Launching an innovation into a market that has had the same choices for many years is bound to cause a stir.  In fact, the better the idea, the greater the reaction it will cause.

The launch of FESPA Americas challenges the traditional choices available to exhibitors and the wider regional print marketplace.

The good news is that, according to the FESPA Economy Survey 3 (a survey conducted by participants  at FESPA 2010 event in Munich), over 50% of the market thinks that the economy has recovered.  So we can now talk about growth again, and wide format digital printing offers the best potential for growth in the entire graphic arts marketplace.

Where there is growth, there is a need to connect.  And the best place to connect is at an event that unlocks new business.  FESPA Americas is all about ‘new’!  New event, new visitors and new opportunities for business.  And it isn’t just FESPA that thinks that an event in Orlando for the Americas region can create worthwhile opportunities.

JR Kraft runs a highly innovative business called buildasign.com in Austin, Texas.  He’s excited about FESPA running an event in the USA: “FESPA provides the Americas sign and graphic community with a new and fresh event.  I personally feel tired with the current choices I have and believe that a new event designed to do different things for different people is absolutely what we need.”

Delegates at FESPA’s Global Summit in Miami in March 2010 recognised the enormous value that comes from access to FESPA’s global community. At that Summit, for example, US print innovators connected in person with their European counterparts. Through their presentations and case studies, they picked up trends and insight from the European marketplace. This kind of information is simply not on offer anywhere else.  FESPA managing director Frazer Chesterman explains: “I see FESPA Americas acting as a bridge between different parts of the world. FESPA’s unique ability is to provide a connection from Europe, through North America, to the Latin American region. The market sees FESPA as the global community, and our exhibitors, delegates and visitors really value being part of this global imaging ‘village’.”

Despite the market’s appetite for a different type of event , inevitably there are some that argue that the market doesn’t ‘need’ another exhibition.  Tim Greene of InfoTrends picked up on this point: “There are those who say – and I have been one of them – that there are already too many trade shows in the wide format business. But I can think of lots of good reasons why FESPA running an event in the US is valuable. As well as bringing new information, innovation and inspiration to the US – I think there is some real value in competition. Both SGIA and ISA do a great job, but adding a dynamic organization like FESPA to the mix will force those two organizations to be better, and that is a benefit to PSPs that make up the membership and attendees at these events – not to mention the different approach and innovative content.”

It’s interesting to consider InfoTrends’ estimate that the total wide format community in the USA numbers over 100,000 against the fact that fewer than 25,000 will attend the established shows in the  US.  That tells us that, while the Americas market may not welcome another ‘traditional’ exhibition, there is an enormous audience of wide format imaging professionals who could be ready to engage with something different.  There is plenty of scope for a new event in the USA that delivers an experience they can’t find elsewhere.

FESPA’s Sales & Marketing Director, Marcus Timson also thinks that the location of FESPA Americas is important factor to bear in mind. ‘Florida is the perfect location for an event in February for the US market and of course a great location for the Americas region. But possibly even more important is the fact that the event is taking place on the East Coast offering exhibitor’s access to PSP’s from a different region in the US. The simple fact is that this region will not see another wide format oriented event until after April 2012 which exhibitors are telling us is another compelling reason to participate in FESPA Americas’.

As well as location and timing, one marked difference about FESPA Americas is the fact that it runs side by side with ‘Graphics of the Americas’ show. This established event delivers two fundamental benefits to exhibitors at FESPA Americas.  Firstly, the pan-regional profile of GoA will extend FESPA’s reach with the Latin American graphic arts community. The developing economies in that region are growing faster than established economies and FESPA Americas will allow exhibitors to tap into that growth. Secondly, by working with a commercial print show, we’ll give FESPA exhibitors access to a new audience, many of whom are considering the leap into wide format. Convergence between these communities is a fact, and the opportunities are really exciting, but I don’t know of any other wide format show in the world that is taking practical steps to bring the two together under one roof.

George Ryan, President of the PAF (Printing Association of Florida) and Graphics of the (GOA) explains:  “FESPA Americas and Graphics of the Americas create a unique opportunity to the US and Latin American markets, which GOA itself has been serving for over 35 years.  GOA welcomes FESPA’s unique wide format programming and expertise, which is proving to be highly advantageous to commercial printers, sign shops, digital printers, flexo printers and screen printing shops the world over.  Now, the western hemisphere will begin to reap the benefits of FESPA’s exclusive knowledge, as well as learn how to profitably expand their services.  In addition to the new partnership with FESPA, GOA will impress crowds with the quantum leaps and bounds in quality, productivity and diversity of substrates on the show floor this year.”

FESPA is committed to delivering provocative, results-driven events that challenge the status quo and offer exhibitors and visitors an experience they don’t get anywhere else.  With FESPA, we’ve set out to create something which adds another dimension and can appeal to people whose needs are not met by the existing event calendar.  FESPA Americas will offer different choices and outcomes, for different types of visitor, from a different section of the Americas printing community.  (Of course, FESPA Americas may also appeal to people that attend established events in the US if they are convinced that it enhances and complements the choice already on offer.)

FESPA Americas will be a new type of forum for information, inspiration and innovation.  Our goal is to add value to the print community in the Americas region with an event that focuses on delivering competitive advantage to print service providers, showcasing innovation while also sharing knowledge and best practice across continents.

If that sounds like something you don’t want to miss, then watch this space for more information!

Let me sum up Fespa 2010, the recently concluded Federation of Europe Screen Printing Association’s bi-annual show by saying this…if you do not ever go to another show save your money and experience FESPA just once during your screen printing lifetime. They do a lot of smaller shows and every three years they do a huge show. The next smaller show is in Hamburg in May of 2011. It is a digital show but they will be having FespaFabric which will feature all types of garment decorating.
I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be asked by Mark Vasilantone to work for 5 days at FESPA with the staff of Vastex International. And, it was five very busy days as customers filled the booth looking at equipment from start to finish.  I heard similar comments from other exhibitors about the traffic and also witnessed boothfuls of people gathering information on the latest trends.   This is truly an international show and it’s a pleasure to be able to talk to people from all over the world and get their perspective on the state of what is truly a global industry.

Attendees were treated to a first class educational program as Fresener’s Fabric (familiar name?) coordinated the efforts for the FESPA organizers.  The seminar I delivered on Discharge Printing was packed with the audience asking a myriad of questions both during and after the seminar.  For over 30 years Scott Fresener’s name as been associated with “education” thus putting hundreds and hundreds of printers into business and his organization of Fresener’s Fabric  proves why any organization is crazy for not utilizing his talents.

The floor or the hall was top notch with many large exhibitors having stands that took days to custom build.  Also, a little different from our shows in the USA is that most booths had bars set up to entertain clients at the end of the day.  For those who are not aware the World Cup Soccer Tournament being held from South Africa was being held during the dates of FESPA and many exhibitors had large screen televisions in their booths so attendees could watch and cheer on their favorite teams.  As a matter of fact in the booth adjacent to Vastex a Brazilian company practically shut down their booth one afternoon when Brazil played Portugal in one of the late games. And, if you find this hard to believe see the attached picture I took of the stand during the match.

Last but not least you get to experience the beauty of  major European city.  Munich is famous for their restaurants and night life and many attendees and exhibitors were found at any of the many local beer gardens around the city.

I am sorry if you missed it….it was a great time! I’ll see you in Hamburg, or better yet – if you can wait – at Fespa 2013 in London!

Written by Jeff Proctor – http://t-biznetwork.com/category/blogs/jeff-proctor-blog/

If you are reading this blog post you already know some of this but it bears scrutiny and maybe you can show it to your boss to help prove that you are not just wasting your time.

As James Matthews-Paul wrote earlier this week there are now more than 500 million active users of FaceBook and more than 75 million active users of Twitter. Social media is hot for B2B communications because companies around the world are looking for new ways to access customers and prospects in the most direct and relevant ways.

In the post-FESPA survey I wrote about previously we asked stakeholders in the wide format market a few questions about their use of social media, the answers to which I thought would be of interest The Wide Network. The first finding is that it is early, but not terribly early, in terms of the adoption or use of social media in the wide format world. There were four groups that responded to this survey, printers, equipment and supplies manufacturers, dealers, and “other” which includes members of the press, educators, and other industry consultants. Printers were among the least likely to indicate that they are presently using social media, but still, nearly 40% of those respondents reported that they are participating.

Personally I follow a lot of different printers, magazines, pundits, and companies in my ongoing efforts to stay current in the wide format market and I have see how many wide format printing companies typically use social media, here are some examples that could be relatively easy to implement.

■Status updates: Printers often use Twitter or FaceBook to tell people when are working on something interesting. They frequently attach or post photos of innovative projects. Link your Twitter and Facebook and Wide Network accounts so that you post once and it appears on all sites.

■Finding people and being found: LinkedIn is an excellent professional resource for finding salespeople or people with a certain expertise or experience.

■Technical or Product Support: Join Groups to get additional technical support or to find out if anyone else has had experience with a new dealer, vendor or product.

■Plug-in: Just like in The Wide Network you can get notifications from these sites when something happens or something you are interested in is posted. Using social media is real-time, so it gives you a chance to know and react to things quickly.

While there is a lot more to social media than marketing, it is worth noting in this discussion that a recent research report from Augie Ray of Forrester Research described a tool and method of evaluating social media called the Social Media Marketing Balanced Scorecard, which considers metrics from four different perspectives:

1.Financial: Has revenue or profit increased or costs decreased?

2.Brand: Have consumer attitudes about the brand improved?

3.Risk Management: Is the organization better prepared to note and respond to attacks or problems that affect reputation?

4.Digital: Has the company enhanced its owned and earned digital assets?

As an analyst I love this analysis because these perspectives do help consider more than the direct connection between social media and revenue. Use of social media can be additive to your brand, it can be a tool to quickly respond to clients and prospects, and it can position a company as advanced in its industry. But as a practical matter you don’t have to use any fancy tool or scorecard to recognize whether or not the implementation of a social media strategy helps your company along these four planes. In the post-FESPA survey we asked whether or not the use of social media is producing any tangible benefit and found that, while there is a lot of uncertainty, 40% of users reported they are seeing a tangible benefit which obviously compares favorably to the 10% that reported no tangible benefits.

So, whether it is The Wide Network, FaceBook, LinkedIn, or other industry tools related to local associations or industry publications,there can be tangible business benefits by developing a social media strategy for your business. A well-conceived social media strategy can better connect you to suppliers, customers and prospects, help you solve technical issues, find employees, and stay up-to-date on competitors and industry developments.

What do you think? By the way, you can follow me on Twitter at tgwideformatguy.

Written by Tim Greene, Director InfoTrends.

Join The Wide Network community at http://widenetwork.ning.com/

FESPA 2010 was a reassuring moment of motivation for an industry which has undergone a wide range of subjective and objective questioning since the financial markets were plunged into cold water. Processes, suitability for purpose, variety of applications, the environmental challenge and the lack of young people in the industry are all subjects that need addressing, and FESPA’s mixture of debates, presentations, summits and seminars seemed purposed to do just that.

What FESPA does well, though, is to manage its size properly. The nature of a trade exhibition is that you never end up seeing all the people you wished to, nor all the new products, or indeed attending the horizon-expanding symposia on offer. If you stay for the duration there is easily enough to entertain you throughout, while single-day visitors will have time to reach all the companies they need to see, as well as dip into less familiar territories. The layout of the Munich Messe helped no end with its sensible structure and good facilities, as did easy access to both the airport and the city centre.

2010 was my first edition of the show without any particular agenda. Usually, as an industry editor, there is a long list of stakeholders to see and tick off and, inevitably, a couple of them are always left out. This time, though, my duties were split between gathering resources for my own freelance activities and Line 12’s PR clients, all of whom reported an exciting show with plenty of lead generation.

Curiously, though, I don’t feel that I saw anything particularly new (perhaps due to dashing around and being less observant than usual), but instead witnessed a market vibrant with optimism. Ipex set the tone, in a way, with many commercial printers making early signs of wanting to adopt wide-format kit in order to penetrate various advertising and display markets. Whether or not these converted into visitors at FESPA, the industry seemed stable and committed to adapting, and FESPA provided both the platform and the inspiration for that to happen.

It is difficult to populate peripheral activities but the debates, talks and discussions were well attended and not just by the same old faces, but visitors whose primary interest was in screen-printing or garment production who wanted to access new markets. I think this is the fortuitous and concluding point of my FESPA experience: accessing vertical markets and the need to innovate. This latter point was identified by the FESPA team some time ago and served as a strong banner under which to hold the show, but there was a genuine sense of profitability and thinking outside the box which can only stand the industry in good stead.

Written by James Matthews-Paul (read more of his articles here…www.display-talk.com)

Following the awesome positivity that was literally brimming at FESPA in Munich, the temptation is to relax, celebrate and rejoice in the fact that optimism abounds and the bad times may have passed. We can all look forward to better times, the storm has calmed and we can now return to our old ways of doing things. Can’t we?

I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news or pour water on your fire, because I feel more positive, optimistic and recharged after the greatest ever show I have worked on.

But for goodness sake ‘make hay whilst the sun shines!’ By this I mean we must seize the moment and make the most of a more positive outlook that is prevailing in our marketplace.

If you exhibited at FESPA 2010,  you must relentlessly follow up every positive conversation you had – if you visited FESPA 2010 and we inspired but you are now back into your normal routine, take those follow up calls from exhibitors who are likely to have something valuable for your business, or if you are a member of the printing media, shout about how awesome this market is! Perhaps some of the trends, insights and innovations that are coming into play for our market will reveal new opportunities for you!

Change, although sometimes uncomfortable is a good thing. We must accept that change and accept that the market will never return to how it was before the economic storm.

But the sun is shining! It is our duty to make the most of this fact for our business, ourselves and our industry.

And this means action!

The storm has passed, but we cannot return to our old ways. But we can enjoy the benefits of postivity that summer can give us.

Enjoy it and take ac tion:-)

FESPA 2010 delivered success against high level of expectation for all community stakeholders

FESPA 2010 was a great success by any measure, mirroring the characteristics of a fast, robust, and radically transforming marketplace. Albeit a market that is still in recovery and must embrace innovation in order to continue to thrive.

A regular, market-leading international event of the calibre and reach of FESPA gives us a window to the key trends in the market. In fact, FESPA 2010 brought the market to life over a five-day period. So what kind of FESPA 2010 did we all experience? And what does it tell us?

The true barometer of success of any event is the feedback from exhibitors and visitors, the tone and optimism of the event and the sense that it has delivered a high quality experience. By those measures, FESPA 2010 has been outstanding. The show’s success clearly proves the robustness of our community and the positive outlook that prevails whatever the external economic conditions. Many have said – and I’m inclined to agree with them – that it was the best FESPA yet.

Exhibitors

In terms of space taken by exhibitors, FESPA 2010 was on a par with FESPA 2007. This is a clear benchmark by which to measure the strength of this sector of the print market. Consider that, according to InfoTrends, over the past 12 to 18 months we have seen a contraction in the wide format marketplace of around 15% worldwide. This is no surprise, considering the news that has dominated both trade and consumer media over the past 12 months. Corporate casualties, consolidation, business failures, drastic restrictions on credit, and widespread redundancies. Our community, like so many others, now has fewer businesses and employees than it did prior to the downturn. This recession has been the most brutal in living memory. Against this backdrop, for FESPA 2010 to maintain its footprint compared to 2007 is impressive. To achieve the largest ever showcase of digital wide format printing is amazing.

Visitors

In light of the economic challenges, a look at the FESPA 2010 attendance data is interesting, and attendance is an important metric. When you run a show as large and as important as FESPA 2010, you need to attract a critical mass of attendees to satisfy the needs and expectations of your exhibitors. Total attendance at FESPA 2010 was 21,672 individual visitors, an increase of 6.5% on FESPA 2005 in the same venue, but a decrease of around 10% on FESPA 2007 in Berlin. Why? Economic confidence was at its peak in 2007. The market was ‘plain sailing’ and arguably the digital curve was at its steepest incline. Industry experts tell me that digital is now in a state of incremental innovation. Consequently, investment levels – while returning – are not going to return to those of 2007 for a while yet. But the show, and the thousands of people it attracted, demonstrated the enthusiasm, resilience and connectivity of a community that is passionate about its role in the media landscape.

Looking at the visitor statistics, we see that visiting companies sent fewer employees than in 2007, and fewer people made more than one visit to the show. In ultra-competitive conditions, this is a logical trend. With more pressure on people’s time, money, energy and attention, it was perhaps inevitable that there would be less ‘browsing’ at FESPA 2010. Exhibitors reported meeting senior level business people who had a very defined and focused schedule at the show. This makes perfect sense – behavioural changes in business are evident at exhibitions too! We also found that, when compared with 2007, despite the fact the show was not smaller – and indeed, many individual exhibitors had significantly bigger stands – exhibitors brought fewer exhibiting personnel, focussing on cost reduction and efficiency.

Did we ‘Catch the Wave of Innovation’?

True market trends will take some time to evaluate post FESPA, but in the immediate aftermath of a show, it is possible to draw out themes and observations from the show floor and from the conversations and opinions that you hear. During our ‘Catch the New Wave of Innovation’ campaign for FESPA 2010, we used the analogy of a storm subsiding and a different trading environment emerging. We championed the ‘innovation approach’, not just because this is a driver for visitors coming to a show, but because we know it’s absolutely essential in order for printers to grow in the future. Businesses cannot grow just by minimising waste and reducing cost. At the show and throughout the campaign we demonstrated how a ‘total approach to innovation’ will generate economic growth. I think most people understood, agreed and embraced this theme, and the ‘surfie’ graphics and features around the event certainly added something to the festival atmosphere that people love about FESPA.

FESPA Digital

At FESPA 2010 we saw three packed halls of digital inkjet hardware, software, consumables and substrates. In its own right, this area represented the largest ever FESPA Digital show, matched by record levels of visitor interest in digital technologies, up from 52% in 2007 to 68% this year. When compared to FESPA in 2005, in the same city and venue, we can see clearly how the marketplace has changed. Back in 2005, the ‘digital inkjet innovation curve’ was still steep. Digital inkjet was starting to have a noticeable impact on the dominance of screen printing at that time. But screen printing did still dominate, filling two out of four halls at Messe Munich in 2005, with digital only occupying one hall. In 2010, we witnessed one hall of screen printing products for sign and graphics, and three entire halls of digital. The transformation of the market is complete. Screen has become a specialist process and digital has assumed process leadership, at least in terms of sign and graphic production.

It is hardly news that digital has taken over – but the show did offer a graphic (pardon the pun) illustration of this tectonic shift. The imaging market is undoubtedly now led by digital, and the visitor numbers suggest that the market sees FESPA shows as the most effective way to fully understand those changes, and the opportunities and solutions that are available to them.

FESPA Screen

FESPA 2010 was far from being just a Digital show. The Screen halls were still positive and busy, proving that screen printing’s contraction has likely reached a plateau, and its niche position as a printing process is secure. Screen still dominates industrial and speciality processes and, despite the relentless push from digital technology vendors, and the introduction of metallic inks for digital – I think we can say confidently that screen printing does have a future. Digital is only making small inroads into speciality and industrial processes, and screen printing is still the industrial manufacturers’ process of choice in many areas. Given the relentless push of digital innovation, once this gains momentum it is possible it will gain market share. I did see some great industrial applications of digital, but it is further behind than graphic production and still has some way to go to outperform screen. It was gratifying to see a busy screen hall and great to hear positive feedback from screen exhibitors.

FESPA Fabric

FESPA Fabric was also a great success – garment decoration is a fashionable and creative community, and it was great for us to develop an ‘event within an event’ that truly benefited from some of the features within it. Fresener’s Fabric pulled in many visitors, with most sessions full to the brim. Charlie Taublieb again inspired people with his unique approach to textile printing, and the Fabric Live! Fashion Show wowed visitors with a glamorous and arresting show that delivered increased brand awareness for our sponsors. Whereas screen printing for the sign and graphic community contracted significantly since the 2005 FESPA show, the Fabric hall actually grew its footprint slightly compared with 2005, reflecting the dominance of screen in garment printing. Both the Screen and Fabric halls proved that innovation isn’t confined only to digital. Screen printing may be a more specialist process but there is still sufficient demand to sustain an exhibition in Europe.

Timson’s Top-Line Trends!

So how did FESPA 2010 differ from 2005 and 2007? From the perspective of the show organiser, apart from the maturity of digital, I also see more focus and desire to understand and invest in management and workflow software. Software vendors have a strong case now to facilitate lean production, enhancing profit margins and improving efficiency. This was noticeable at the show, and clearly an educational process is taking place to give print businesses the ability to compete and improve productivity.

Variable data also came to the fore at FESPA 2010 – personalised messaging has been possible for some time but, perhaps due to market forces, the need for personalisation is now provoking a response from print service providers, who are now looking at how they can add and implement (and profit from) variable data capabilities in a wide format service business.

We also saw some signs of convergence with narrow format print technologies at the show, with EFI showing their Jetrion and Atlantic Zeiser also exhibiting. We would anticipate growth in this area for FESPA Digital 2011 in Hamburg, with more digital technology in smaller format. Research indicates that print service providers are now most certainly open to technologies that fall beyond the more traditional definitions of a screen printing business.

Lastly I think we saw the greatest ever live showcase of innovative print applications, particularly in the digital halls. The HP stand itself was a highly effective showcase of the creative potential of technology. This is a notable trend also promoted proactively by other vendors such as Durst, EFI and Roland. We know from the FESPA Economy Surveys 1 and 2 that the market has responded to adverse conditions by creating new niches. The creative potential of new applications has enabled print service providers to generate business while continuing to meet the extreme demands of customers. The importance of output speed and productivity has intensified, but printers also recognise that printing alone isn’t enough. According to the Economy Survey 2, over 70% of the market has responded to adverse market conditions by engaging innovation. This was clearly the motivation for the majority of people exhibiting and visiting at FESPA.

So what now?

The success of FESPA 2010 would seem to bear out industry barometers telling us that the economy has now stabilised. The contraction of our market is slowing, optimism has – broadly speaking – returned. But the market is not going to return to its peak of 2007 for some time, if ever. The market we all now inhabit is a less forgiving place and this will continue to challenge our businesses. Our collective confidence has been dented by two or more relentlessly tough years, and we are living in a Darwinian environment. The leaner, quicker, more flexible and proactive businesses will survive; the slow and the weak will struggle.

To survive and prosper, printers have to focus on actions that deliver impact. We need to integrate the key characteristics of a successful innovative business in order to thrive in this post recessionary market that is, arguably, in ‘recovery’. The response from exhibitors and visitors to FESPA 2010 is proof of our community’s willingness to evolve and move with change, and to commit time and resources to plan a positive future.

For me, FESPA 2010 caught a new wave of optimism that is sweeping the market, proving that innovation is driving our market once again!

P.S. I also want to take an opportunity to say how superb the FESPA 2010 show team were. They rose to an enormous challenge from a sales, marketing and operational standpoint. The expectations of exhibitors, visitors, industry commentators, member associations and the FESPA board were – rightly – high. The team performed brilliantly and without their enthusiasm and professionalism, the show would not have been the great success it was. Thank you!

Visiting FESPA will be a strategic investment in your business, your mind and your soul!

Innovation shouldn’t be easy, should it? The image we all have of the ‘light bulb moment’, that Eureka! Image is well known, but how often does this really happen when we are caught up in the daily pressure of business life?

The reality is that innovation and light bulbs is an overused cliché. (surfboards are much better in my opinion).

But Edison, the guy that invented the light bulb took a very long time to do it. He had literally hundreds of people helping him and it took him 600 attempts to get it right.

Scott Berkun wrote in ‘Myths of Innovation’, that this image of the ‘light bulb moment’
really ‘dumbs down innovation’ because it ignores the fact that to truly innovate and produce innovative products and solutions takes a strategic commitment – it requires a time investment and energy.

But I believe that ‘Light bulb’ moments do exist. I have had a few! I just think it is unlikely you will have one sitting in your office, factory, at home or in the car to work because the surroundings are too familiar. You need to take yourself out of the normal routine and environment you are in and engage with new products and people. And the best way to do that if you are in digital, screen and textile printing, is to visit FESPA next week.

I get my best ideas and thoughts when I am away from the office, from home and when I am focused entirely on business. I visit events and exhibitions and quite often get some of my best ideas from a visit to a market leading exhibition such as FESPA.

So why is that? You are bound to say that aren’t you? Yes I guess I am. I am an event evangelist.

The reason that exhibitions are so uber-cool is that I think we are literally bombarded with choices to make on an average day. It is estimated that 2,000 advertising messages are pointing at us on an average every day and I think we all get this ‘white out’ where our minds (which can only process 10 mega bytes of information per second, slower than my computer and probably my phone) cannot absorb any more.  And this doesn’t include the multiple interruptions we get from team members, customers, colleagues etc.

At the end of the day, our mind is exhausted. We become tired, overloaded and unable to tap into the creative recesses of the most powerful technology our business has. Our brain!

But exhibitions take you out of the ordinary, away from the interruptions, chaos and confusion of everyday life.

By taking some time out to come to FESPA you get to connect with real people, discover
new products and generate new ideas for your business. You will get the space, focus and scale to provoke your light bulb moment! Or moments!

So have a holiday! Come to FESPA! Re-fuel on inspiration, ideas and innovation.

FESPA is literally an oasis of energy for any business or business person. FESPA is a place that
Printers come to learn, connect, re-fuel and invest in their business and themselves.

Ideas are the very essence of FESPA events. The collective energy, mind power, experience and array of products at FESPA provides any visitor with the energy to gain inspiration for new ideas, to solve problems and to enhance their business performance.

It’s not just a load of marketing tosh I assure you. There simply isn’t anything quite as powerful as visiting a FESPA exhibition for your business and your future.

Those who make the decision to stay in the office or factory do so because the pressure has got to them. They may not be ambitious, open minded or see the true value of innovation. That is up to them. I won’t offend them because they are too busy to read blogs anyway.

But if you are one of the 30,000 + visitors who have registered to attend FESPA 2010 you have made a wise investment in your businesses destiny.

You will meet a lot of great people, see a lot of great products and will leave Munich with the necessary energy to propel your business forward in the recovery.

So travel well and I hope you enjoy catching the new wave of innovation!

See you in Munich!

Sometimes we need to take stock of what is important, what makes us happy and put something back – rather than take, take, take all of the time!

At the end of April I did a 100 mile walk to raise money for pancreatic cancer research. I joined a group of hard event industry professionals and walked across a network of hills in Southern England called the ‘South Downs’. It sounds nice, but was a hell of a challenge! 100 miles in 3.5 days (half the time they guide books advise you to do it). But we did it and raised some money for this very worthy charity to help fund understanding into a form of cancer that has a particularly high mortality rate. It’s called ‘Howards Way’ after the late great Howard Kerr who established the walk whilst suffering from cancer. Sadly he passed away just over 18 months ago.

Any how, the walk continues and is run by Howard’s wife, Jane and his brother in law Nick. And they are amazing – it is a hell of an undertaking and they do this with a lot of passion and love. The family gets involved and it is a wonderful and absolutely painful experience (I couldn’t walk properly for a week afterwards).

And at FESPA you can help to raise funds! FESPA has, with a group of amazing professional t-shirt designers and printers, produced some amazing t-shirts that are available for sale at FESPA. For only €5, you get a very cool t-shirt with all of the proceeds going directly to Howards Way Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

So please buy one! The picture is of my daughters Daisy and Kiki modelling the FESPA Wave Icon design.

But I, on behalf of the charity, would like to thank all of the people who made these wonderful shirts! Designed & Printed by:

THANK YOU TO:

Charlie Taublieb
B&C Company
QCM Company
Owen Agency
Fimor
Stretch Devices Inc.
A.BUISINE S.A
HIX Corporation
Vastex International Inc.
Hopkins BWM
Insite
Shur-Loc Fabric System
ETF
SERIMARK
Shockwaves Apparel
EXTRA Textildruck
Gildan
QCM Company
Great Dane Graphics
FESPA

Whatever you discover from your trip to Munich, you will be making a strategic investment

People who bother to make the time investment to visit FESPA are making a strategic investment in their business. FESPA is not a ‘commodity’ show. The event is all about quality content, quality people and quality interaction.

But the reality is that despite the mountain of information before and at the show, nobody will really know what they will get from their visit to the show until they actually get there.

And isn’t this exciting? Online connectivity has not affected the need for humanity to congregate to debate, interact and discover new things, stuff and products.

Exhibitors will unveil new products and to maintain a competitive position, they understandably keep the detail ‘under wraps’ until the show itself.

And there is a lot of talk about recovery, and clearly, this is the first major event for the wide format community since the recession.

So, to get the ball a rolling, we asked 3 industry professionals what they expect to get from their visit to FESPA 2010 and this is what they had to say.

‘I am looking forward to learning about some of the practical strategies that wide format print service providers are most interested in deploying now, especially now because there has been a lot of talk about the incremental improvements in imaging technologies and commoditization of “conventional” wide format prints. In practice, users may see that there are a lot of these improvements that add up to a strong opportunity to improve operations or enter new markets. I expect we will see more printing technologies, more improvements in ink chemistry, more media products (especially on the rigid media side) that improve sustainable production choices, and more operational elements on the software side that enable more cost effective production but also data that enables integrated marketing initiatives. So I have high hopes for FESPA Munich!’
Tim Greene, Director, InfoTrends

“This year’s FESPA will confirm how environmental and economic shifts can be combined with innovative, positive processes to enable users to expand on their current service offerings and think out of the box. We can no longer rely merely on machines and their associated technologies; today we need to find ways in which to blend what we understand about digital processes with ideas and formulations that will broaden the concept of the printed product and attract more end customers as a result.

The 2010 theme of innovation should make this ‘The Thinking Person’s FESPA’; by now we all know what today’s printing technologies can achieve and it’s up to us all to use the marvellous solutions that are available to us and optimise output opportunities. FESPA is a unique platform in that it brings all related technologies under one roof and everyone should come away after the show with a raft of new thoughts and ideas. There really is no excuse!”
Sophie Matthews-Paul, Rockstro

‘I’m looking forward to seeing more green ink technologies akin to HP’s latex from other vendors, showing that this is an important development and not just greenwash or hype.
Improvements in existing machines, particularly materials handling and automation, to drive up productivity and ROI. An increased focus on applications and market development rather than new technology for technology’s sake.

More MIS and ERP tools that help firms operate more efficiently and professionally, allowing them to focus on understanding customers and meeting their requirements rather than just fire-fighting in day-to-day management.’
Barney Cox, Wide-Format Editor, PrintWeek
So, what do you think you will see? Or what do you hope you will discover?

Comment here….

There are no hard and fast rules to innovation. Some of the greatest inventions of our time have been created as a result of a happy accident. But it is possible to cultivate a culture of innovation in your business rather than relying solely on ‘innovation by accident’. To aid this cultivation process the upcoming FESPA 2010 show is providing a roadmap for innovation, encouraging wide-format entrepreneurs to embrace it as part of a wider strategy for future business growth.

At the heart of these efforts is a series of easy-to-follow steps that business owners can put in place to encourage innovation within their own companies.

These steps are:

1. Prepare for innovation

2. Be creative

3. Consider your customer

4. Make the effort

5. Take the risk

6. Leadership

7. Accept feedback

8. Communication is everything

The steps pretty much speak for themselves but for those wishing to gain further insight into how to implement them they’re spelt out in greater detail in a surf-themed pocket guide that will be given away free to visitors of the FESPA 2010 show. FESPA sales and marketing director Marcus Timson says that the ‘Eight Steps to Innovation’ guide is a compact way of making a serious point. “Innovation can be intimidating for entrepreneurs, especially when they are steering their businesses out of an economic downturn, with the inevitable focus on efficiency and cost- and cash-management that brings,” explains Timson. (more…)