The first FESPA European Congress involving FESPA member associations has taken
place at The Egg in Brussels, Belgium, attracting over 80 delegates. Focusing on the
theme “Continuing to Innovate”, the event looked at the latest innovations in ink,
digital technologies, green issues, sustainability, communication in print and sales
and marketing.
Members of FESPA’s national associations from the northwest region of Europe
attended the one-day event, along with suppliers.
Delegate feedback confirmed the success of the Congress, with nearly 100% declaring
that they would be keen to attend FESPA events again in the future. A further 95%
stated that the Congress represented excellent value for money.
During the Congress, key industry representatives shared their expertise on the
challenges confronting the industry. Frazer Chesterman of FESPA kicked-off with an
inspiring ’45 Minutes to Innovate’ session, followed by Steve Lister, Group Business
Development Director at Robert Horne, who examined the trends of POP in retail
stores and the effect of these on printers.
FESPA board member Christian Duyckaerts continued the innovation theme by drawing on
his companies’ accomplishments to demonstrate what printers can achieve through the
application of innovative thinking.
FESPA Managing Director Nigel Steffens comments, “The reaction to our first FESPA
European Congress has been tremendous. The speakers delivered informative analyses
of the trends affecting the wide-format print industry, with real significance to
northern European territories, and this was clearly recognised by the delegates in
attendance.
“Understanding and supporting our national associations and their members is an
integral part of FESPA’s mission. Events like the European Congress exemplify
FESPA’s commitment to them, and to the wide-format community at large.”
Following the Congress, delegates were encouraged to engage with speakers and
suppliers and to network with industry peers. These included representatives from
the six FESPA member associations partnered with the Congress; Febelgra (Belgium),
ZSO (Netherlands), BVDM (Germany), VWP (Switzerland), GPSF (France) and Prism (UK).
Facilitating regional interaction for delegates, the associations were there to
articulate the benefits of national association membership, which include discounted
delegate rates for similar FESPA events globally.
FESPA will shortly announce dates and locations for its 2011 regional congress
programme with the first of these events being held in Gothenburg in April 2011.
