey booths are still available.