drupa Keeps Four-Year Cycle; GE Attendance Released

DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY—drupa plans to maintain its four-year cycle for conducting the international printing trade show. That decision was made by the 20-member drupa committee at its meeting held on Nov. 2. A key factor in this decision was the international trade fair calendar that is built around a four-year cycle with drupa.

“Many innovative exhibitors and their successful customers would very much like a more frequent event. However, the supplier industry plans its entire trade fair marketing activities within a global concept. Dependable planning is of the utmost importance here in view of the current economic climate and the situation in international sales markets,” explained Kai Büntemeyer, chairman of the Printing and Paper Technology Association and president of Global Print.
 
At the same time, the drupa committee decided to shorten the length of the fair to 11 days. The next installment is schedule to run May 31 to June 10, 2016.

The committee also unanimously appointed Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA), as the chairman of drupa 2016. KBA representatives also chaired drupa in 1995, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

In other industry event news, the Graphic Arts Show Co. reports that Graph Expo 2012, held in Chicago last month, experienced a 2 percent increase in attendance over the 2011 show. Among the total 21,022 participants, which included exhibitors and attendees, there were 13,694 actual verified attendee/buyers in attendance.