What to Look for at drupa 2008

Pre-drupa Media Week provides some insight

By Cary Sherburne

February 5, 2008 -- During January, about 150 media representatives from around the world gathered at Messe Dusseldorf to hear from a range of suppliers to the industry about their plans for drupa, as well as to get a peek and what the show company has been doing since drupa 2004 and what is in store for us in 2008.

photo by Rene Tillmann / Messe Duesseldorf

AD Communications puts this gala event on each drupa year, and does an exceptional job of arranging presenters and logistics. Sadly, they cannot control content that is presented, and this year did not involve a lot of new announcements from participants. Nonetheless, there were nuggets of insight that emerged throughout the week. WhatTheyThink reported on major announcements from Kodak, Ricoh, Screen, Xerox and others as the week unfolded. This article presents a view of the rest of the conference and offers a preliminary guide that may help you in planning your drupa 2008 visit.

The clear message from the vendor presentations was that inkjet and workflow are the areas to watch. In the rest of Part One, we provide an overview of news from Messe Dusseldorf about the show in general. Part Two, which will run on February 14th, provides highlights from the individual vendor presentations.

Messe Dusseldorf

For those of you who are counting, this is the 14th drupa. The first one was held in 1951, 57 years ago, in a much different world. In addition to being the world’s largest printing show, it most certainly must be the oldest continuously operating one.

In many ways, this giant fairgrounds looked the same as it did in 2004, my first year there. But there are some significant changes, as we reported earlier on WhatTheyThink. You can also view the video interview we did with Managing Director Joachim Schaefer when he visited Graph Expo 2007. You can view the full site map here.

Highlights include an even larger showgrounds, with two new buildings dedicated to digital technologies. Halls 8A and 8B are at the North Entrance to the Messe, and next to drupa Innovation Parc (Hall 7, and much larger than 2004—more on that later). This is also where show attendees will disembark from public transportation at the new state-of-the-art transportation center. WhatTheyThink will have a video studio in the North Hall. If you are attending drupa and would like to weigh in on camera on your drupa experiences, contact us.

Drupa 2008 will see over 1,800 exhibitors from 50 countries, have more than 170,000 square meters (1.8 million square feet, for those who are metrically challenged), and host an estimated 400,000 visitors (about the same as 2004). The number of journalists who will attend has climbed from 3,300 in 2004 to 3,500 anticipated in 2008.

American companies have booked 30,000 square meters (323,000 square feet) of exhibition space. This compares to 70,000 square meters (753,000 square feet) booked by German companies and 7,800 square meters by Chinese companies. There are a total of 9,000 square meters (nearly 100,000 square feet) devoted to prepress and premedia, although the actual space is much larger since many companies include these offerings amidst other products and services. Print City is also back again at drupa 2008, in Hall 6.

drupa Innovation Parc

drupa officials told the group that drupa Innovation Parc almost didn’t happen in 2004 due to lack of interest on the part of exhibitors. In the end, it was a successful initiative with 41 exhibitors in an 800 square meter (8,600 square feet) tent between Halls 1, 2 and 3. There were 20,000 visitors, with the average visitor spending more than an hour in the Hall.

This year, drupa Innovation Parc is much bigger. Located in Hall 7. it will be the centerpiece of drupa’s new digital area at the North Entrance and is presented by HP. Seybold Report will be creating a daily newspaper and online newsletter highlighting exhibitors in this area who are exploring new challenges and new markets. drupa Innovation Parc will include many recognized names, but is also a great way for smaller companies to show their wares since it is structured to be more affordable than a normal drupa stand. Bernd Zipper is coordinating drupa Innovation Parc efforts; there was still some space available last month so if you are interested, it is worth checking.

drupaCube

Another new concept at drupa 2008 is drupaCube. This two-story building will be constructed in the parking lot outside the South conference center and is designed to attract print buyers to the show. According to show officials, this represents a change in philosophy. Messe Dusseldorf has been known for capital goods exhibitions and drupa as a heavy metal printing trade show. drupaCube is an attempt to increase demand for print by educating buyers about how print can effectively be used—not how it is produced; that is covered in the exhibition halls. It is targeted at a number of categories of buyers, including:

newspaper and corporate publishers
Design, advertising and dialogue marketing executives
Advertisers
Young talent, including students of marketing communications and design

They also want to attract marketing people from the other show disciplines, like those from the boating industry who were arriving for their show as we were departing the conference.

No entrance ticket to drupa is required, and there will be a number of free exhibits on the first floor. There will be a fee for access to the second floor, which will include seminars and sponsor events. Of course, a drupa ticket will include access to drupaCube, so it might be interesting to visit to see how print is positioned in this unique exhibit. Bring along your German dictionary, tho. Show officials don’t expect to attract buyers outside of Germany and almost everything will be in German, including the seminars.

Oh, well … But it is also designed as a gathering place after show hours, with sponsor events up to 11 PM upstairs, and a casual bar environment downstairs. At 11 PM, it turns into a nightclub that will be open until 3 AM. Interestingly, the building will be torn down when drupa closes.

drupa Travel

Have you made your travel reservations yet? If not, you might want to get cracking. I hear that hotel space is already at a premium, and air fares are certain to increase as May approaches. There is lots of good information on the drupa site that will help you plan your attendance strategy.

Cary can be reached via email at cary@sherburneassociates.com, online at www.sherburneassociates.com and by telephone at 603-430-5463.

Cary Sherburne is available for speaking engagements and consulting projects. To get more information contact us here.

Please offer your feedback to Cary. She can be reached at cary@whattheythink.com.

Prior to launching her consulting practice, Ms. Cary Sherburne was the Vice President of Marketing Communications and Outsourcing Solutions at IKON Office Solutions. In that capacity, she developed and implemented a branding campaign to build brand awareness for IKON in the marketplace as well as enhance employee pride in the organization, and was responsible for all internal and external communications, including trade shows and events, corporate newsletters, and industry and press relations. In the outsourcing role, she set strategic objectives and priorities for IKON's product and services portfolio in its Outsourcing businesses, including development of programs and sales support materials for that environment.

Sherburne was a Director at CAP Ventures, an internationally known firm specializing in market research and strategic consulting for the digital document and print on demand industry, before joining IKON, where she launched and managed the company's Document Outsourcing Consulting Service.

Her tenure in the printing and publishing industry has also included sales and marketing positions at Xerox Corporation, Indigo America and Bitstream. She is a frequent speaker at industry events and a recognized author.