Education Tracks
undefined
                                                 
Graphics Central  
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2015 • EDUCATION DAY
     
9 a.m.-
11:55 a.m.		   Screen Printing Basics: Your Crash Course to Run a T-Shirt Business
ALL LEVELS – 3 Credits
 During this intensive workshop, you’ll learn everything you need to know to understand the entire screen-printing process and launch (or improve!) a profitable garment-printing operation. Taught by a professional trainer with 35 years of experience, this session is perfect whether you’re simply planning to enter the industry or you’re a newer screen printer who wants to be sure you’re “doing it right.” Topics will include:
  • The costs of getting started
  • Equipment and supplies you’ll need
  • The importance of the screen
  • Art programs and customer artwork
  • Film output and screen exposure
  • Preparing screens for the press
  • Hands-on setup of a four-color job in just five minutes.
About Terry Combs
 
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2015 • EXHIBIT DAY ONE
     
11 a.m.-
  11:30 a.m.		   Apparel Decoration Basics
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credit
For a promotional products distributor, having a solid understanding of the garment-decoration process can be a competitive advantage. By being an educated buyer, you’ll be better equipped to choose good contractors, pay a fair price, and get the quality you expect. In this session, an experienced decorating veteran will walk you through screen printing, direct-to-garment inkjet printing and other decoration methods, concentrating on the things that a distributor needs to know. You’ll leave the session with a much better knowledge of your contract decorators, how to evaluate their competencies, and how to keep them honest. Areas covered will include:
     
  • Making sense of setup charges
  • Providing contract decorators with everything they need
  • Understanding the capabilities and limitations of different decoration techniques
  • Providing for spoilage allowances
  • Interviewing and finding the right contract decorators.
undefined
About Terry Combs
     

11:45 a.m.-
   12:15 p.m.

   Apparel Special Effects
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credit
 Tired of the same, boring screen-printed and embroidered shirts? You can show your customers an almost endless variety of creative options by combining different special effects in the same job. Learn how multiple-effect orders can enable you to charge a high price, in addition to making your company and your garments stand out. In this session, you’ll see plenty of samples, including one you can take home with you. Techniques to be covered will include:
     
  • Embroidery with 3-D sewing effects
  • Screen printing combined with embroidery
  • Screen printing with multiple specialty inks, including blister base, foil, discharge and clear base
  • Sublimation combined with heat-applied sequins
  • Sublimation on dark fabrics.
undefined
About Greg Gaardbo
     
1:15 p.m.-
1:45 p.m.		   Discharge Printing
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credit
Discharge printing has become increasingly popular with consumers because of the soft hand and vivid colors it produces. But the awful smells, mixing powders and waste associated with discharge printing have made it a hassle for many print shops. In this session you’ll learn about a new single-component ink technology that eliminates these problems while still delivering results your customers will pay extra to get. You’ll learn how to produce and market this exciting technology and gain an advantage over your competitors. This session will cover:
     
  • Understanding the different types of discharge inks used to screen print garments
  • Creating designs that capitalize on the feel and vivid color that are unique to discharge printing
  • Marketing the technology to your customers and showing them what it can do
  • Learning how to produce great discharge prints
  • Finding out what production modifications may be required to get the best results.
undefined
About Dave Gehrich
     
2 p.m.-
2:30 p.m		   Find Customers via Social Media
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credit
 Designed for social media novices, this session will give you compelling information about why you should get involved, how to do it, and what tools are available to make the puzzle easier to solve. You’ll learn the basics, plus you’ll discover how to build a social media plan and test to see what works. You’ll find out:
     
  • Which social media platforms are right for you
  • How to make the social media process less time-consuming
  • What you can understand about your customers through social media
  • How often you should be posting for social media success.
undefined
About Aaron Montgomery
 
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015 • EXHIBIT DAY TWO
     

11 a.m.-
11:30 a.m.

   Discover Decoration Methods
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credit
 Whether you’re looking for a new business venture or another decoration method to add to your current business, this session will give you a good understanding of how garments are decorated. You’ll cover most of the current garment-decoration methods, the expertise and capital investment that each method requires, and how you can combine methods to create extra value-added services to increase your profit margins. You’ll leave knowing:
     
  • What it takes to be an embroider
  • What it take to be involved with direct-to-garment (DTG) inkjet printing
  • The pros and cons of screen printing
  • The pros and cons of sublimation
  • All about heat-transfer decoration.
undefined
About Aaron Montgomery
     
11:45 a.m.-
12:15 p.m.		   Expand Your Business with Dye Sublimation
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credits
 Are you looking for a way to expand your product offerings without a lot of capital investment? Dye sublimation is an incredibly versatile process that can produce spectacular prints on a wide range of garments and promotional products. Screen printers can do short runs of jobs that would otherwise be too costly. Sign shops can offer new product lines to existing customers. Ad specialty distributors can offer (and even produce) goods that stand apart. In this session you’ll learn about the unique qualities of dye sublimation, how it differs from other heat-transfer processes, and how to get excellent results with the technology. You’ll leave knowing:
     
  • Which fabrics and other products can and can’t be printed through dye sublimation
  • How artwork should be prepared for best results
  • What you need to know about heat presses and other things you’ll need to get started
  • Tips for getting good results when applying dye-sub transfers.
undefined
About David McClaskey
     
1:15 p.m.-
1:45 p.m.		   Sell to 30 Niche Markets
ALL LEVELS – .5 Credits
 Whether you’re a decorator or a distributor, having the right product to sell is only part of the battle. You also have to be in the right place at the right time. In this fast-paced session, a garment industry veteran will provide a wealth of ideas on new markets to explore, as well as tips on selling to these niche categories. You’ll leave knowing about:
     
  • Micro-markets within markets
  • Creating your own unfair advantage
  • Secret markets right under your nose
  • Unique and unusual marketplaces
  • New markets emerging for garment resellers
  • How to tap into these markets.
  • Specific ideas on markets to seek out today.
undefined
About Terry Combs