EFI is planning to build on its record-setting users conference from 2016 when EFI Connect takes place in Las Vegas, NV, USA, from January 17-20, 2017. The event is designed for EFI users, partners and sponsors from around the world, including those who are involved in the planning, execution of final decisions, marketing, and sales, or day-to-day operations and production.

This year’s edition of EFI Connect marks the 17th anniversary and the 11th at the Wynn Hotel Las Vegas. In 2016, EFI hosted a sold-out event in which 1,200 attendees from 31 different countries were present. EFI offered over 220 sessions–the most ever–and early registration grew by 47%.

“EFI Connect not only allows our customers to network with each other and participate in classes and hands-on training opportunities, but it is a great opportunity for us to learn more about our customers’ businesses and incorporate their feedback,” explains Guy Gecht, chief executive officer at EFI. “For us, there is no substitution to meeting in person with customers, learning what we need to do in order to make our customers more successful.”

Gecht is one of the featured speakers at the event, where he will present on the opening day–January 17 from 2-3 p.m. Other presenters include Marc Olin, EFI’s chief financial officer, Barb Pellow, group director at InfoTrends, Jeff Jacobson, CEO at Xerox Business Technology, Joel Quadracci, chairman, president and CEO at Quad Graphics, and more.

According to EFI, the event is “the best users' conference in North America with over 200 hands-on sessions, user group meetings, panel discussions, and state of the industry sessions.” A list of the breakout sessions can be found here at the company’s website.

“I’m very excited about our industry and the opportunities in front of us,” says Jacobson, who will speak on January 17th from 5-6:15 p.m. “Creating high-value applications, leveraging new disruptive technologies and incorporating automation and workflow advancements are all ways to generate new growth. At EFI Connect you can explore what these advancements mean for your business – and most importantly – share ideas with your colleagues in the industry.”

EFI Connect will feature a theme of “Discover. Integrate. Innovate.” The goal is to have attendees discover ways to improve their market reach, lower costs, work faster and smarter, and increase customer satisfaction. In addition, they should be able to integrate business and production systems with EFI’s end-to-end portfolio designed to maximize productivity, process efficiency, product offerings and business opportunities. And of course, the newest innovations will be on display, and technological experts will be on hand. Attendees will also receive overall business management and technical education on EFI’s Productivity Software, ERP/MIS, Web-to-Print, Cross Media, Suite Solutions, Fiery, Jetrion, and Inkjet solutions.

EFI is promoting its Connect Mobile App as well, which experienced over eight million impressions during 2016. This marked a 233% increase in visitor engagement.

The company has also installed plans for The Connect Solution Center, which will provide opportunities to meet the product experts, get answers to important questions, and discover the latest EFI innovations. The Solution Center features demo stations where guests can sit down one-on-one with EFI support, training, and development staff. Several EFI partners will also have experts on hand to deliver updates and demonstrations on their products, services and workflow integration.

“InfoTrends looks forward to providing a track at EFI Connect focused on sales and business development,” adds Pellow. “The conference highlights ways to grow and evolve business through both strategy and leading edge technology.”

Canon and Xerox will serve as platinum sponsors of the event, while other sponsors include Esko, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, and more. Those interested in registering for the event can do so here.

"This is an exciting time for printing companies using our data-driven management tools to drive business growth, and I look forward to advancing EFI's offerings and helping even more customers around the globe take full advantage of the innovations we are developing,” says Gaby Matsliach, senior vice president and general manager of Productivity Software at EFI.