Ipex World [www.ipex.org], the easy-to-use online networking and resource portal dedicated to print professionals worldwide, has increased the functionality of Ipex Connect, its premium facility to enable greater interactive exchange. Ipex Connect provides a comprehensive list of printers, active dealers, suppliers, associations and consultants located throughout the world, offering Premium Members access to exclusive industry information, and more crucially, the opportunity to expand their businesses onto the global stage, at the touch of a button.
“Ipex Connect is all about encouraging the global print community to get connected and stay connected, as well as offer genuine new business development opportunities,” says Nick Craig Waller, Ipex World Marketing Director. “By utilising the power of the internet, we have tapped into the considerable resources generated at the last Ipex and have developed a global platform that replicates the networking and business development opportunities that are so successful at today’s international events.”
Online registration to become a Premium Member of Ipex World and gain access to Ipex Connect is free of charge, and opens up a host of exclusive benefits. These include direct access to a growing community of industry organisations, an exclusive library of useful industry information, videos, case studies and special offers as well as the latest new product and technology news from member companies.
Premium Members will gain access to the Printer2Printer Zone, the peer networking area within Ipex Connect. This community enables members to engage with other print professionals throughout the world, sharing advice, ideas, experiences and comment, as well as setting up global business partnerships.
According to Steve Wicks, Director of Greenprint, who has already made use of the Ipex Connect services says, “Ipex World has developed in a very short space of time into an excellent resource for anyone involved in print and I believe that Ipex Connect could be as useful as LinkedIn for identifying and developing relationships with potential partners worldwide in the near future.”
“I think that the Printer2Printer service on Ipex Connect will prove to be a useful online resource, continues Steve. “The database can be searched for contacts in the printing industry by company type, by country or via a keyword search. We hope to be supplying print to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change again later this year and the event will be in Durban, so I searched and found fifteen registered contacts in South Africa. As this global community builds, we will certainly use Ipex Connect as one of our marketing and communications tools to help us to build on our network of contacts and to stay on top of worldwide events in the printing industry.”
In addition, the online ‘Matchmaking Service’, based on the hugely successful Agent & Distributor Matchmaking Scheme introduced during Ipex 2006 and Ipex 2010, provides access to a comprehensive list of active dealers, agents and suppliers located throughout the world. Premium members can simply input specific search criteria to source relevant business partners throughout the world to further expand their international business reach.
Phil Moretti-Green, Managing Director of Kopykat Printing Ltd has already bookmarked the portal for quick reference. He adds, “I’ve found Ipex World to be both user friendly, and a reliable and trusted source of the kind of information we can really use to help develop our business. As the content and membership of Ipex World continues to grow, I can see it will become an invaluable research, networking and business building tool for us.”
“Print has become a truly global industry, and printers and suppliers recognise the need to expand beyond their own domestic market,” adds Nick Craig Waller. “When looking to expand your business into new territories, searching for and selecting the right agent or distributor to successfully represent both your brand and business is vital and yet, can be an extremely time consuming and costly exercise. Our Matchmaking Service is all geared towards making this process as simple and cost effective as possible. Once a potential partner has been located via our database, members can instantly communicate with the target company using our secure, inbuilt messaging facility.”
Premium Members can also develop their own personalised log-in zone, add web content, company and product specific details to their own profile, as well as compile and save a list of partner organisations, suppliers, associations and consultants as ‘favourites’ for future ease of use.
