Peter Barnet from Bambra Press began his 24-day tour by attending the Direct Marketing Association show. He also visited several digital printing firms and took part in a weekend workshop with marketing guru Seth Godin.

"He says we are in the 'connection economy', where we’ve never been more connected and never more disconnected," said Barnet.

"In this environment you need to build trust and connect with people. This is the opportunity for everyone no matter what the industry is.

"We need to create a business in a market where there are fewer players and avoid the race to the bottom based on price."

[Opinion: Networking is not a dirty word]

Barnet, who works in a sales development role at Bambra Press, flew to the US in October after winning the $15,000 Industry Overseas Internship Grant.

One of the lessons he said he learned was the value of innovation, which he described as a key feature of his role at Bambra.

"Seth Godin reminded me, ‘Don’t let being perfect get in the way of a good idea’, and that’s the approach we [Bambra's innovation team] are aiming to take."

GAMAA's new president, Kodak managing director Adrian Fleming, said members were looking forward to hearing a detailed report about Barnet's tour.

"The focus of the GAMAA grant is to explore new ideas that will inspire and to share these outcomes with the wider industry for a sustainable future," said Fleming.

Applications for the 2013 grant close on 15 March.

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