ONLINE PRINT SYMPOSIUM 2023: “ONLINE PRINT IS THE EVOLUTIONARY REACTOR AND ENGINE OF THE PRINTING INDUSTRY”
Bernd Zipper
CEO zipcon consulting GmbH | Chairman Initiative Online Print e.V. | Founder Online Print Symposium | speaker | author | advisor | coach | philanthropist
“We still have many chapters to write,” was how Robert Keane, founder and CEO of Cimpress, summed up his keynote. The spirit of optimism described by him could be felt everywhere at the tenth Online Print Symposium: the anniversary edition of the leading event of the online print industry set valuable impulses for a successful future with a mix of topics ranging from current trends, sustainability, mass customisation vs. mass production and the metaverse to artificial intelligence. A special highlight of OPS 2023 was also the award of the “First Pioneer of Global Online Print”, where Robert Keane and Thorsten Fischer (founder of Flyeralarm), two pioneers of online print, actually stood together on stage.
What are the lessons learned from almost 40 years of online print?
Ordering printed goods via the Internet: What is taken for granted today was a utopia more than 30 years ago. And yet there was someone who recognised the possibilities of technological developments early on and thought ahead. Robert Keane, founder of Cimpress, today the world’s leading online printer, took the 300 or so participants of the OPS anniversary on a personal journey through the history of online printing, from the first points of contact with print, the breakthrough of desktop publishing to the dotcom bubble and the current revolution through AI.