Graph Expo 2012 Deemed a Success by Exhibitors

RESTON, VA—A number of attendees and exhibitors gave a thumbs up to the 2012 edition of Graph Expo, held in early October. Attendees were pleased with the variety of new equipment, applications, products and services, and also the expanded array of education and networking opportunities offered by this year’s 48 co-located industry events and new floor attractions. Several exhibitors surveyed by the show organizers were also happy with the quality and quantity of leads they amassed at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

“Graph Expo 2012 was DGM’s busiest and most successful show in recent memory with a 20 percent increase in leads over last year’s show. Our salespeople and strategic partners will be busy for months following up on interest in our equipment and services from new prospects and long-time customers alike,” said Michael DeBard, president, Diversified Graphic Machinery.

“A great big thank you from the Océ team for a very well planned and organized Graph Expo. Our team and our customers really enjoyed the experience this year and in fact it may be the best Graph Expo to date. Thanks again and glad we were a part of it,” said Francis McMahon, vice president, marketing, Océ North America.

“Graph Expo has been a great show for Enfocus. It tops off a great year so far, especially considering the 36 percent sales revenue increase in new Switch licenses year-over-year. At the end of the show, we totaled 35 percent more leads than last year’s edition of Graph Expo. I must also stress that the quality of the booth visitors has gone up compared to previous editions, as most of our visitors are trying to make their own organizations more productive and cost-effective with our solution,” said Fabian Prudhomme, vice president, Esko.

“We had the worldwide debut of our new Impressia digital print system here at noon on Sunday and it was 12:22 p.m. when we placed our first order. We have been averaging one sale every 30 minutes, so it has been very, very exciting,” said Arthur Verwey, vice president international sales and marketing, Xante´.

“Graph Expo was our best presentation in the Americas for the second year in a row. With two digital presses constantly in production throughout the show hours, we had a busy booth with over 50,000 samples given to people, which was over 2,000 samples every hour of the show. We signed new orders and received many new leads for follow-up after the show,” said Ziki Kuly, vp marketing, Scodix.

“Baumfolder had an excellent Graph Expo this year, with substantially more leads generated than last year. By Monday, we had exceeded last year’s count. The overall attendance seemed vastly improved over last year. We were especially encouraged by the traffic and quality of visitors on Sunday. This was the best ‘Sunday attendance’ we have seen for years,” noted Ulrik Nygaard, president/CEO, Baumfolder.

In addition to the latest technologies displayed across the show floor were the record 48 co-located events—user group meetings, award galas, and a host of education conferences—that took advantage of the synergy at Graph Expo, including Print Buyers International’s (PBI’s) 7th annual Print & Media Conference.

Graph Expo, customized to offer the latest profit solutions, education and networking for 12 key industry segments, this year focused keen attention on in-plant printers from education, government and corporate print centers. In addition to creating a special in-plant education track, this year’s show also marked the debut of The InPlant Place—an instant hit among in-plant print professionals who came to meet up and connect with peers on the show floor in ‘their own’ dedicated education and networking hub.

Next up for the industry is the global PRINT 13 exhibition, themed “Innovate, Integrate, Communicate,” set to take place on September 8-12, 2013 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.