The organisers of Print4All, the print exhibition that opens in Milan today, had always hoped to create a different style of show, one that was more in keeping with trends in the industry than an event where visitors wander glumly around stands (or booths for the North Americans) looking in vain for inspiration. Print4All would achieve this by co-locating the print technology show alongside packaging and food processing machinery events. A visitor drawn by one event ought to have an interest in its brethren. This always sounded like an excuse for expediency than proof of a pressing need. However, Print4All may well create a new style of print show, but not for the reasons it had hoped.
The show comes as pandemic, though not Brexit, restrictions are eased across Europe. As a result the show has attracted more key suppliers than any other show in Europe over the last two years. It is a three-day show, so visitors should not expect to see heavyweight machinery on the show floor as three days is simply too short a time to justify the necessary investment. However, thanks to the lockdowns we have all experienced, there is opportunity to go beyond the static display of a piece of a machine, brochures, a table and chairs and perhaps a looped video.
Over the last couple of years we have been accustomed to watching streamed demonstrations of technology squinting at a laptop screen. Suppliers have invested in technology and training and as a result have polished up their ability to stage such demonstrations. But just as a television broadcast rarely beats the experience of being at a top match, it can still be an instructive and enjoyable experience. This is especially so if shared with thousands of others in so-called fan zones for the major tournaments. The shared experience is important. Now exhibitions can harness that emotion, that shared experience. If the equipment cannot be shown in situ, a live stream of a remote demonstration shared by visitors on an exhibition stand may prove a reasonable substitute. After all, part of the experience of a sporting, or cultural event for that matter, is the discussion between friends that happens before, during and after the event. With companies like Bobst testing the concept of streamed demonstrations to a live audience at Print4All this week, a new style of trade show may yet be born.
The post pandemic show takes shape
The organisers of Print4All, the print exhibition that opens in Milan today, had always hoped to create a different style of show, one that was more in keeping with trends in the industry than an event where visitors wander glumly around stands (or booths for the North Americans) looking in vain for inspiration. Print4All would achieve this by co-locating the print technology show alongside packaging and food processing machinery events. A visitor drawn by one event ought to have an interest in its brethren. This always sounded like an excuse for expediency than proof of a pressing need. However, Print4All may well create a new style of print show, but not for the reasons it had hoped.
The show comes as pandemic, though not Brexit, restrictions are eased across Europe. As a result the show has attracted more key suppliers than any other show in Europe over the last two years. It is a three-day show, so visitors should not expect to see heavyweight machinery on the show floor as three days is simply too short a time to justify the necessary investment. However, thanks to the lockdowns we have all experienced, there is opportunity to go beyond the static display of a piece of a machine, brochures, a table and chairs and perhaps a looped video.
Over the last couple of years we have been accustomed to watching streamed demonstrations of technology squinting at a laptop screen. Suppliers have invested in technology and training and as a result have polished up their ability to stage such demonstrations. But just as a television broadcast rarely beats the experience of being at a top match, it can still be an instructive and enjoyable experience. This is especially so if shared with thousands of others in so-called fan zones for the major tournaments. The shared experience is important. Now exhibitions can harness that emotion, that shared experience. If the equipment cannot be shown in situ, a live stream of a remote demonstration shared by visitors on an exhibition stand may prove a reasonable substitute. After all, part of the experience of a sporting, or cultural event for that matter, is the discussion between friends that happens before, during and after the event. With companies like Bobst testing the concept of streamed demonstrations to a live audience at Print4All this week, a new style of trade show may yet be born.
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