After two years in California, Global Pouch West is heading to Las Vegas.

Packaging Strategies’ third annual event targeted to packaging professionals located west of the Mississippi River will take place from December 7-8 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in the foothills of Las Vegas. Event organizers have cited the ease of traveling to and from Las Vegas as the biggest factor in the show’s move – and this prognostication is proving accurate, as attendance is already tracking ahead of last year.

As was the case with the first two editions of Global Pouch West, the show will provide one-and-a-half days’ worth of education throughout 14 sessions and over eight hours’ worth of networking, including a tabletop exhibit hall. The show has been specifically formulated to help packaging professionals learn of and handle issues that are pertinent in the western United States, whether it’s helping CPGs with produce packaging to becoming more involved with co-packers and CPGs in the west. This show structure is highlighted by a pair of CPG representatives – John Tansey of Happy Family Brands and Lloyd Barron of Flagship North America – who will kick of each respective day of the event.

Tansey is Wednesday’s keynote speaker and will present “A Transparency Story: Partnership in Business and Social Responsibility,” where he is expected to speak about how Happy Family Brands’ relationships have leveraged partnerships in innovation and execution. Barron will kick off Thursday with a case study on standup pouch adoption at Flagship North America.

 Another big theme surrounding this year’s Global Pouch West is that of recyclability and taking manufacturing to zero landfill status. A panel on “Advances in Recyclable Pouches” is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 7, and will feature Emily Tipaldo of the American Chemistry Council, Gary Robinson of Formable Papers North/South America, BillerudKorsnas, Derrick Lawrence of Seventh Generation and Malcolm Cohn of Accredo Packaging.

Other presentations include:

• The New American Consumer: Millennials Rule
• Enhancing the Sensory Experience
• Making a Packaging Change: What Lies Beneath
• Pouch Opportunities in Latin America
• Frozen is Hot: Fruit and Vegetables in Pouches
• How the Internet of Things is Driving Packaging Automation
• Codifying Packaging Specs to Reduce Costs
• How Technology and Consumer Trends Affect Packaging’s Future: Authenticity, Risk and Experimentation Leading the Way
• A New Method for Sterilizing Pouches
• Advances in Barrier Technologies for Pouches
• Get Off the Bottle and Do Some Good

Global Pouch West is produced by the Packaging Strategies group, along with sister publications and media partners Flexible Packaging and Brand Packaging.