The Call for Papers for the 65th Annual Technical Conference has begun, and papers for both Technical Papers and the NEW Technical Innovations Papers. The conference will be held February 3-6, 2013, in Portland, Oregon. John Seymour of the TAGA Technical Program Committee and TAGA Technical Paper contributor shares the success he has achieved through TAGA.
I work in the research group for QuadTech. Our company develops and sells control systems for printing presses. My own work has largely been the measurement and control of color online (that is, on the printing press). I have also been involved in other products that we develop, including register control and web inspection. The majority of my work has to do with advanced research for new product development.
I have been attending TAGA since 1993, and have presented eleven papers and given two tutorials for this conference. TAGA is the one conference that I try to attend every year.
Why is this conference important to me to attend?
It is worth my time because of the high quality of technical papers and the diversity of topics and of disciplines.
The TAGA technical papers committee is very diligent about screening out presentations that are largely commercials for products. Because of this, TAGA is the place to go where you can hear good, solid technical presentations without marketing hype. The technical papers committee actively solicits experts in the industry to present, so the papers are assured of having content that is both reliable and relevant.
TAGA has diversity in academics versus industry involvement. Currently, about 60% of the papers are from academic institutions and organizations. Roughly 20% of the papers are from industry. The remaining 20% of the papers represent collaborations between these two groups. TAGA fosters this collaboration, to the benefit of both groups.
The other diversity that TAGA provides is the diversity of topics. I look forward to presentations about topics that I know very little about. Often, they turn out to be topics that I should know something about!
Why is the TAGA conference an important venue for me to present?
There is a certain amount of good karma involved here. If I am receiving, I should be prepared to give. But this is hard to sell to my boss! It is much easier for me to get permission based on the fact that TAGA attracts the technical movers and shakers in this industry. Speaking at TAGA is an opportunity for my company to influence the people who are most influential in the industry.
Sometimes that message is simply that my company is doing new and innovative things. Sometimes the message is a bit more of a sales pitch – not specifically for our products, but for the concepts and methods behind our products. And sometimes (and this is the best part) my talk will lead to a conversation that leads to an idea that in turn leads to all sorts of good stuff.
Papers for the 65th Annual Technical Conference may be submitted to tagapapers@printing.org by June 15, 2012. For further discussions on attending and presenting at the 65th Annual Technical Conference, join the TAGA Networking LinkedIn Group.