Business - Events

Show Update –Who’s going?

The organisers of Sign & Digital UK 2011 are excited about the offerings from exhibitors at this year’s show. Early indications suggest that there will be a much wider range of products being displayed than ever before with some significant industry launches, making the show an essential visit.  Booked exhibitors include an impressive list of names from the industry including; Agfa Graphics, Hewlett-Packard, Roland DG, Hybrid Services/Mimaki, Screen UK, Mutoh, Spandex, Durst, Oce, Fujifilm, Hexis, Grafityp, William Smith, Signwaves, Ultima Displays, Xpres, Universal Aluminium Systems, Antalis McNaughton, Elements Print Science, Tekcel, Applelec Sign Components, Atech, Granthams and many more.

To see a full exhibitor list, to register for FREE entry to the show and find out further information, please visit, www.signanddigitaluk.com

Signmakers Workshop returns

After the successful introduction of the Signmakers Workshop at last years show the team are delighted to announce that it is back, bigger and better for 2011. Paul Hughes of Western Signs & Printing and the popular “Price It Guide”, returns as host to give some of his experience and advice that he has gained from running a successful sign making business for 13 years. There will be demos throughout the 3 days on the basics of sign making, a must see for anyone in the sign making industry or anyone who wants to be!
Paul says “Last year was the first showing of this feature at Sign & Digital UK where it was really well received, this year it is set to be bigger and better and so will be a big attraction at the show. From feedback last year lots of people wanted tips and advice on fitting vinyl to glass, so I will be doing a demo on how to do that. In addition, last year’s favourites will return including more tips and tricks to help your business grow”.
 
The Panel Swap competition is running again at the 2011 show and more information will follow shortly.

The ever popular Adobe seminars are back…

Terry Steeley is returning with Adobe to Sign & Digital UK 2011. In this, his ninth year at the event, Terry will showcase the latest Adobe Creative Suite CS5 software through his 'Creative Suite Essentials' seminar at the 2011 show. Designed to simplify tired workflows, help you deliver high-end results and save money by improving efficiency and preventing costly and unnecessary production errors, this interactive event is essential for designers and production professionals who want to understand the benefits of the most significant features of CS5, including many that remain undocumented.

"Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned professional, CS5 offers tools and functionality that will transform your world. I look forward to helping you get to grips with what could become a key element of your work," commented Terry.

Awards

With the recent announcement of the first ever Sign & Digital UK 2011 Awards & Networking Event the organisers have seen a lot of interest. Make sure you are involved in ‘the’ industry awards event by entering your work for one of the many categories on offer. You can find out more information by visiting the show website www.signanddigtaluk.com and clicking on the awards logo.

Here you can also find out about the evening itself, sponsoring an award or booking a table or single tickets.

 

The global specialty imaging community is gearing up to convene at SGIA's 2011 Expo in New Orleans, October 19-21. The main feature is the not-to-be-missed, expansive trade show floor packed with the industry's best suppliers, manufacturers and distributors showing their most innovative products.

"The SGIA Expo is the North American gateway to the global imaging marketplace," said Michael Robertson, SGIA's President and CEO. "It's the best place to go to learn about and stay ahead of this expanding industry."

"This SGIA Expo has been the best show I've been to this year. I really enjoyed attending the live demos," said 2010 Expo attendee Dell Ware of Custom Creations.

"The [2010] Expo exceeded our wildest expectations," said Charles Grace of EFI, a platinum sponsor of the 2011 SGIA Expo. "It has been by far our most successful show of the year."

 

Dscoop will host more than 90 Partners at Dscoop6, its sixth annual conference, taking place Feb. 17-19, 2011, in Orlando, Fla. With contracts received to date, the Solutions Showcase exhibit hall is already 13 percent larger than last year, and the number of Platinum Partners has more than doubled, from five last year to 12 this year. The Dscoop annual conference has likewise shown impressive growth, and the 2010 event was named one of the 50 fastest growing trade shows in the U.S., according to Trade Show Executive.
 
"The Dscoop annual conference has come to be known as the place for vendors to truly connect with the HP digital print community," said Mark Sarpa, Dscoop6 chairman and CEO of Progressive Solutions. "We thank all of our Partners for their ongoing support. Their participation in the Solutions Showcase and in the year-round Dscoop Partner Program benefits all Dscoop members."
 
With strong representation from industry partners in this year's sold-out Solutions Showcase, HP Graphic Arts users will be able to preview many new product releases for the first time, including the following products from Dscoop Platinum Partners:

• AB Graphic International Inc. – Digital finishing converters allowing brand owners and designers to achieve the highest quality results
  • Omega Digicon Lite
  • Omega Flexpack Laminator is specifically designed to laminate unsupported flexible packaging films together to create unique structures for the narrow web market
  • New Carton Module addition builds on the successful Omega Digicon Series 2 and allows folding carton production using semi rotary flexible cut and crease plates up to 18 point board thickness
• GPA, Specialty Substrate Solutions – new Ultra Digital substrates, RUniverse.org
  • A wide array of new Ultra Digital substrates for HP Indigo presses: FlexBind Layflat and specialty Photo Lustre papers, bamboo and cotton papers, colour papers for showcasing white ink, 100 percent post-consumer waste and cream laid label paper, and Styrene
  • Newly expanded digital catalog and the debut of RUniverse.org, GPA's new interactive online community
• Lasermax Roll Systems – PageReady and FinishReady Controller
  • New solutions for the HP Indigo 7500 and HP Indigo 7000: PageReady, a fully automatic cutter/slitter/merger/stacker and FinishReady Controller, a central interface that (with PageReady) integrates these HP Indigo presses with in-line and near-line finishing solutions
  • New web-fed cutting and stacking system for the HP Indigo W7200. The Pacific series Stack s20 for colour printers features the new Cutter c22 with variable single or double strip cut for full bleed printing
• MindFireInc – MindFire Advantage
  • Exclusive to Dscoop members, the new promotional program MindFire Advantage (valued at $3,000) is available for free with each new license purchased at or prior to Dscoop6. This program includes a Marketing Executive Seminar from Joe Manos, executive vice president of MindFireInc, who presents best practices of cross-media marketing to a selected group of Dscoop members' customers and prospects.
• Mohawk Fine Papers Inc. – new software and substrates for digital presses
  • Mohawk Maestro Software provides digital press owners template-based software to enter the photo market with books, cards, calendars and more
  • Mohawk Panoramic is ideal for creating elegant books and photo albums. These papers allow photos to flow seamlessly across the fold and eliminate colour match issues across the spread
• NewPage Corporation – OptiPrimeTM Digital label paper and NewPageDigital.com
  • Designed specifically for HP Indigo presses, NewPage's new OptiPrime Digital label paper is pre-optimised and has been tested and certified on the ws4500 and WS6000 by HP and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
  • NewPageDigital.com explains how NewPage can help provide a new level of personalisation and how NewPage has extended its environmental certifications within its coated paper digital offering
• Pageflex by Bitstream Inc. – a range of Web-to-print solutions enabling HP Indigo users be more productive, open new lines of business
  • Highlights include: Pageflex SaaS, a new hosted solution; Pageflex 7.6, which introduces customisable storefront workflows and the ability to offer kits; and an update to Pageflex iWay, upon which HP SmartStream Director is built
• PriscoDigital – live demonstrations of HP Scitex wide-format inkjet printers
  • HP Scitex LX800 is a 126 in. (3.2 m) roll-to-roll inkjet system that permits high quality printing directly on a wide variety of paper, synthetic and fabric media with multi-roll capability and uses environmentally friendly latex ink technology from HP
  • HP Scitex FB700, a high quality versatile 98.4 in (250 cm) wide six colour UV inkjet system that can be configured to print on almost any rigid and flexible media. This economical system has a white ink option
• Prisme Technologies – B2B and B2C Web-to-print solutions
  • Fully hosted, dynamically developed PrintSYS solution gives print service providers tools to enable online orders and streamline production, which in turn decreases administrative overhead and the overall cost per transaction
• Unibind Inc. – Book software and equipment
  • The book software package contains easy-to-use templates for office/business/school support materials, such as presentation folders, meeting books, agenda books, diaries and event books
  • The automatic offline Casemaker 750A allows personalisation of hardcovers with wraparound photos as small as 8"x8" up to 12"x14" in portrait or landscape orientation at speeds up to 400 covers per hour. Spine sizes up to 0.94 in. (24 mm) can be accommodated

HP Indigo and Scitex users can see these innovative products and more at Dscoop6. To facilitate attendees' navigation of the show floor, the Solutions Showcase will be segmented by solutions related to commercial print, direct marketing, label and packaging, photo, publishing and grand format segments.

Ipex World [www.ipex.org], the easy-to-use online networking and resource portal dedicated to print professionals worldwide, has attracted a growing number of international suppliers since its global launch at the end of October 2010.

Canon, Direct Smile, D&K Europe,  DPM, Durst, Enfocus, Friedheim International, GMG Color, Goss, HP, KBA, Kodak, Konica Minolta, manroland, Muller Martini, OKI, Optimus, Rollem, Sakurai, Screen, Tharstern, Xeikon and Xeretec are just some of the companies that have recently signed up to Ipex World.

Actively using the site to extend their global reach and brand awareness, suppliers are providing visitors with content via the website as well as valuable market information, special offers, videos, case studies and data sheets. Users also have access to the very latest product news, feature articles, industry presentations, white papers supplied by respected educational partners as well as a global events calendar, video content and a wide range of images.

“Ipex has ongoing partnerships with the industry’s supplier base and a proven capability to connect a unique community of printers, buyers, publishers and associations from all across the world,” comments Nick Craig Waller, Ipex World Marketing Director. “As such, Ipex World is fast becoming a vibrant information hub that connects the global print community and provides an invaluable database of up-to-date market intelligence. We’re also delighted with the number of unique visitors so far – more than 45,000 industry people from all continents have used the portal since its launch in October 2010.”

Mark Lawn, European Marketing Manager, Canon Europe, comments: “Canon had a very successful Ipex 2010, so we were keen to support any initiative that would help to maintain the positive industry momentum that was generated at the show. Ipex World appears to do exactly that by looking to extend ‘the Ipex effect’ from one show to the next and to recreate the Ipex momentum between the shows.  Providing industry news, research, business advice and product information, Ipex World is a comprehensive online resource of relevant information for printers everywhere and is also a great networking platform, enabling printers all over the world to share and benefit from each others’ experiences.”

Paul Randall, HP EMEA Market Manager: ‘Ipex as a tradeshow has a great reputation and always brings good numbers of visitors. Now with Ipex World there is an excellent opportunity for HP to be engaging with the market and sharing information about our portfolio all year round. I fully expect that with the industry knowledge and expertise of the Ipex team behind the Ipex World website it will soon become a focal point of knowledge, expertise and opinion for our industry.’

Commenting on the value of Ipex World, Deimante Buivyte, marketing, manroland GB, says: “Ipex World is an outstanding on-line platform that supports our marketing strategy by helping manroland to constantly engage with Ipex visitors and potential customers well beyond the usual four-year show cycle. As a dynamic online medium, it provides a good mix of tools to enable us to further build our brand awareness, introduce new products and services and help generate new sales leads. We are very confident that over time, Ipex World will grow into one of the leading online social and information resource networks for the global graphic arts industry and we are proud to be part of it.”

Apart from offering a wealth of information, suppliers are also able to source global agents and distributors suitable to their business requirements via Ipex Connect. Printers using the website can create their own profile to connect with other print professionals around the globe via the ’Printer2Printer’ peer networking facility. This will enable them to discuss ideas and questions, share experiences, best practices and gain important industry knowledge and feedback. 

For all agents and distributors there is an online matchmaking service called Ipex Connect that pairs them with suitable suppliers.

“The resources that IIR made available to Ipex 2010 exhibitors resulted in comprehensive coverage in the global graphic arts press,” says Stuart Murphy, Managing Director of bespoke finishing manufacturer Rollem.  “We did not want that route to potential customers to disappear until 2014 and the exposure offered by Ipex World, using the Internet as a pro-active marketing tool, provides an ideal method of getting our messages to the industry.  Full marks to IIR for creating such a flexible and easy-to-use resource, and in particular in providing an effective way of viewing videos – the most important medium for Rollem in showing the benefits of our machines.”

At the FESPA Americas show, taking place next month (February 24-26, 2011), visitors will have the opportunity to participate in a multitude of engaging on-floor features, including the groundbreaking, world-first: Wide Format Print Show Live!, which sees key global brands: EFI, HP, Roland, Caldera and EskoArtwork; working together to create a unique attraction.

A brand-new feature from FESPA, being introduced for the first time at FESPA Americas, Wide Format Print Shop Live! reflects the educational intentions and innovative format of the wider event. Designed to inform and inspire participants with the latest digital inkjet technologies, software and consumables, visitors will experience a real-life, real-time end-to-end production environment.

In order to provide visitors with a meaningful appreciation of the production characteristics of the technologies on display, participants are invited to bring job files that can be printed live on the show floor. This will demonstrate the wide ranging qualities of output that can be achieved on a variety of substrates, and across multiple output engines from some of the industry’s leading manufacturers. As a result, Print Shop Live! offers a unique opportunity for commercial printers looking to discover how wide format print can enhance their businesses.

Hosting the event are Mike Horsten and Sophie Matthews-Paul. Horsten is a consultant on green and sustainable growth ideas, while Matthews-Paul is an independent international consultant, specialising in the wide-format digital print market. She comments: “FESPA Americas is unlike traditional print shows, where you rarely see demonstrated all the different technologies, software and workflow solutions in one place. Like FESPA, I believe that the best way to learn and be inspired is by seeing the technology in action, so I am extremely excited to be involved in this innovative feature.”

Alongside Wide Format Print Shop Live!, the FESPA Americas programme also includes the Global Business Forum, Screen Masters Workshop, Digital Textile Conference and the American stage of the Wrap Cup Masters Series.

Marcus Timson, sales and marketing director, FESPA, comments on the show’s action-packed schedule, “Print Shop Live! is just one of the many exciting features taking place on the show floor at FESPA Americas, each of which offers unique points of interest for visitors to the event. Wide Format Print Shop Live! in particular, is an opportunity for printers to be involved with the technology in a way that can’t be experienced anywhere else, and for commercial printers looking to ‘Go Wide’ to discover how these technologies can enhance their business.”

If you are an owner, director or production manager and are interested in experiencing and testing the technologies in the Wide Format Print Shop Live! area, please register at www.fespaamericas.com.

Registration for FESPA Americas is underlining the strategic focus of delegates to the show and indicating that visitors are coming to Orlando to make key decisions and investments.

Attracting a host of senior decision makers, 55% of whom have final decision making power, FESPA Americas is indicative of market growth, with 40% business owners and a further 32% CEO’s, Directors and senior management. Survey data has also revealed that nearly 20% of pre-registered visitors intend to invest during the show, 35% in the six month period after the show and a further 12% in the year following the event.

FESPA’s Managing Director, Frazer Chesterman, comments “Our pre-registration statistics clearly demonstrate that exhibitors can be confident of achieving positive sales results at FESPA Americas. They are a confirmation that the market is ready to invest again, and that FESPA, alongside Graphics of the Americas, is the place to do so. The Americas are ready for a brand new, innovative event and the increase in registrations of 40% experienced by partner event Graphics of the Americas in comparison with last year, together with senior individuals declaring their intention to invest, proves this.”

FESPA Americas offers visitors an enhanced event experience with numerous on-floor features to attend throughout the show, differentiating it from other exhibitions within the market. The appeal of these added-value events, including the Global Business Forum, Wide Format Print Shop Live, Digital Textile Conference, Screen Masters Workshop and the Wrap Cup is high, with 50% of attendees stating their intention to attend one or more.

Visitors have also been attracted by the co-location of FESPA, Graphics of the Americas and The Solutions Event, powered by ISS. With each show specialising in a different market sector, delegates will have the opportunity to explore the latest graphic arts, wide format and apparel technologies under one roof.

Frazer concludes, “The co-location of FESPA Americas with Graphics of the Americas and ISS ensures that visitors maximise their exhibition experience. Each of these events is appealing in its own right, but positioned side-by-side the value of the shows are tripled. We’re pleased to see that FESPA’s unique event format is attracting visitors of this calibre.”