PMMI, sponsor and producer of PACK EXPO International 2008, today announced the agenda for the upcoming Conference at PACK EXPO. With its overarching theme of “Change, Innovation and Sustainability,” the three-day program is packed with high-profile keynote presentations and more than 50 sessions presented by industry leaders and innovators.

The Conference at PACK EXPO, Nov. 10 - 12 at Chicago’s McCormick Place, will be held in conjunction with PACK EXPO International (Nov. 9 -13). The conference program schedule and registration are online at www.packexpo.com.

Conference sessions are organized into several ``tracks`` reflecting industry trends that affect today’s packaging professionals. Tracks include Sustainability, Brand Protection, Containers & Materials, Upgrading Operations, Processing and Converting.

The final program was created with guidance from PMMI’s Conference Advisory Panel, a group of industry leaders representing 17 companies, including more than a dozen consumer packaged goods companies.

The panel reviewed all session proposals, no small feat considering more than 100 proposals were received for the 56 concurrent Conference at PACK EXPO sessions,” said Ben Miyares, PMMI vice president of industry relations and director of the Conference at PACK EXPO.

Members of the Conference Advisory Panel were as follows: Curtis Babb; Director, Packaging Innovation; Coors Brewing Co.; Michael Bryant; Senior Packaging Research Engineer; Welch Foods Inc.; Robert C Collins II; Director, Global Package Development; P & G Gillette; Tom Egan; Vice President of Industry Services; PMMI; Mary Ann Falkman; Packaging Writer/Editor; Judy K. Fischer; Senior Packaging Engineer Manager; Sargento Foods Inc.; Jay Gehring; Vice President, R&D Packaging; Frito-Lay; Jennifer Griffin; Principal Packaging Engineer; Medtronic; Asad Hamid; VP of Global Packaging R&D; Campbell Soup Co.; Tom Heaslip; Director, Global Oral Care Packaging; Colgate-Palmolive; Christian Keator; Area Manager -  Packaging Engineering; BIC Consumer Products USA; Yolanda A. Malone; Director of Packaging Development; ConAgra Foods Inc.; Rebecca L Oesterle; Manager - Global Packaging Development; Energizer Holdings Inc.; John G Ratcliff; Director of Packaging; Nestle Purina Product Technology Center; Sean Riley; Editor; Packaging Machinery Technology magazine (PMT); James E Scott; Principal; JES Packaging; David J. Wiemann; Senior Director of Packaging; Beam Global Spirits Wine.

Each day’s conference programming is divided into five time periods, with four concurrent sessions planned for each time slot. Keynote presentations from top executives at Nestlé, Deloitte Consulting and The Dow Chemical Company will also be featured every day at 10:10am. This flexible schedule makes it easy for attendees to participate in the individual sessions of their choice while keeping other show commitments.

With so many topics to choose from, attendees can turn to My PACK EXPO^™, an innovative pre-show planning tool, for help in identifying which sessions are good matches for their needs. To access this free service, attendees simply complete a short profile during the show registration process. Based on the data provided, My PACK EXPO will intelligently mine the show’s database of conference sessions and flag sessions that address individual needs and interests. Information is saved on a personalized, password-protected web portal that can be accessed 24/7. Attendees can begin utilizing My PACK EXPO in August.

Discounted registration for the Conference at PACK EXPO is currently available at www.packexpo.com. For registrations received on or before October 21, 2008, the cost will be $55 per session. Registrations received after October 21 and on-site will be processed at a rate of $75 per session.

Registration for the exhibits at PACK EXPO International is required in order to register for the conference program.

Following is the Conference at PACK EXPO schedule (as of June 20, 2008). Program updates and abstracts of the presentations can be found on www.packexpo.com.