Fespa’s ‘Not for Profit’ initiative is funding four new regional congresses this year, but the UK will miss out, though Peter Kiddell of the Fespa UK Association said it will run a ‘Textile Printing Now’ conference in Huddersfield in October part funded by the same initiative.
The 2015 congresses, produced in co-operation with Fespa’s international associations, will be held in Barcelona, Copenhagen, Mexico City and Johannesburg.
The first of the new congresses to take place will be the Southern European Print Congress in Barcelona, Spain, 10 - 11 March and entitled ‘The Wow Effect of Printing’. It will be hosted in partnership with Fespa’s Southern European member associations - Fespa Espana Association, Fespa France Association and Siotec (Italy).
The second congress will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, 24 - 25 March. That is being produced by Fespa’s four Nordic associations - Graphic Association Denmark, Fespa Finland Association, Fespa Norway Association and Fespa Sweden Association.
The Mexico Congress will take place on 16 April 2015 ahead of the eighth Fespa Mexico exhibition. The African Conference will be organised in partnership with Fespa’s African associate member, Printing SA. The one-day conference will take place on 21 July 2015 one day ahead of Fespa Africa 2015.
Sean Holt, general secretary, Fespa said: “As a not-for-profit umbrella organisation of 37 national trade associations, we have a clear responsibility to support global printers to help them grow their businesses in a challenging and ever-changing environment. Each of these events will provide high-quality content from industry experts across diverse areas of the speciality print industry, tailored to these specific regions and based on the insight of our association members.”
Fespa UK Association’s ‘Textile Printing Now’ conference will be held at the Textile Centre of Excellence in Huddersfield on 7 - 8 October 2015. Kiddell said of the event: “As the market changes and the advantages of sourcing in the UK and Europe increase, this is a thought leadership event for all those who are involved in or need to understand the opportunities presented by printing and coating onto a whole range of textiles. The selection of the Textile Centre of Excellence is deliberate choice to showcase the world leading developments in textile innovation that can signpost delegates to new opportunities. The topics will deal with garment decoration, interior and soft signage, specialist and technical applications, all involving both digital and analogue technologies.”