• The International Card Manufacturers Association’s (ICMA) Annual Card Manufacturing & Personalization EXPO is the world’s only manufacturing-focused global card conference and exhibition.
• ICMA members receive substantial discounts to attend or exhibit at the EXPO.
• The EXPO, attended by people from more than 40 countries worldwide, is an international forum for leading card manufacturers, personalizers, suppliers, issuers and other card industry representatives. It is a global arena for illuminating the most important challenges and opportunities facing the industry today.
• Sessions focus on general card industry and business concerns, security issues, management and technical matters, global industry trends, personalization and production issues and opportunities.
• The Exhibition is the world’s only venue exclusively dedicated to card manufacturers and personalizers and their unique product and service needs. Exhibitors can be certain that they are reaching a global cadre of industry participants in an intimate, up-close-and-personal format that is invaluable for networking and sales. Exhibitors include companies that supply such products as: production equipment, card materials, card supplies and card services. Speed Networking is a new added benefit for exhibitors which has been incorporated into the EXPO program. This new feature puts the exhibitors in touch with new companies and prospective clients.
• ICMA Regional Events
• Open to members only, the North American Academy Workshop and EuroForum are geared to technical and card production staff as well as executives and business owners. They are just a day and half and focus on actual production issues, trends and topics. Past regional events have covered such manufacturing-specific topics as:
• Dual interface
• Near field communication (NFC)
• Holographic microsystems
• Optical security measures
• Quality control
• High speed encoding
• Lamination
• Green practices in the card industry
• The 2011 Regional Events took place in:
EuroForum
October 12-13
Munich, Germany
North American Academy Workshop
October 26-27
Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois
• Events take place in the U.S. and Europe each September/October. Other regional locations are also being considered.
• The North American Academy Workshop illuminates the most important challenges and opportunities facing the North American card market while discussing the latest trends, technologies and innovations on the horizon.
• The EuroForum focuses specifically on Europe’s card industry needs, opportunities and trends while exploring regional strategies and solutions for growing business.
• Table Top Displays – supplier members have the opportunity to display their product literature, materials and other information. These table top displays allow supplier members to be in front of the card manufacturer members, allowing the production/operations personnel who typically attend the Regional Events to meet their suppliers.
• Product Showcase – As part of the speaker agenda, all table top exhibitors will have the opportunity to speak in front of all attendees for 3-5 minutes about their product or service – a great opportunity to showcase your company!
• Networking Dinner – a great chance for all attendees to network with each other in a relaxed, social environment. This is a free event to everyone who registers for the workshop.
• ICMA Summits
• These are specialized educational events focused on current industry topics such as environmental and technical issues and are held in various locations around the globe.
» Stay Informed!
• Subscription to Card Flash, a monthly e-newsletter with association and ISO/ANSI standards news – only available to members.
• Opportunity to receive ICMA’s weekly Industry News e-newsletter with card industry news, current events and information for members. This is available to members only and includes coverage from around the globe on card manufacturing industry project announcements and news from card manufacturers, suppliers, personalizers and issuers.
• Members have online access to the ICMA’s Global Market Statistics Report which provides historical and forecasted figures for card production worldwide. The report includes a breakdown by region and type of cards (magnetic stripe, contactless, financial, etc.) worldwide, which helps your company with strategic planning and identifying market trends. Free for members, non-members pay $1500 for the report.
• Subscription to Card Manufacturing, an advertiser-supported magazine published eight times a year with ICMA member news, industry information, features, product releases and announcements — and advertising discounts. As an added benefit to advertisers, the magazine is included on the website in an interactive digital format.
• Representation by David Tushie in ISO and ANSI standards organizations. Members receive regular reports on standards activities, and have direct access to David to have specific standards questions answered.
• David is at the forefront of current and emerging standards for all types of cards and related devices. He also offers members guidance, where possible, on certain technical or production issues they might
be having.
• Hundreds of archived articles from Card Manufacturing magazine are on the ICMA website, dating back to 1998. These articles are grouped in categories such as RFID, magnetic stripe, security and many more and can help or guide you with your card research or new projects.
• Online access to archived EXPO and Regional Event presentations. This enables members who are unable to attend to still benefit from the educational portion of the Regional Events and EXPO.
• Social Media – ICMA has a members-only group on LinkedIn. Follow us on Twitter at ICMATweets and find
us on Facebook for all the latest updates.
» On-line Training and Education, Accreditation, Scholarship
• Opportunity to participate in ICMA’s Advanced Card Education Accreditation (ACE) program, open to members only.
• This accreditation program is the only program to recognize advanced knowledge in the field of card manufacturing and personalization.
• Applicants for ACE receive a card manufacturing study guide with over 150 pages of tutorial information on seven major production steps of the card manufacturing process, as well as standards. Also offered is an ACE prep webinar presented by industry leader, Dr. Brad Paulson.
• ACE Accreditation validates expertise and distinguishes your employees as motivated experts in the card manufacturing industry. It also increases customer confidence in your business.
• Those who achieve accreditation receive industry-wide recognition via a press campaign, inclusion in Card Manufacturing and Card Flash, and on ICMA’s website. Your company can also promote your ACE-accredited staff to potential clients.
• In-person training now available at ICMA events.
• Members-only access to the Basics of the Card Industry Training Program and the Personalization Tutorial on the ICMA web site.
• The Basics program provides a primary overview of the card manufacturing process. A unique educational tool for anyone at your company that needs to learn about the card industry, including new staff, sales and non-technical staff.
• The Personalization tutorial provides a valuable overview of the concepts and processes involved in card personalization and fulfillment.
• The Basics program is also available in Spanish.
• Access to Web Seminar Series for ICMA Member Management Executives.
• ICMA brings executive level training to ICMA members, taking its educational offerings to the next level, focusing on management and leadership topics beyond its typical card industry programming.
• These web seminars are permanently hosted on the ICMA website and can be viewed individually, as a small group or as company-wide training?
• Eligibility for ICMA scholarship for members. Each year the scholarship awards two member employees or a member of their family with a $2500 USD scholarship (or equivalent amount in your currency).
» Member Exposure
• The opportunity to get free publicity with the leading players in the card industry about your company in ICMA’s industry publication, Card Manufacturing, through preferred news and announcement placements.
• Opportunity for card manufacturers to be listed in the Card Manufacturer Referral Source on the ICMA web site, a feature of the site where issuers are referred when they inquire about manufacturers who can supply cards for their card project. The ICMA website has an average of 10,000 visitors each month so this is a powerful vehicle for generating new leads for manufacturers.
• Opportunity to participate in the annual Élan Awards for Card Manufacturing Excellence and the EXPO badge design competition—resulting in industry-wide publicity opportunities for your company. Many industry publications feature the winners of this prestigious competition.
• The Élan Awards are the only awards in the industry to recognize card design and development.
• ICMA members and their issuer customers are recognized and each receives awards in this one
of a kind card competition.
• The winners and finalists receive industry-wide recognition and exposure in Card Manufacturing magazine with photos of the card and a brief write-up.
• ICMA Online Member Directory – This online directory is a worldwide reference tool searchable and easily updated, which guarantees accurate member contact information year-round.
• The user-friendly search capabilities make it easy to find contact information by company name, contact name, country or company type.
• Listings include company descriptions and product listings.
• Members can update their own listing by logging into the directory with their unique company password.
• Members can gain added exposure – add your company’s logo and a company advertisement
to make your profile pop.
• ICMA supplier members can display new and innovative products used in the manufacture and personalization of cards on the ICMA Product Showcase web page at no charge. This is only available to ICMA supplier members.
• Opportunity to have your company name, with a link to your website, and employment listings on the ICMA
website, which receives 10,000 visitors on average each month.
• Green Task Force: EcoLabel Program Working Group
Established to address the need for a green standard in card products, ICMA’s Green Task Force (GTF) has introduced an industry-specific system of eco-labeling for cards. This enables licensed members to validate that their cards meet specific green standards set by an unbiased third party. Issues such as what the word “green” means to the industry, how to communicate the benefits of environmentally responsible products to the consumer and other energy factors are addressed by the GTF. The EcoLabel Standard Program was launched in 2010 and licensed manufacturers are now using the EcoLabel in the marketplace.
• Green Task Force: Greening the Factory Working Group
ICMA launched another phase of the Green Task Force, “Greening of the Factory,” with the purpose to develop an ICMA green factory credential program based on existing industry procedures, current ISO specifications and best practices. The program is available to ICMA members and will be the industry’s “green” card manufacturing endorsement. Card manufacturers, equipment and material suppliers, card issuers, consultants and service providers as well as other industry stakeholders developed this draft mission statement for this Task Force:
“ICMA endeavors to provide educational resources, as well as meaningful and understandable criteria for self-assessment of green factory environments supported by the card industry.”
• Personalization and Fulfillment Task Force
ICMA has formed a Personalization and Fulfillment Task Force (PFTF) to better serve the specialized needs of personalization and fulfillment member companies. This group will address the implementation of new and more sophisticated card technologies that are being adopted worldwide. Participating organizations will include both secure and non-secure service bureaus, in-house and third party service bureaus, issuers who supply bureaus with their data files, equipment suppliers and manufacturers and software providers.