TPG Draws Over 70,000
Visitors to France's 11th premier printing exhibition get a hands-on look at graphic arts wares shown by vendors.
Staff -- graphic arts online, 8/1/2001
Serving as a gallery of the latest equipment offerings displayed by graphic arts vendors from around the world, TPG 2001 drew more than 70,000 visitors May 14-19 at the Parc des Expositions in Paris, France.
"Over 700 exhibitors showed their innovations in printing technologies during the six-day event," says Stéphanie Auxenfans, managing director of the exhibition, which is organized by the Exposium Group, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal Publishing.
Although few new products were formally unveiled at this year's TPG—the 11th such event since the mid-1950s, says Auxenfans—the event afforded many attendees a chance to see hands-on demonstrations of offerings they may have only heard about during the Drupa 2000 exhibition held in Germany a year earlier, or from Graph Expo/Converting Expo 2000 held last October in Chicago.
Through an on-site poll conducted by the TPG show management company, approximately 83% of show-goers came to receive information, 81% to see new products first-hand, 61% to meet with their graphic arts suppliers, 46% to meet new suppliers, and 40% to find a solution to a specific problem.
Satisfied visitors"Virtually everyone who participated in the survey—99.6%—said that they were satisfied with their visit," states Auxenfans, adding that 79% of those attending TPG 2001 were graphic arts industry professionals comprising printers (48%), prepress staff (21%), and postpress personnel (10%).
The remainder was almost equally split between service provider companies (10%), and decision-makers from publishing houses, mail order companies, or other firms dealing with (but not directly in) the graphic arts (11%).
TPG, which occurs in Paris every four years, is set to take place again in 2005.
