VMC conference praised for international success – leading on sustainability through innovation

The eighth Annual Visual Media Conference (VMC) truly showed that online means no geographic boundaries as it drew participants from the UK, Europe, the US and as far afield as Indonesia

This year’s VMC, a joint initiative from CDI, BPIF and BOSS brought together the business supplies, digital and print industries to delve into trends, technology and innovations affecting these sectors.

The theme ‘Sustainability through Innovation’ was addressed across three days, 21-23 September 2021, by world-class experts who provided insight and takeaway solutions drawn from global knowledge. VMC 2021 was aligned with both federations strong focus to provide industry with forums, tools and support to manage their environmental and sustainability requirements.

BOSS, CEO, Amy Hutchinson commented: “BOSS were delighted to have collaborated with the BPIF and CDI on this year’s Visual Media Conference, curating Day 3 which focused on environmental sustainability. The VMC has always looked to ask questions and provide a forum to debate potential solutions – this year it didn’t disappoint. With sustainability as the theme we explored what lies ahead in environmental disclosure, learnt how companies can transition from a compliance approach to an impact orientation and communicate this with key stakeholders effectively. We witnessed an abundance of examples of innovation from businesses that embed sustainability in everything they do – I’m looking forward to next year already!”

With companies emerging into the ‘new new’ economies, the conference delivered best practice ideas to define sustainability for the environment and for businesses. It presented cutting-edge technology and innovation in management techniques to form a practical toolkit for over 300 attendees. 28 live sessions ranged across all forms of communication, grounded in print but exploring complementary and competing media including virtual reality. In addition the conference hosted over 500 hours of chosen pre-recorded video by INKISH TV, Pimento and Canon to supplement the networking and sharing of knowledge in the one-to-one sessions.

Speakers included 3M, Essity, Nestlé, ASDA, designers working on Bugatti and a host of print manufacturers such as Canon, HP and Xeikon. A special guest appearance of global print guru, Frank Romano, celebrating his 80^th birthday, was a privileged occasion as he challenged “How did we get here?” The Visual Media Conference answered the question by showing, “This is where we go next!”

True to its mission, the collaboration of the BPIF and BOSS and sponsorship from companies who share the same intent to provide thought leadership, enabled the whole conference to be made available at no cost to attendees. The three-day programme was presented as a ‘TV schedule’ to make it possible to pick out individual priorities and 15 minute space between sessions allowed attendees to keep in touch with their day-to-day priorities while thinking about how to tackle them with fresh ideas from the conference. The conference was curated by Robert McClements, President of Creative Digital Industries, one of the BPIF’s Special Interest Groups.

If you missed it, don’t worry, the sessions were recorded and can be viewed on www.visualmediaconference.com.

For more information on VMC 2022, please contact Amy Hutchinson, CEO, BOSS at amy@bossfederation.co.uk A big thank you to all our sponsors, including 3M, HP and Tork, for allowing us to organise VMC 2021 and all your support in making it successful. www.visualmediaconference.com