Speakers

Print Embellishment Conference

Kevin Abergel, President and Founder

Kevin Abergel is the President and Founder of Taktiful, a consulting company that specializes in helping brands, OEMs, and printers leverage the newest technologies in digital embellishments. He brings two decades of successfully selling and marketing digital embellishments to companies all over the world. Prior to founding Taktiful, Kevin worked his way up the ranks at MGI Digital Technology where he worked with his father and his uncles and played an instrumental role in developing the digital embellishment market from it’s infancy.

Kary Radestock, Founder and CEO

Kary Radestock, Founder and CEO of Hippo Premium Packaging, has decades of award-winning print and packaging experience, and has worked with some of the top brands in the world. She launched Hippo to bring a higher level of craftmanship along with professional-level packaging and brand-building solutions to the emerging cannabis industry. As an industry pioneer, she was given the prestigious PAC Global Award for packaging excellence, which marked the first time this was awarded to a cannabis product.

Clint Seckman, President and Co-Owner

Clint Seckman is President and Co-Owner of Parkland Direct, an industry leader in high-volume, lithographic envelope manufacturing and also specializes in added embellishments such as foil, embossings, and coatings.

Stefan Congram, Global Director of New Product Introduction and Design Centers Cartamundi

Stefan Congram serves as Global Director of New Product Introduction and Design Centers, working brand owners and creatives in the trading cards & board game space. Prior to Cartamundi, Stefan worked with Western Canada’s finest commercial print and packaging houses, giving him a deep understanding of processes, equipment, materials, & decorative techniques. A graduate of Simon Fraser University, Stefan has sat on a number of boards and steering committees, including with the FSEA and Digital Embellishment Alliance.

George White, CEO

George White has been the CEO of the CM Paula Company, a holding company with four distinct businesses (Up With Paper, GeoCentral, ART Metals Group, and Remtec Automation) since January 2022. Prior to that, George was President and COO of Up With Paper, the world’s leading pop‐up greeting card company. George has twice founded and led his own marketing, PR and content development firms, and was a VP at Gibson Greetings and US Playing Card Company. George served as President of the Greeting Card Association from 2019-21, as co-chair of the GCA’s Noted expo from 2019-22, and has served on the GCA’s Executive Committee for more than a decade.

Lindsey Frimming

The high-end glamor of luxury/premium packaging caught Lindsey’s imagination before she was old enough to know it could also offer a career. She launched hers in the early 2000s seeing the world as a dewy-eyed designer and has since played many roles in the packaging industry. She now views brand packaging through strategic eyes, with a focus on innovation. Sustainability, premium materials, the digital marketplace, and reinventing the way brands approach the design-to-print process all present challenging-but-exciting opportunities. Lindsey is passionate about supporting brands facing these challenges during early development phases. Some of the brands Lindsey has helped guide to success are Danone, Ivory, LIFEWTR, Secret, See Me, Starbucks, and Old Spice.

Jesse Dixon, VP of Business Development

As an experienced VP of business development (with a demonstrated history in the packaging and print industry), Jesse was lassoed into the family business by print and packaging pioneer Rick Dixon. He subsequently fell in love with all things packaging, from development to account management, problem solving to supply chain planning. Jesse currently leads the strategic packaging division for GPA Global, with a hyper-focus to provide cannabis companies and multi-state operators packaging solutions that complement the unique and organic products that define their brands. Dixon has a vision to bring professionalism, clear lines of communication, and process-oriented service(s) to a community deserving of quality supply chain partners.