Copy of Print Matters 2024


 


    www.intergraf.eu | www.nopa.nu

With support of

Print Matters conference - 14 June 2024

Intergraf will hold the 2024 edition of the Print Matters annual conference with the participation of the Nordic Printing Association (NOPA) on Friday, June 14th, in Bucharest, Romania.

The Print Matters 2024 programme is designed to offer a forward-looking perspective on the graphic industry's future. Attendees will delve into the impact of Artificial Intelligence on printing, exploring both the risks and opportunities it presents. The conference will showcase recent Intergraf research comparing print and digital communication in terms of efficiency, sustainability, and consumer preferences, offering invaluable insights to participants. The agenda is set to include engaging case studies, discussions on EU legislation, analyses of supply chain risks, exploration of changes in print distribution dynamics and the print industry's role in the development of the advertising sector, highlighting its significance in the evolving landscape. Print Matters promises an unparalleled opportunity for industry professionals to stay at the forefront of developments, gain valuable insights, and foster connections with peers.


Key details:

  • Date: Friday, June 14th
  • Location: Bucharest, Romania. The venue to be announced
  • Registrations to open soon
  • Sponsorship and partnership opportunities to be announced

Speakers: 

  • Developments in different print market segments. Sean Smyth, Print & Packaging Consultant, Smithers, UK.
  • Case Study: Studiosus: Premium communication for a premium brand with premium customers. Challenges and opportunities of print and communication (from a customer’s point of view). Boris Kochan, KOCHAN & PARTNER GmbH & Deutscher Designtag, DE.
  • Packaging & Packaging Waste and national initiatives regarding mineral oil. Christof Walter, Food Contact Manager, EuPIA, DE.
  • Case Study: The Bertelsmann approach to the carbon footprint. Mark Fabisch, Senior Director Environment, Bertelsmann, DE.
  • What is print’s place in a digital world? Manon Lassaigne, winner of the 2023 Intergraf Young Talent Award, FR.
  • Web printing in challenging times. Johannes Helmberger, Managing Director, Niedermayr, DE.
  • The transformation from a family business to part of the most important printing group in Norway, Morten Gunnarshaug, CPO, Aksell AS, NO.
  • AI and how it can affect the graphic industry. Ivs Zenne, Docent, Art Academy of Latvia, LV.
  • An overview of current and prospective conditions in the U.S. print market, Ford Bowers, CEO. PRINTING United Alliance, USA.
  • What if innovation isn't part of tomorrow? Morten Reitoft, Editor, INKISH, DK.

Let's shape the Future of Print together!

 

 

 
Programme


09:00 - 09:15 - Conference opening

Speakers: Ulrich Stetter, President of Intergraf __ Belgium
Havard Grjotheim, President of Nopa __ Belgium

Session 1: ECONOMIC MATTERS

09:15 - 09:45 - The Graphic Industry in Romania

Speaker: David Istvan, President ATT Transylvania Printers Association __ Romania

09:15 - 09:45 - Keynote: Drupa Review

Speaker: Bernd Zipper, Zipcon __ Germany

10:15 - 10:45 - Coffee break

Session 2: BUSINESS MATTERS

10:45 - 11:15 - Printing Case Study

11:15 - 11:45 - Packaging Case Study

11:45 - 12:15 - How might AI affect the print industry and what are the associated risks and opportunities?

Speaker: Winner of the 2024 Intergraf Young Talent Award

12:15 - 13:30 - Lunch

Session 3: READING MATTERS

13:30 - 14:00 - Recent reading research on Reading

Speaker: Kari Spjaeldnes __ Norway

14:00 - 14:30 - Results of the Intergraf research on comparing print and digital communication in terms of efficiency, sustainability and consumer preferences

Speaker: Jeremy Tawedian, Research Assistant, Intergraf __ Belgium

14:30 - 15:00 - Coffee break

Session 4: SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS

15:00 - 15:30 - Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

Speaker: Eva Vati, Verify Agency of Sweden __ Sweden

15:30 - 16:00 - Deforestation Regulation

16:00 - 16:30 - Distribution Challenges

16:30 - 16:45 - Conference closing

Speakers: Ulrich Stetter, President of Intergraf __ Belgium
Havard Grjotheim, President of Nopa __ Belgium

 
 
 
Our 2024 speaker line-up


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Matt Baehr
Executive Director
Book Manufacturers’ Institute United States of America
Andrea Cangini
Secretary General
Luigi Einaudi Foundation Italy
Jasmine Darban
Book influencer
Sweden
Sonia Draga
President
Federation of European Publishers Belgium
Hermann Eckel
Product Manager
BOOXITE Germany
Håvard Grjotheim
Working Chairman
Scandbook Sweden
Jonathan Huddart
Head of Sales
CPI UK United Kingdom
Tobias Kaase
Chief Executive Officer
mediaprint solutions GmbH Germany
Oliver Kranert
Managing director printing plants
Bertelsmann Germany
Peter Kraus vom Cleff
Managing Director
German Publishers and Booksellers Association Germany
Gina Lyons
Business Systems Director
Clays United Kingdom
Antti Makkonen
Sales Director for Graphic Papers
Sappi Europe Finland
Adam Page
VP Reports
Smithers United Kingdom
Normunds Popens
Deputy Director General
Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission Belgium
Marte Pupe Støyva
Senior Librarian
University of Stavanger Norway
Ulrich Stetter
President
Intergraf Belgium
LinkedIn
Matt Baehr
Executive Director
Book Manufacturers’ Institute United States of America
Matt Baehr is the Executive Director of the Book Manufacturers' Institute (BMI), where he has served as chief executive since 2017, leading the long standing trade association for book manufacturers and their suppliers. Before joining BMI, he held senior roles at the Data and Marketing Association (DMA), AVIXA (formerly InfoComm), and the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association, and previously served as chief executive of the Arlington Soccer Association in Virginia. He holds an MBA from Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America, and lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife Mary and three children. He comes from a family of educators, who were staunch proponents of reading physical books at an early age. Matt has continued to instill that belief in his own children.
Andrea Cangini
Secretary General
Luigi Einaudi Foundation Italy

Andrea Cangini, graduated in Political Science, professional journalist since 1995. Editor-in-chief of Resto del Carlino and Quotidiano Nazionale from 2014 to 2018.Senator of the Republic from 2018 to 2022. He was group leader in the Senate Culture Committee, vice-chairman of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into illegal gambling, member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and vice-chairman of its Technological Trends and Security Committee. Since November 2022, he is the Secretary General of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation, where he founded the Carta, Penna & Digitale Observatory in defence of cursive handwriting and reading on paper.

Four books: with Francesco Cossiga, “Fotti il potere, gli arcana della politica e dell'umana natura” (2010), “L’onore e la sconfitta, politica italiana e guerre perse dal Trattato di pace del 47 al Fiscal compact del 2012” (2012) “La camicia nera di mio padre, riflessioni sulla morte della Patria” (2018), “CocaWeb, una generazione da salvare” (2022).
Jasmine Darban
Book influencer
Sweden
Jasmine Darban combines her passion for reading with a strong and authentic presence on social media. Over the years, she has grown into one of Sweden’s leading voices within the BookTok movement, where she inspires a new generation of readers by making literature accessible, engaging, and relevant in digital spaces. Beyond her work as a book influencer, Jasmine co-runs a publishing imprint in collaboration with Bonnier Carlsen. The imprint was created with the aim of reaching younger readers who have discovered literature through social media. By bridging traditional publishing with digital culture, she contributes to redefining how books are marketed and experienced today.
Alongside her creative work, Jasmine is currently completing her law degree. Her long-term ambition is to remain within the publishing industry after graduation, where she hopes to continue working strategically with promoting reading and youth engagement, combining her legal expertise with her deep-rooted passion for literature. In 2025, she was awarded Grafiska Företagen’s industry award, ‘Årets stora branschpris'.
Sonia Draga
President
Federation of European Publishers Belgium
Sonia Draga is the President of the Federation of European Publishers for the 2024-2026 mandate; first woman elected in that position. She is a Board Member and former President of the Polish Chamber of Books (PIK, Polska Izba Książki) and President of the eponym publishing house 'Sonia Draga Wydawnictwo'.
Picture credits: André Stachel and Rodrigo Mothé
Hermann Eckel
Product Manager
BOOXITE Germany
Hermann Eckel is a digital-publishing expert with many years of experience within the book-publishing industry. After a number of sales positions at the music publisher Baerenreiter and at Oxford University Press, he took over as managing director at C. F. Peters from 2010 to 2016. As managing director at tolino media, from 2017 to 2022, he significantly expanded tolino’s self-publishing business, including a print-on-demand service for authors. In late 2022, Hermann set himself up as a self-employed consultant, trainer, lecturer and speaker, supporting publishing companies and bookdealers in their digital transformation. As Product Manager at pagina GmbH, he has been responsible for the development of the innovative book-production platform BOOXITE since early 2025. Besides that, Hermann acted as co-spokesperson of the digital work group within the German book-trade association from 2019 to 2025, driving digital change within the industry in this role, too.
Håvard Grjotheim
Working Chairman
Scandbook Sweden

Håvard Grjotheim is an accomplished business leader currently serving as the Working Chairman of ScandBook Holding AB in Sweden. With a successful career spanning several major companies in Scandinavia, he brings a wealth of experience as a CEO.

He is the President of NOPA, the Nordic Printing Association. Håvard has also made notable contributions as the President of the Norwegian Printing Federation and former President of Intergraf.
Jonathan Huddart
Head of Sales
CPI UK United Kingdom
Jonathan has worked across print and supply chain solutions for publishers for many years. Most recently supporting publishers to make use of CPI’s Print on Demand and Zero Inventory solutions, providing access to their services for Web to Print enterprises as well as supporting their traditional publisher base. The models that CPI have deployed and Jonathan has been working on have been based on the publishers removing their traditional stock model and making their titles perpetually available though on demand production.
Tobias Kaase
Chief Executive Officer
mediaprint solutions GmbH Germany
Tobias Kaase (46), CEO of mediaprint solutions GmbH, Germany. Trained as a media designer at Mohn Media – Mohndruck GmbH in Gütersloh. Graduated in 2006 with a degree in industrial engineering from the Stuttgart Media University. Until 2013, he was a member of the management team at the Encyclopedia publisher Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG in Mannheim. There he witnessed how Wikipedia completely disrupted the publisher's business model within just a few years. Subsequently, until 2017, he was a member of the Board at Athesia Kalenderverlag in Unterhaching. During this time, he was a founding member of the self-publishing company Calvendo GmbH, which used a disruptive approach to almost completely digitize the traditional processes of a calendar publisher. Since 2017, he has been CEO of mediaprint solutions GmbH in Paderborn. Together with his team, he developed mediaprint solutions into one of the most digitalized printing companies in Central Europe. Since 2024, he has been in addition co-managing director of Media-Print Group GmbH in Paderborn and CEO of Grafisches Centrum Cuno GmbH & Co. KG in Calbe. Tobias describes himself as a "hands-on expert" for change management and transformation in printing und publishing.
Oliver Kranert
Managing director printing plants
Bertelsmann Germany

1992 – 2012 Bertelsmann managing director printing plants, Germany and Italy

2012 – 2026 C.H.Beck managing director printing plant and electronic media in Nördlingen, Germany

2017 – 2018 CPI Germany managing director
Peter Kraus vom Cleff
Managing Director
German Publishers and Booksellers Association Germany
Peter Kraus vom Cleff (*1967) has been Managing Director of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) since 2022. He holds a degree in economics and was active in various publishing houses of the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group for more than 20 years, most recently managing Rowohlt Verlag as Commercial Director since 2008. From 2020 to 2022, he was President of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP).
Gina Lyons
Business Systems Director
Clays United Kingdom
Gina is Business Systems Director at Clays, a role she has held since 2018. She joined the company in 2010, managing several cross-functional departments before taking ownership of IT, Purchasing and Sustainability. She has led the company’s Sustainability transformation, developing a company-wide framework that embeds Sustainability as a strategic priority. Gina has overseen Clays setting of science-based emission targets under the SBTi framework, designed supplier management programmes and worked closely with customers to understand what Sustainability means to them and how this can be translated into measurable, practical action. Her wider remit includes materials and supply chain management, process improvement and systems development, aligning technology, procurement and production to reduce carbon emissions and waste while maintaining service standards. Gina holds an MSci in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Antti Makkonen
Sales Director for Graphic Papers
Sappi Europe Finland
Antti Makkonen is the Sales Director for Graphic Papers at Sappi Europe, overseeing global business across more than 65 countries and leading teams of over 100 professionals. With more than 25 years of international experience in sales leadership, strategic marketing, and commercial transformation in the paper industry. His career includes spearheading major business integrations, launching new product segments in graphic and speciality paper segments. Antti holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork and has completed executive studies at IMD Lausanne.
Adam Page
VP Reports
Smithers United Kingdom
Adam is VP Reports at Smithers, the worldwide authority for the printing, paper and packaging industries, with overall responsibility for its market reports business. in 2025, he launched the new Smithers Market Intelligence Platform which provides all reports and data in one fully searchable solution, and which is fully secure and accessible anytime, anywhere. Adam has more than 25 years’ experience in leading market research projects. During his time at Smithers he has published hundreds of market studies, reports, technical books and single-client projects across a range of industries including printing, paper and packaging, and has delivered many insightful presentations at conferences and events around the world. As part of this role, Adam manages a global network of experts, consultants and researchers who contribute to hundreds of primary research-based projects every year. Adam was trained as a journalist, and is a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.
Normunds Popens
Deputy Director General
Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission Belgium
Since January 2024, Normunds Popens is the Deputy Director General in the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. From 2011, Normunds Popens has been the Deputy Director General for Implementation in the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and in charge of overseeing the implementation of structural and cohesion fund programmes in EU member states and candidate countries. Before joining the European Commission in March 2011 he has occupied several posts in the Latvian diplomatic services. Notably from 2007 until 2011, he was a Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU. Before that he dealt with European affairs as Undersecretary of State of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has been also responsible for the issues of foreign trade and transatlantic relations and has worked as an Ambassador in Norway, Iceland and in the USA as a diplomat.
Marte Pupe Støyva
Senior Librarian
University of Stavanger Norway
Marte Pupe Støyva is a PhD-student at the Norwegian Reading Centre and a Senior Librarian at the Stavanger University Library. Her research revolves around students in higher education and how they read when reading for academic purposes. In her research, she explores questions regarding reading mediums, attention, and bodily engagement during reading. Marte Pupe Støyva holds a master’s degree in Nordic Languages and Literacy Studies. She is dedicated to books, literature, and the benefits of reading.
Ulrich Stetter
President
Intergraf Belgium
Ulrich Stetter is Intergraf President and Managing Director of printing companies within the Druckhaus Mainfranken Group - the production part of the flyeralarm group, based in Würzburg, Germany. Ulrich has 30+ years of experience in the European printing industry. He has served on the Intergraf board since 2018, taking over as President in 2021.