Historically Scitex always presented the best press events in the industry. Those of us who are long in the tooth fondly remember wonderful trips to Israel to see the latest and greatest in Scitex technology. This was then followed by a day or more of visits to locations around Israel and of course a big party to celebrate anything and everything.

Last week HP showed it had picked up the Scitex baton when HP Scitex and the HP Wide Format division hosted an event in Barcelona to launch next-generation products. At this event HP hosted over 1,000 customers and prospects from 54 countries around the world. In addition to this there were more than 200 people from HP’s sales and distribution channels, HP’s own staff, and a significant number of the world’s graphic arts press and industry analysts.

In addition to the event to launch the products, naturally there were a number of evening parties, the principal one being in the great oval hall of the Palau Nacional de Montjuïc, seat of the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya. This is a beautiful location and is one of the finest buildings in Barcelona. While it was a fantastic party location it would also make the world’s finest basketball stadium. At this party food and wine flowed until early morning, and one’s ears were blasted with digital music. One amusing fact I found that while this was an HP event, and HP is the No.1 supplier of Windows PCs in the world, the music was being generated from a Macintosh.