Rochester, NY (September 9, 2008)  PODi, the Digital Printing Initiative, announced today that Donovan Neale-May, the founder and executive director of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, will be a keynote speaker for the 2009 AppForum, January 19 – 21 in Las Vegas at the Rio Hotel & Casino.

Mr. Neale-May’s keynote will address a challenge many service providers face as they transition from selling printing to print buyers into providing integrated solutions to C-level marketers – how do you connect with the CMO? Marketers will benefit from his review of several new studies from the Council showing the shift to personalization taking place in the upper levels of the marketing industry. All attendees will benefit from his insider look at:

• Understanding the marketer’s point of view: These are the people driving the use of personalization – so, what are they thinking?
• What drives CMOs’ buying decisions
• How to get a CMO’s attention and present your solutions convincingly
• What CMOs are looking for in a solutions provider and partner
• Why marketing execs are shifting investment to personalized direct marketing & what opportunities are opening up for savvy service providers and marketers

“This year’s AppForum is all about thinking differently about our industry and the approaches we take to growing our businesses,” says David Erlandson, GM of Caslon and Director of Content for the 2009 AppForum. “Donovan has a different perspective from that of past keynotes. He knows how C-level marketers think – and if you’re selling digital print solutions, knowing this is going to make you more successful.”

According to the Power of Personalization, a recent CMO Council study, becoming more personalized, relevant and precise in customer communication is now the preferred strategy for realizing revenue growth and profitability from existing customers. Neale-May will be helping the audience interpret these findings and share a first look at the soon-to-be published Precision Promotion study.

“I’m excited about being part of this AppForum,” says Neale-May. “Attendees will get an entirely different perspective. I want them to take away a deeper understanding of the challenges CMOs face and be better prepared to offer them winning solutions.”

About Donovan Neale-May & the CMO Council.
The CMO Council (www.cmocouncil.org) was founded to address the challenges executive marketers face. As executive director, Neale-May has built a global affinity network of over 3,500 senior marketing and branding executives across a wide-range of industries. It provides a forum for high-level knowledge exchange, thought leadership and personal relationship building. Companies represented on the CMO Council control more than $100 billion in annual marketing expenditures.

Neale-May is an expert on integrated multi-level marketing. He is president of GlobalFluency, Inc. a leader in marketing and perception management since 1987, with 70 offices in over 40 countries. Member firms have annual billings of $50 Million and employ 450 professionals. He is also the executive director of the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum (www.bpmforum.org) an influential group of C-level executives driving financial accountability and compliance.

For more information or to register for the 2009 AppForum, visit http://www.podi.org/2009AppForum

About the PODi AppForum
The annual three-day PODi AppForum is the only conference dedicated exclusively to digital printing applications, and the focused agenda lets attendees concentrate on issues that matter most to their business success. Thought-provoking sessions tackle productivity, operations, applications, technology, one-to-one campaigns, business strategies, selling and more. Print service providers and marketing experts learn the latest trends in selling and using digital print solutions. The diverse audience of printing and marketing professionals, end users, technology experts and others make the AppForum a productive and stimulating networking opportunity. The intimate, low-key vendor hall encourages meaningful one-to-one communications, while showcasing the latest digital technology and professional services.

About PODi
PODi (www.podi.org) is an industry initiative with hundreds of member companies, including Executive Board members EFI, HP, Pitney Bowes and Xerox. PODi leads the evolution of the digital printing infrastructure by promoting interoperability through standards, and advances digital printing business opportunities through market development activities, including white papers, articles, independent reports and industry speaking engagements. Membership in PODi is open to companies and organizations involved in digital printing.

Media contact:
Christine DeLooze
585-214-5900
chrisd@podi.org