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The Drupa Whimp
June 13, 2008

Something strange occured to me on my birthday. I hate to admit that I am glad I did not go to Drupa. I think its great that Brian Lawler, Bill Esler and Mark Vruno went. I am sure that the excitement of new products and seeing the world printing stage is exciting. But for a guy like me who travels every week - the thought of spending two weeks in a trade show in Germany is not that appealing. Especially when you have to catch the train twice a day and/or sleep on one of the cramped boats. I guess that makes me a Drupa Whimp!

I am sure that my fellow analysts and consultants will all criticize me but I am OK with that. I go to over 20 shows each year. I see all the stuff and hear all the pitches. This year I went to many pre-Drupa announcements and even saw some of the equipment before it was officially announced.

But lets face it - in this day and age I can easily go online and read the announcements and see the videos. Here are a few:

Two videos from HP. First is the general announcements made by Vyomesh Joshi (VJ) and Stephen Nigro and second a brief look at the inkjet press.
And here are two videos from Xerox. The first describes Xerox plans for inkjet and toner the second talks about innovations from Xerox.
Here is a video from Kodak about the new NexPress S3000.
This video describes the Oce JetStream Web Press.

I know there are several of my colleagues who revel in their ability to say, “When I went to the CTP Drupa I remember the excitement around the booth. It was 6 people deep, and too loud to hear anything because of all the different languages. I could not see or hear a thing – but the excitement was impressive.”

I am quite happy that this Friday - like most Fridays I will be home. I can say with confidence that when I arrive home I can see and hear a everything. For me the excitement is the little stuff, the almost boring stuff like mowing the lawn, taking out the garbage and seeing my family. That my friends is always exciting!

Posted by Howie Fenton on June 13, 2008 | Comments (2)

June 13, 2008
In response to: The Drupa Whimp
Tom Donovan commented:

Two weeks @ Drupa would have been better than the 20 other shows period. That why it`s held only once every 4 years.No other show gets that type of investment from companies.I was there for a week. Yes, it`s a lot of work. Well worth it.

June 13, 2008
In response to: The Drupa Whimp
Jeffrey commented:

Drupa was great – what you miss by not going is seeing all the suppliers who are not traditionally represented in any of the US shows. You also miss the chance to eat Bratwurst every day and the heat. It had to be one of the hottest Drupa’s ever. On one day Hall 5 was over 80 inside. Missed seeing you there!