Final Preparations & Warm Welcome

With the huge show less than 30 days away, exhibitors and show organizers are putting the finishing touches on the displays and programs that will fill all 17 buildings of the Düsseldorf exhibition center for the 14-day show.

About 370,000 visitors are expected to attend the show, which covers about 1.7 million square feet, an area equivalent to 35 football fields. This year's event is the 13th in the Drupa series, which was first held in 1951 in Düsseldorf and has been held every four or five years since.

The name Drupa is derived from the German words for printing and paper, Druck und Papier.

Residents of the host city are quite proud of this global event. Says Manuel Mataré, Drupa project manager, "Anyone who has experienced the unmistakable charm of this cosmopolitan city on the Rhine River during Drupa will understand why guests from near and far soon feel at home here and love to return."

But organizers of Drupa 2004 reiterate that, along with the displays of more than 1,800 exhibitors, numerous educational programs are taking place at the fairgrounds (visit drupa.com for details, schedules, and fees).

• Compass Sessions, described as two-hour "know-how" events held on 11 mornings of the show, feature international speakers addressing a variety of trends, technologies, and methods.
• Drupa Innovation Parc, held in the open-air area adjacent to Halls 1, 2, 3, and 4, offers presentations on three topics: dynamic documents, software innovations, and picture innovations (digital photography).
• JDF Parc, located in Stand A 33 in Hall 4 and jointly sponsored by the CIP4 Organization and Messe Düsseldorf, will demonstrate how machines from different vendors can communicate using the standard Job Definition Format language. Attendees here receive a "job ticket," which they can fill out by visiting the various job initiation pods.
• The Leipzig Museum for Print Art will provide experts who will describe how vintage equipment and centuries-ago ideas once carried out the "black art" of printing.
• "Drupacity Düsseldorf" is staging special events in cooperation with hotel, restaurant, retail, art, and culture partners to welcome visitors.
• On May 2, four days before the show opens, exhibitor personnel and Drupa facility staff members will participate in Düsseldorf's second annual 26-mile marathon (show organizers provide the race entry fee).
• The Type Directors Club of New York is celebrating its 50th anniversary by presenting a showing of its typographic excellence awards competition, which this year drew 2,355 entries.
• For last-minute information about the show, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2920, Chicago, Ill. 60601, phone (312) 781-5180, or visit mdna.com on the Web.