It’s proving a tough time for exhibition organisers in general, what with the continuing economic turmoil and the changing ways in which manufacturing companies now aim to establish and build customer relationships. And then there’s the shift in how printers themselves want to do business – an increasing number considering shows passé as a shop window and place to do actual business. So just how relevant are print trade exhibitions?
Well, the industry buzz they can create is of value in itself – anything that stimulates discussion has got to be useful surely? Then of course there are the networking opportunities they present, not to mention the educational perspective provided via the seminar programmes etc. that so many shows now incorporate – some to better effect that others. Plus, you still get to see a whole array of products in one place. You may not see the whole gamut of suppliers, but is that necessarily a bad thing? As long as trade events have enough commercial support to remain viable, visitors are still going to benefit from seeing offerings, perhaps some quite obscure ones, which might spark an idea worth investigating.
Sign and Digital is the first show for our sector this year, and as such will set a tone. There are those who have said, what with the giant Fespa London round the corner (time wise), that the show would perhaps have been better moved to the autumn this year. But as a well-established spring event, it has its own appeal in that it sets out the stall – so it’ll be interesting to see what messages come out of it.
And on the topic of market messages, I’d like to take this opportunity to say a massive thank you to all of those who took part in the Image Reports’ 2013 Widthwise Survey. At the time of going to press this sixth survey of the UK/Ireland wide-format print community was near to closing. As always it has been a massive undertaking, but totally worth it because it means we can provide an in-depth state-of-the-market overview in the shape of the Widthwise Report. This will appear alongside the June issue of the magazine following analysis of all the data and comment.
Editor, Lesley Simpson
lesley.simpson@imagereportsmag.co.uk
Tel. 01932 707173