Held every four years, the PRINT® exhibition in Chicago is where the whole world of commercial printing, publishing and converting focuses on the world's largest industry marketplace, the United States.
PRINT has roots that reach back into the mid-1960s, but when the big show returns to Chicago in 2005 it will present something important and new: A new event dedicated to package printing and converting and called CONVERTINGSM 05.
"The launch of CONVERTING 05 is the latest example of the strategy of continuous enhancement that has characterized PRINT shows since the first one was staged in 1968," says Regis J. Delmontagne, president of the show's producer, the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC®).
The National Printing Equipment Association (NPEA) staged that first PRINT exhibition, along with successors in 1974 and 1980. NPEA is today known as NPES® The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, one of the three associations that together, in 1982, undertook the single most important enhancement in the way America's industry trade shows were presented.
NPES, joining with two associations representing print companies - The National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) and the Printing Industries of America (PIA) -created Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC) that year and brought together, under GASC management, both the international PRINT show and the U.S.-focused GRAPH EXPO® shows that had previously been staged by the printers' groups.
PRINT 85 was the first global exhibition managed by GASC. It was also the largest exhibition ever staged in the Americas, and retained this record until it was surpassed by PRINT 91 - which in turn was exceeded by PRINT 97.
Since 1997, PRINT shows have typically presented approximately 900,000 square feet of exhibit space (90,000 square meters), and the 2005 show, as of early 2004, appears likely to match or exceed that size.
Attendance at PRINT shows is typically more than 80,000 people, with attendees coming from more than 70 nations. The strongest international contingents of PRINT attendance are typically from Canada, Latin America and Europe.
Another constant feature in the PRINT event's history is innovation, as GASC has used this global event as a forum to launch special features appealing to digital publishing specialists, design professionals, and other audiences.
Among the most prominent ways in which GASC has been building the PRINT show is through outreach to package printing and converting. This industry is closely related to print, sharing many of the same business challenges and technologies.
PRINT 97 provided the venue for the first U.S. edition of the international CONVERFLEXTM show. The next year, GASC launched CONVERTING EXPO® as a jointly-staged event with the annual GRAPH EXPO. For 2005, commercial, package printing and converting interests will come together in PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05.
"There is a clear community of interest between converting specialists, who increasingly recognize high quality printing as a competitive advantage, and commercial printers, who are looking at packaging printing as a strong growth market for the future," says Delmontagne.
"Excellence is the key to success on both sides," he adds, "since the marketplace will not reward half-hearted or mediocre diversification. Helping industry professionals to achieve excellence is what PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 is all about."
CONVERTING 05 is not, however, the only major diversification strategy being offered at the big event.
The huge show floors at McCormick Place in Chicago will also house special exhibit areas devoted to: Mailing & Fulfillment, a key area in which printers are seeking to add value to
their services by meeting their clients' needs more fully, and Large Format Digital Ink jet Output, which has been identified in industry studies as one of the strongest growth markets of the future as well as an area many commercial printers are ideally qualified to enter quickly and profitably.
These and other special features reflect GASC's belief that the show must adapt to the market to remain relevant to attendees and to continue to deliver value for exhibitors.
PRINT 05 & CONVERTING 05 will be held on September 9-15, 2005 at McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois USA. Complete information about the show and its special features can be found at www.print05.org.
