Business - Events

All visitors to the BAPC stand 09-F315 at Ipex 2010 will be able to take advantage of a special 2 for 1 offer to attend the prestigious annual BAPC Conference.

The conference will take place at The Marriott Hotel, Waltham Abbey over the weekend of November 5th.

Sidney Bobb, Chairman of the BAPC comments “Knowledge is King! Our conference provides everyone working in our industry with an unrivalled opportunity to gain an insight into industry and business developments whilst networking with fellow providers and suppliers in an informal setting. In the 30 years we have been running the conference, we have never met an attendee who hasn’t taken away at least one valuable idea.”

The normal delegate rate is £120 plus VAT which covers: Evening Entertainment on the weekend of 5th November, followed by the Conference with a line up of international speakers plus a Gala / Awards Dinner on Saturday, November 6th.

Sidney adds “We look forward to welcoming visitors to our stand at Ipex and discussing our exciting conference plans with them”

GMG, developer and supplier of high-end color management and proofing solutions, is teaming up with a number of specialist partners around the Ipex arena, as well as demonstrating its products on its own stand (Hall 9-E322).

Under the banner of ‘There’s a little bit of GMG everywhere’, these partnerships will show how the GMG portfolio has a wide range of solutions that can be incorporated in many applications and enhance third-party proofing, printing and packaging production systems.

“GMG will be demonstrating a range of tools to standardize quality and reduce costs,” says Paul Willems, CEO of GMG GmbH & Co. KG. “Visitors have the added advantage of seeing those products deployed in a variety of applications around Ipex, showcasing the quality, versatility and flexibility of GMG solutions.”

What to see and where

GMG – Hall 9-E322

GMG will demonstrate color management solutions for digital and large format printing, packaging printing and offset/commercial printing. Mockup production, packaging contone and halftone proofing as well as GMG color management workflow integration.

Canon – Hall 10-CDEF270

Contone and halftone proofing will be demonstrated on the Canon iPF 8300 using GMG ColorProof and FlexoProof/DotProof.

Enfocus – Hall 12-C150

The combination of GMG FlowConnect and Enfocus Switch will show GMG color management workflow integration.

Epson – Hall 10-C260

Visitors can see packaging proofing on the Epson Stylus Pro WT7900 using GMG ColorProof and FlexoProof/DotProof as well as mockup production and contone and halftone proofing on the Epson Stylus Pro 7900.

HP – Hall 12-AB150

GMG color management solutions GMG ColorServer/SmartProfiler for digital printing, enabling the calibration and profiling of different output devices.

Mimaki Europe BV – Hall 12-C120

Mimaki UJF 706 UV printer and GMG color management solutions ColorServer/SmartProfiler demonstrate mockup production and packaging proofing.

Roland DG (UK) – Hall 12-C140

Roland will demonstrate how GMG ColorProof and GMG FlexoProof/DotProof for the LEC-330 can improve mockup production and packaging proofing.

This year’s FESPA Mexico 2010, taking place from 26 – 28 August 2010 (Centro Banamex, Mexico City) is set to be the biggest FESPA Mexico show to date, with a 40% increase in exhibitor floor space, and significant commitment from international exhibitors.

The region’s market-leading show, FESPA Mexico 2010, will showcase the very latest technologies in wide format printing, the sign and graphics sector and textile decoration. It will motivate and inspire optimistic Mexican printers to take their businesses to the next level as the economy steadily recovers.

The event’s growing popularity, illustrated by the 40% increase in floor space to 5,400m2, is further evidenced by the significant increase in international exhibitor interest, particularly from Asia, Canada and the United States. So far, international exhibitors account for approximately 30%, compared to last year’s 5%.

Xaar has confirmed its sponsorship as the event’s Global Technology Partner, and, for the first time, 3M will be FESPA’s Technical Partner. Other key exhibitors at the show include Canon, Durst, Gildan, HP and first-time exhibitor AGFA. There is also excellent support from key domestic resellers, such as Celupal, Swisstec and Plastimundo.

The theme for FESPA Mexico 2010 will be ‘Revolution’, as the country celebrates both the 200th anniversary of its Independence and the 100th anniversary of its Revolution this year.

FESPA Mexico Event Manager Michael Ryan comments: “As we start to see economic improvement, the key to sustainability and future growth lies in our ability to revolutionise our thinking and business practices. To help pave the road to recovery, printers need to adopt a revolutionary approach to business.”

Ryan continues: “The Mexican market is known to compete on price – a practice that is not sustainable. Mexican printers must equip themselves with the latest industry information and developments, motivating them to think creatively about applications and how they can offer customers unique solutions, to better differentiate themselves. Our show will provide them with the content and inspiration to do just that.”

Xaar has been FESPA’s Global Technology Partner for the past three years and South America is a particularly important region for the company. "Mexico is recovering very quickly from the global downturn and its large format printing industry is growing rapidly", says Edsel Lonza, Sales Director for Xaar Latin America. "FESPA Mexico has developed into a vibrant event. It is not only attracting the leading manufacturers and providing a great showcase for the latest products, but it’s also delivering a lot of technical and commercial information for end users through seminars and presentations. We will be showing our latest printhead technology at the show and supporting our OEMs, channel partners and their customers."

Once again, according to FESPA’s third World Wide Survey, Mexican respondents demonstrate higher optimism. On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being ‘very optimistic’ – Mexican respondents averaged 8.4 when asked how optimistic they were about the future of their businesses, compared with 7.6 for the rest of the world. Mexicans were also more optimistic about the future of the wide format industry in general, averaging 7.6 compared to 6.9 of all other respondents.

The results also showed that 48.4% of Mexican printers are looking to invest in wide format printers over the next 12 months - 11% higher than the overall findings. In addition, 77% of Mexican print solution providers are seeking new opportunities to diversify and counteract the negative effects of the crisis. FESPA Mexico will play a valuable role in helping local printers tap into new opportunities by giving them the chance to see the latest equipment and market solutions.

Event Highlights and Features

This year’s FESPA Mexico has a number of exciting show features and highlights to inspire visitors to become modern revolutionary printers, providing valuable insight on the latest industry information, technological advancements, and innovative solutions.

To celebrate the country’s historical anniversaries, the exhibition will have a Mexico Celebration Corner. The area will feature a display of revolutionary print applications supplied by key exhibitors celebrating Mexican Independence and the Mexican Revolution.

The FESPA Mexico paid-for conference programme will feature an impressive line-up of industry experts, comprising a number of technical sessions. Each day’s programme will be themed: the first day’s sessions will focus on signage and graphics; revolutionary print solutions will be the subject at hand on the second day; and the last day will feature sessions on garment decoration and screen printing.

Sessions will include Charlie Taublieb’s Screen Print Effects, publication Signs of the Times & Screen Printing en Español’s seminar on green issues, and Mexican media company IBOPE AGB Mexico’s session on outdoor advertising. Plus exhibitors including 3M, Nazdar and Xaar will also run workshops throughout the event.

The FESPA Mexico Awards, running for a second year, recognise print excellence and innovation in the Mexican imaging industry. Printers will have the opportunity to enter their best work across six categories, which include screen printing, digital printing, garment decoration, vehicle wrapping, outdoor media, and, new to this year’s awards, the ecological printing category.

All entries will be reviewed by an independent expert jury and will be displayed in a dedicated showcase at FESPA Mexico 2010. Award winners will gain VIP entry to the exhibition and free access to the conference programme. The first-place ‘Gold’ winners for each category will receive a trophy, and Silver and Bronze runners-up will be given certificates. All winners and runners-up will also receive editorial coverage in key industry publications.

Printers must complete the online registration form before 30th July in order to enter.

For the latest information on FESPA Mexico and your chance to enter the FESPA Mexico Awards, visit www.fespamexico.com

EFI, a world leader in customer-focused digital printing innovation, wrapped up another information-packed Connect users' conference last week, welcoming more than 500 customers to the Wynn Las Vegas. The 11th Connect conference enabled leaders from around the world to attend more than 120 educational sessions, test drive the latest EFI products, voice their opinions at user group meetings, hear thought-provoking speakers, and network with peers.

"This year's event saw a 50 percent increase in registrations over last year, and the mood was very upbeat," said Frank Mallozzi, senior VP of worldwide sales and marketing, EFI. "It was great to talk to and mingle with industry leaders who are focused on strengthening their companies to ensure they are in a position to lead the economic turn-around. We are pleased to have closed many deals at the event across our product portfolio."

"EFI Connect is probably the most informative industry conference I attend," said Glenn Huish, CTO at BelAire Displays, which uses Pace, VUTEk and Colorproof XF solutions. "The amount of personal interaction I get with key members of the EFI team, as well as the other conference attendees, is beyond any other event I've been to. This year I was literally in conversation every moment I wasn't listening to a speaker, from the moment I sat down for breakfast every day, to the time I collapsed every night, only to do it all over again the next day."

The full portfolio of EFI solutions was on display in the Connect lab. The latest versions of EFI's print MIS, web-to-print, proofing, and workflow offerings were showcased, along with Fiery controller and software solutions. For the first time, a special Fiery "basics" training track was among the educational sessions. The Jetrion 4830, Rastek T660, VUTEk GS3200 and VUTEk GS5000r printers were running throughout the conference, and drew large crowds of onlookers and interested customers. The conference also featured exhibits of the latest printing technologies from 18 industry leaders.

Along with longer educational sessions and additional user group meetings, for the first time this Connect included a live auction with over 20 items up for bid, ranging from software add-ons and packages to consulting and training opportunities. A portion of the auction proceeds went to The Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation (PGSF).

 

The NEC’s halls were once again alive to the sound of deal-making, where visitors came to take in the latest product launches and the many show features and opportunities. The show was a resounding success giving weight to the renewed optimism in the market. Building on the success of last year, Sign & Digital UK affirmed its place as the premier visual communications show in the UK. With the show aisles active with movers and shakers from the industry, the volume of business done at the show was testament to the optimism and opportunities this market offers.

Rudi Blackett, event director comments: “This year’s show played a vital role in helping to generate business and move the industry forwards and we were delighted to play host to many new products and showcase demonstrations of a wide range of products and services. I would like to give a big thank you to all of our exhibitors and visitors alike, who contributed to the success of Sign & Digital UK 2010.”

Many exhibitors were delighted with the show’s attendance and the flow of visitors interested in learning more about their products and actually placing orders at the event.

Mimaki’s exclusive distributor, Hybrid Services, enjoyed unprecedented sales in the week of the show, with orders placed across all market sectors and key products selling out. John de la Roche, Hybrid’s national sales manager, said “we’re in the fortunate position of having our April and May order books absolutely full. Our resellers had an excellent show and we’re working hard to fulfill the machine orders as quickly as we can.”

John Clements of Boldscan had this to say about the show “we were delighted once again with very good attendance numbers at this year’s Sign & Digital UK show, where we introduced several new products and handed out over 750 of our new Product Guides. The Show remains our flagship event for launching new products and introducing our new product guide each year and has once again delivered for us as promised.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by James Carpenter, managing director at Doro Tape UK Ltd, “We have been coming to Sign & Digital UK, or Sign UK in its former life, for the best part of 20 years now. I have always found the show to be of paramount importance in serving as a shop window on the industry, a job that it does better than anything else out there. As usual the show has been very well organised, and we have seen fantastic levels of footfall to the stand.”

Ivaylo Vladimirov, project manager at Mouse PS comments, “Having exhibited at Sign & Digital UK 2010 for the first time, we found it to be a fantastic show that provided a great many opportunities for making new business contacts. We have come here specifically to build our brand and reputation with sign making companies in the UK, and have taken considerable steps to achieving this aim.”

Dean Carpenter from Laserite summed up the success of the show “We had an excellent show this year. For each of the three show days we had a steady stream of good quality enquiries, some of which have already resulted in sales of our Lotus laser systems. Bookings for our on-site demo vehicle are the highest that they have ever been.  We’ve already re-booked for 2011’’

Visitors to the show were also impressed. Mark Gordon, owner of Flash Signs commented, “This is my third time visiting the show, and this year I am here specifically to source a digital printer. One of the standout things for me at the 2010 show has been the significantly increased number of new products at the show, and as a result of my visit, I will definitely be buying in the coming months.”

Alan Caddick, marketing manager for the show adds, “There were numerous features that received great feedback from visitors, such as the Manchester United competition sponsored by Hybrid Services, the Grafityp F1 wrapping competition, the incredible wealth of new product launches, the Adobe and Corel seminars, the new Signmakers Workshop, as well as the Ibiza Angels at the massage zone. We are already planning our features programme for 2011 and would welcome any suggestions as to what visitors would like to see at the event.’’

Sign & Digital UK 2010 overall attendance, subject to audit, was 6,114 with over 5,500 of these being unique visitors.

Visitors came from a wide range of companies including: Adidas Group, Arcadia UK, Augustus Martin, Balfour Beatty, Bezier, Birmingham City Council, British Airways, Butterfield Signs, C3 Imaging, Cadbury, Carillion, Cornwall Signs, Ebbsfleet Screenprinters, Fastsigns, Fenwick, Hampshire County Council, Harrisons Signs, Harrods, Hawes Signs, IKEA, JC Decaux, Legoland, Linney Group, Manchester Airport, McKenzie Clark, Network Rail, Ringway Signs, Service Graphics, Sign A Rama, Signs Express, St Ives, TTC Signs and West Midland Fire Service.

Over 30 stands have already been booked, with many more to follow in the coming weeks, for next year’s show which is being held on 12-14 April 2011, in Halls 17&18 at the NEC, Birmingham…Already booked include the likes of William Smith, Graphtec, IGS, Plex Display, Ultima Displays, Signwaves, Inktec Europe, Expand International, Mouse PS, Global Erecting Sign Services, Fairfield Displays & Lighting, Laserite, and ITC who took the opportunity to get in early and secure prime stand positions for this very popular annual event.

For further information on exhibiting at Sign & Digital UK 2011, visit the show website www.signanddigitaluk.com or email signanddigitaluk@fav-house.com

 

Ipex 2010 has reached almost full capacity with more than 75 new international suppliers signing up to exhibit in the last couple of months, adding a total of 1,300 square metres to the overall floorplan. The latest companies to confirm their attendance include Adobe, Brandtjen & Kluge, Grafitek International, Timsons, Impression Technology, XMPIE, Tarrant Machines, ROI Distribution, Rotatek and Rotometrics and Technique MIS. For the first time, there will also be a Taiwanese Pavilion, including the following companies: Chens Asia, Chenchin Ironworks, Li Sheng, Yii-Lee, TAMI, Unisuntop.

Located in Hall 9, the Ipex 2010 organisers have also reignited the successful Springboard feature, following enquiries from smaller firms. The Springboard feature offers a low-cost option for small innovative companies who want to exhibit for the first time and who previously found the cost of exhibiting to be prohibitive. Launched in 2006, the spur to attract small firms had come from visitors.

Says Trevor Crawford, Ipex 2010 Event Director: “This last minute influx of international additions to the floorplan suggests a new tide of industry optimism and demonstrates the importance that these exhibitors place on Ipex as the major global ideas and buying event in 2010.

“We’re delighted with the event’s progress and development. Ipex is a truly international show, featuring over 1,000 exhibiting companies from more than 40 countries, providing visitors with an unrivalled opportunity to see the current and future shape of our industry and plan their investment decisions accordingly. Visitors can expect to see major technology advances with exhibiting companies committed to demonstrating working machinery on the showfloor.”

This year’s show will once again set the scene for the launch of a number of innovative new hardware, software and consumables. The industry’s leading suppliers are set to inspire crowds with the latest developments spanning the whole pre-press, printing and finishing spectrum. A comprehensive list of new product launches at Ipex can be found on the Ipex website www.ipex.org/new

“Historically, Ipex is the arena in which printing industry suppliers unveil new products and technologies to the marketplace, reinforcing both the ever-increasing pace of technological advances and Ipex’s important standing within the global exhibition calendar”, continues Trevor Crawford.

The wave of pre-registrations to date also signposts towards a successful Ipex 2010. Visitors from over 150 countries have pre-registered to date, with 21% from Europe, 9% from Asia, and 10% from Middle East and Africa.

Pre-registration for all those wishing to attend Ipex 2010 is now available via www.ipex.org/register and will result in free entry and a £30 saving off the entrance fee, access to exclusive pre-show news and highlights as well as free fast-track entry to the show.