Finat announces conference program for Valencia congress

Finat, the worldwide association for the self-adhesive label industry, has finalized the program of its 2010 congress, being held in Valencia, Spain, from June 9-12.

‘This year’s edition brings leading and inspiring thinkers,’ said Jules Lejeune, managing director of Finat. ‘I highly recommend participants to attend and greatly benefit from the interactive management workshop on “Blue Ocean Strategy” (BOS) on Wednesday afternoon, June 9, as it looks for new ideas on how to create more value for customers and new market spaces ripe for growth.’

More future-looking perspectives will be provided on the second day, June 10. Congress moderator Paul de Ruijter of De Ruijter Strategy brings an overall introduction on the themes of creativity and innovation. Under the title ‘Toward One Packaging Sustainability Language’, keynote speaker Sonia Raja, head of packaging at Tesco and co-chair of the Global Packaging Project, will inform delegates about the features of this project, which brings together the world’s leading brands and retailers and the related packaging supply chain, and the implications this project holds for the combined sector's sustainability agenda. Following this, Jules Lejeune presents the annual review of trends and developments in self-adhesive materials’ demand in Europe, based on Finat’s quarterly statistics of the consumption self-adhesive materials across the region.

As the congress takes place in Spain, Iban Cid, former Finat president, board member of the Spanish label association Anfec and managing director of Germark, will provide insight on the local label market. In the afternoon, Jürgen Convent, corporate vice president global marketing and innovation, industrial adhesives division of Henkel, will outline his company’s vision on corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Nigel Barlow of the Tom Peters Group further explores the message of creative re-thinking from his latest book, ‘Re-think: How to think differently’.

Day two closes with the Finat Label Awards Ceremony, honoring the end-users and brand winners of this year’s competition. These winners go through to the finals of the World Label Awards. 

On the closing day of the congress, June 11, Frank Gerace, president and CEO of Multicolor and chairman of North American association TLMI, speaks about how innovation and business diversification has helped his company to gain success, profitability and a global footprint in a highly competitive market.

Following Gerace’s presentation, participants can attend a round table featuring a panel of industry executives representing various markets, including health and beauty care, household chemicals, and food and beverage. They will present their view on the current status and future development of the label industry in these respective sectors.

Adjiedj Bakas, a global trend-watcher, advises companies and governmental departments on the translation of ‘megatrends’ in society into concrete experiences. In his presentation, Bakas will describe how underlying drivers will determine and shape the future in the decades to come.

Finat has again incorporated a hospitality program to promote networking between visitors. Full details of the conference program can be found at www.finat.com.

Click here for more stories about Finat on L&L.com.