PRINTING United Expo-2021 Cancelled

[prwhite]

PRINTING United—scheduled to take place Oct. 6-8, 2021 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.—has been cancelled, due to the growing uncertainty & spike in cases from the COVID-19 Delta variant.

PRINTING United Expo 2022 is scheduled to take place October 19-21, 2022 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nev.

Further details will be communicated directly to exhibitors and registered attendees. Visit the FAQ portion of the printingunited.com website for more information.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

I was really planning on using this as an excuse to go to Florida.

 

[kinni88]

I went to the Corrugated Expo two weeks ago. Exhibitor turnout was a bit low, however good energy from the vendors and attendees. Pack Expo is still moving forward as well as the Label Congress Show -- both in about 3 weeks.
I guess it sounds like a sounds exhibitors backed out.

 

[Lorenzo lab guy]

One of my colleagues went to WPPI and said it was a shadow of its former event. Trade shows are still struggling and may do so for a long time since the virus looks to be staying for a considerable period of time. We had our big trade show in July and had to beg our largest vendor to get their corporate office to make exceptions to the "no travel " policy. Under todays conditions I expect they would just cancel.

 

[gordo]

Trade shows are frowned upon by the major vendors. They just don’t have an ROI and can actually be detrimental to their sales efforts. So, any excuse to not exhibit or to back out is welcomed.

 

[PeteKincaid]

I attended the converters expo a few weeks ago in Green Bay. Very well attended and it seemed that everybody was just happy to be at a show again. I look forward to having a booth at Label Congress. Hope to see some of you there.

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

Thank you Gordo for being non-biased in your censorship.

 

[gordo]

Thank you Gordo for being non-biased in your censorship.

Not sure what you mean. Could you elaborate?

 

[PeteKincaid]

My guess is he is referring to your blanket statement that trade shows are frowned upon by major vendors.
While I understand that this is maybe true for the press manufacturers because of the cost of equipment and such. I don't think it is true for all major vendors. There is still a lot of visibility/business to be gained from trade shows for all companies.

 

[gordo]

My guess is he is referring to your blanket statement that trade shows are frowned upon by major vendors.
While I understand that this is maybe true for the press manufacturers because of the cost of equipment and such. I don't think it is true for all major vendors. There is still a lot of visibility/business to be gained from trade shows for all companies.

I can only speak from my experience having been a customer and a vendor (different times).
Tradeshows are great for customers and smaller vendors. Absolutely.

But for major vendors like Heidelberg, Agfa, Kodak etc tradeshows are not so valuable.

Here are just 3 reasons:
1 - Tradeshows are an uncontrolled environment. A customer can make direct comparisons between different vendor offerings by simply asking questions at one vendor's booth then crossing over to a competitor's booth for their response. It is more (costs and sales) effective to bring prospects into a demo facility where the vendor has complete control of the prospect's experience.
2 - Tradeshows aren't cost and sales effective at generating leads. Major vendors have extensive sales channels and sales representatives. They already know their prospects and who they are competing against.
3 - There are more cost effective ways for major vendors to gain visibility/exposure. Among other options they will, instead of tradeshows, hold open houses for graphic arts publishers, reporters, influencers, pundits, etc. who in turn get the word out.

Major vendors simply do a cost/benefit analysis for tradeshow participation. Typically the benefit of attending does not justify the cost.

 

[IgnoreThem]

Kind of sad. My copy shop has a couple digital presses coming off lease and the staff was excited about checking out all the new equipment in one place. Haven't flown anywhere for a couple years now so have plenty of delta miles and companion flights to use up...lol

 

[Ynot_UK]

Maybe different the other side of the pond, but in the UK I think the low cost, 'mini trade shows' are the way forward. An invite dropped in last week for a three day joint venture show between Morgana, KM and Premier Paper.
This type of event addresses all three of the very valid points @gordo makes above.

 

[kinni88]

My guess is he is referring to your blanket statement that trade shows are frowned upon by major vendors.
While I understand that this is maybe true for the press manufacturers because of the cost of equipment and such. I don't think it is true for all major vendors. There is still a lot of visibility/business to be gained from trade shows for all companies.

Heidelberg, Agfa, Kodak and offset press manufacturers are leaking money. They are not even relevant ant a show like Printing United. The days of Graph Expo and Print being major shows are over. Printing United in 2019 was packed and very productive for anyone in digital/industrial (no printing on paper). Pack Expo in 2019 did not have parking or hotels available in Chicago and had taken the north and south hall. When you say that there is no ROI, it means you cannot afford it or spend your marketing money wisely