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Ascend to the Great White North

November 14, 2008 If you're a short-run printer who didn't make it to Chicago for Graph Expo last month, consider heading north to Toronto next week for North America's fourth largest print industry trade show. Print World, running at the Direct Energy Centre November 22-24, bills itself as the only show in North America with an exclusive focus on shorter run printing—including large-format and variable applications.

The leading suppliers for this market all have a large presence at the show. HP, Xerox and Canon have booths of 3,600 sq.ft. each. And the four largest press manufacturers—Heidelberg, KBA, Komori and manroland all are represented. Other significant exhibitors include Presstek, Fujifilm, GBC, Konica Minolta, Gandinnovations, Océ, Ricoh, xpedx and 3M. Hewlett-Packard and Konica Minolta will both have bigger booths than the last show in 2006, and Océ will have the biggest presence it has ever had at a trade show in Canada. The show's total exhibit space is 125,000 sq.ft.

Some 9,000 attendees expected

In all, more than 200 exhibitors (300 companies) will be on hand, along with more than 9,000 attendees. Attractions and events that complement the equipment and services on display include:

Print Software Theatre
With state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, and 900 sq.ft. of presentation space, the Print Software Theatre puts software companies and their new products in the spotlight. Software tools for image editing, page layout, illustration, web design, and prepress production will all be on display. Adobe returns as the key sponsor, hosting several sessions daily.

Design City
This special “show within a show” is designated for graphic design tools, software, and services. Now in its third showing, Design City welcomes brand-name exhibitors including Cascades, Tembec, Pearson, APP Canada, QuarkXPress, FSC Canada, Sustainable Forestry Initiative, M-Real and Shutterstock, among others.

Professional Seminar and Workshop Series
Some of North America’s leading print experts will lead sessions geared to both large and smaller print shops, and will deliver practical information on management, sales and other critical areas. Seminars this year include a session on Sales, led by Dave Fellman, president of David Fellman & Associates, a sales and marketing consulting firm serving the printing industry; a seminar on how to sell print on the Internet, led by Slava Apel, CEO of Amazing Print; and a seminar on “What is a print company worth?’ led by John Hyde, NAPL vice president.

Two new attractions make their debut this year at Print World: UPEX and an International Pavilion.

UPEX is an international marketplace for pre-owned printing equipment. It has been featured at international shows including IPEX in Birmingham, England. UPEX comes to North America for the first time as a special feature at Print World. England’s Nyland Graphics, SM Graphics and Atlas Machinery (UK) are already contracted, with more expected.

The International Pavilion is a special marketplace showcasing manufacturers and suppliers from around the world, including a Chinese press manufacturer.

Take a look at the Print World floor plan.

Posted by Bill Esler on November 14, 2008 | Comments (1)