Discussion

By Don Piontek on Mar 07, 2008

This was my fourth ON DEMAND. As was the case with last year's show, it was lightly attended. THere is no REAL rationale for this show anymore, as everything shown could be exhibited at GRAPH EXPO. Better yet, GRAPH EXPO offers the best of both digital and offset. With companies sending FEWER people to FEWER trade shows, I predict the "roll-up" of both On Demand and Mailcom into a "greater" GRAPH EXPO. Firms would rather send their teams for a few days more to ONE exhibition, rather than three. That's just my thought.

By John Henry on Mar 07, 2008

Just got back from Ondemand. Loved the show and was impressed with the new Canon offerings. Kodak had nice and Xerox was well Xerox. Interesting all the Purl booths was not as busy as I have seen them. Seemed people have looked at them or did not know what they do.

Creo and EFI were manning each vendor's booth. I was pretty disappointed that a year after the Adobe PDF engine was introduced; only Kodak is shipping rips based on it. The others are all promising too late this year or early next year. Creo looks to be the closest, they may by fall.

Can not understand Ricoh they are out to lunch with w 75 cpm box that the color was not great on. Feeds limited cover stocks has a higher click rate and 2 clicks per 11x17. If you do letter only, on lighter stocks is the only reason to even look at this one. They did show a slick 90 cpm that maybe be out end of year. If it is also 2 click it will not be good buy at anyprice.

Oce had some nice units for some niche markets as HP did also.

Last major suprise to me was NO EFI booth. Must be poor stock prefromance is hitting them. No new Adobe Pdf rip from them and not booth. Creo seem to be a step ahead and eating thier lunch at this time.

By Dr Joe Webb on Mar 08, 2008

In response to Don, OnDemand sure did have a GraphExpo feel in some parts of the hall, but for good reason. There is no longer any Northeast graphic arts show. Gone is Seybold Boston, and GraphExpo is permanently settled in Chicago, with only very distant memories (mainly by old bald guys like yours truly) of its alternating between New York and the Windy City. "Our" show is still GraphExpo... but OnDemand is increasing in importance for many printers, especially those in New England.

By Bryan Yeager on Mar 10, 2008

I think this year's ON DEMAND provided a decent outlook for what's going to be appearing from certain vendors at drupa 2008. A lot of the software solutions that I looked at either already had new upgrades that came out prior to or at ON DEMAND, or are going to receive significant upgrades premiering at drupa. How many print service providers are going to send people to drupa? Not many unless it's necessary, so I think that helped draw people to ON DEMAND this year. Attendance was actually up from last year, for both the expo and the sessions. Also, we're leaving out an important aspect of the ON DEMAND show, which is the AIIM show (and this year, Xplor) coinciding at the same location. There are a lot of vendors that offer solutions valuable to print service providers that present at AIIM that never get to present at shows like GRAPH EXPO because they serve more of a niche market that appeals to ON DEMAND attendees. One notable vendor is RenderX, who specializes in XML to PDF transformation technology. They have a large customer base, specifically in transactional PDF creation, which can be an advantage to a print service provider who wants to get into TransPromo. I think some larger vendors, such as EFI, were comfortable with showcasing their solutions at partner booths like they did with Canon, Ricoh, and others. This was probably because of the impending drupa show, but it may become more popular in the future. In terms of Adobe PDF Print Engine RIPs, I'm pretty certain that Screen's Trueflow RIP can utilize the the PDF Print Engine, along with Oce's PRISMA line. The one thing I didn't see a lot of which may end up changing over the next few years is the lack of presence of wide format devices and vendors. Maybe it's because I wasn't looking, or maybe it's the increasing trend of vendors not bringing as much physical equipment to these shows. As smaller-format, high-speed inkjet technology increases, wide format inkjet devices will also speed up and I think that more wide format vendors will take advantage of the show in the future. We shall see, though. ON DEMAND's expanded to have global shows (China, Russia, etc.) annually, and I think that as print runs get shorter and print pieces become more customized, more providers are going to want solutions that help them print efficiently and effectively, and also help their customers do the same. A lot of providers strive for that now, and a lot more will in the future, so I still think there's a place for an ON DEMAND show now and well into the future.

By Wilma Grant on Mar 14, 2008

As an Xplor member I was disappointed to see a lack of advertising re. Xplor on the OD/AIIM signage and marketing materials. What happened to our "partnership" for the event? Two agency staff attended - we were inundated by AIIM/OD literature prior to conference. I finally asked my name and my staffer's name be removed due to the very high volume of e-mail and print requests to attend OD/AIIM. The promised bus service did not cover all of Xplor events and again no Xplor name on the signage for busses. Our organization had to incur many thousands of dollars in hiring bus trolleys to ensure our members recvd. the usual services Xplor provides. Overnight, with convention center security hired and in place, meal and drink tickets were "extracted" from Xplor members' arrival envelopes (before they were even handed out)- that should be a concern for any future conferences held there. On a more positive note the Xplor networking reception at "Cheers" replica bar/restaurant in Faneul Hall was well worth the investment by sponsor Kodak and had great turnout (thankyou - also for the gift!). Ditto the two evening receptions hosted by Xplor. Excellent educational sessions were well worth the Xplor fee structure. Taz Tally excited one of our composition specialists enough that he's back testing what he learned and I talked with other attendees in his classes. Peter Muir both entertained and educated executives in his sessions ... and he continues to open attendee minds to the global marketplace. Xplor staff worked true wonders at registration and the show floor was great, also pretty well attended when I was there - thanks to all vendors. It could have been receiving much better kudos if only more attention was paid to our partnership.

By Paul Abdool on Mar 15, 2008

I have been to many Xplor conferences in the past. I was particularly excited about going to this one this year because of the co-location with the AIIM On Demand (AOD) show... even though it was in a cooler than normal destination.

Upon my arrival at the airport I saw signs about the show but Xplor was definitely absent from the "hype". At first I thought, well maybe AOD just did not get the electronic logos in time from Xplor. Then I went to one of the host hotels and at check-in I saw the AOD info rolling on flat screens behind the reception and now the absence of the Xplor name was becoming a trend. Being the eternal optomist, I showed up bright and early for my day of education at Xplor Document University (XDU) and the trend now had evolved into a statistical fact. Xplor appeared to be a very small, bolt on, afterthought to the AOD show.

After a few minutes of deductive reasoning and using my university cartography skills, I found the Xplor registration on the other side of the convention center. As usual, I ran into smiling friends from conferences in the past and the networking began. When the "bell" rang for class we all ushered into our course of choice and began our continuing education of the electronic document industry. The instructors were solid and as usual were willing to share presentation material and their wealth of experiences with us all... something I find you get no where else in this "all about me world" we survive in daily.

The trade show floor was solid and it to has evolved to a more software-centric feel from years past. The mix of document retention versus output approaches were interesting. For example, seeing an imaging focused Bowe Bell and Howell vs. the production inserter BBH was a different for me. This sort of show "interpretation" was confusingly intriguing, which made for a well rounded mix for attendees.

I would like to say a big "see ya soon" to the over 70 Canadian Xplor participants that made the trek south to chilly, albeit warmer, Boston!

Cheers to next year!

By Dean Baxendale on Mar 16, 2008

Dear Paul:

In response to your inquiry for feedback regarding XPLOR participaton with On-Demand I have a couple of thoughts for you.

On-Demand like any other mature show has evolved or morphed into what it is today. This transformation into a software, On-Demand Processes, Document handling and fulfillment show is indeed paralleling the very businesses we are running today. The need for better understanding, sharing of knowledge and forum to learn from, are indeed the hallmarks of the XPLOR group.

Aside from the politics of the ON-Demand group I would highly recommend that key Xplor Executive spearhead discussions with On-Demand to ensure that the uniqueness and objectivity of the Xplor Eductational Forum are maintained. As a continuing education and knowledge association it is imperative that the XPLOR group broaden its base of members to encompass the broader range of services around "The Document" including creative, storage, repurposing, printing, web presentment, transactional, Data etc..... Our industry continues to evolve at a much more rapid pace and we also need to attract the youth of today to events like Xplor to ensure its viablility in the future.

The future of Print and the way in which we compose and present information is continuing to evolve and as I am aware, we must all continue to "Change" and redifine the very organizations we invest our time in, or they too will cease to exist!

In the end, I liked the show with ON-Demand but the joint marketing and branding of the various groups needs to be addressed. The Xplor Executive needs to better understand how its membership is evolving so that we have a voice at the table.

By Michael Turton on Mar 17, 2008

Xplor 08 was noticeable for the lack of notice it generated. It was as though we were tacked on as an afterthought in terms of the isolation of our corridor and the signage in the convention center in general. That said, the numbers attending did ensure you met everyone soon after you had arrived. We need to fundamentally rethink our strategy in order to progress as a seat of learning - for that is the way we have chosen.

By Scott Bannor on Mar 17, 2008

Ditto on Wilma, Paul and Michael's comments. I was underwhelmed by the signage for xplor and the fact that Xplor registration was on the other side of the convention hall from On Demand/AIIM spoke absolute volumes.

While there's no doubt about the convergences of the various aspects of the digital print / graphics arts industries isn't the real problem that of sorting out who Xplor's audience is and explaining to ALL attendess - regardless of whether they're attending On Demand or AIIM - the value of our knowledge?

There are still great numbers of people in graphic arts who are completely unfamiliar with production speed print - monochrome and color. There are people who have some understanding of production speed print who lack knowledge of data, there are people who may understand a bit about data but don't really 'get' transactional or transpromotional print. These are the people Xplor needs to target.

In a perfect world Xplor would have the list of registered attendees months before the show and target people based on what they seem to lack in knowledge and what we provide. Perhpas some sort of suveying is in order. Any sessions that confuse the message should be left out.

More later if I have time to think about it.

By Roger Chamberlain on Mar 17, 2008

XPLOR instructors and content - absolute kudos! Having attended 7 XPLOR Global Conferences/XDU, Leadership Conferences, and numerous chapter meetings; I affirmed my true value from XPLOR has been the educational offering. Second to none; the value of this aspect of the organization has never been met at On-Demand or Graph Expo. XPLOR is the best and I highly encourage these other trade shows, of which I also attend, to partner with XPLOR and take greater advantage of the breadth of knowledge and the invaluable networking that is built. The community of XPLOR can prepare you to be more successful in all your work endeavors. Let's build however a more equal partnership if we are going to co-locate with organizations such as AIIM/On-Demand. The joint location could have been a much more positive experience had I felt more inclusion with the combined event. We were difficult to find; signage was an absolute joke and people didn't even know we were there. Co-locating simply wasn't enough. I'm not ready to give up yet on this concept, however I would certainly support a smaller venue next year if we need to go that route.

By Michael Warne on Mar 19, 2008

I thought that the educational tracks were great, and the fact that CEU's were available for two of them was a definite plus. I was disappointed with the partnership with AIIM/On-Demand, as little co-operation was shown or forth coming. For future reference, a "full" conference registration should include any and all of the tracks offered by AIIM/On-Demand, and Xplor, otherwise I am afraid that we will continue to loose attendees. The Xplor sessions and networking opportunities were excellent. The exhibits were very interesting.

By James Harding on Mar 20, 2008

I went to AIIM with a very specific agenda of who I wanted to see and what I wanted to gain from the conference so I spent the majority of my time in meetings however, had I not known beforehand that Xplor were co-hosting the event I would not have known they had a presence there. On entering the conference centre (not through the main entrance) I did see an Xplor sign, though rather small, which made no reference to who Xplor were or what role they had to play during the conference.
Again I may have been somewhat blinkered but from my experience the marketing of Xplor was lacking.

By Kim Snell on Mar 23, 2008

The Xplor sessions on Document Production at the conference in Boston were pertinent to my projects for this year in document composition and redesign. They were well presented with excellent reference materials I was able to share with coworkers and of tremendous interest to me. The sessions on the use of colour in high volume transactional documents and the state of technology will influence my company's direction in the next couple of years. I was fascinated by the sessions on AFP and ACIF and was able to use the knowledge gained within a day of returning to the office. I wish only that I'd been able to attend more sessions and valued meeting so many knowledgeable people in the field.

Regarding the presence and signage of Xplor at the conference I will say that it was remarkable in its lack whether outside or inside the conference building. There seemed to be no awareness of Xplor on the part of hotels, shuttle buses, cabs or even within the conference building. I had the most remarkable difficulty even getting to the registration booth for Xplor with a conference staff person three times refusing to let me past him to get into the walkway that led to Xplor registration and sessions and instead redirecting me to the AIM/OnDemand registrations downstairs. This despite my showing him my form and pointing out on the small signage beside him that the room I was looking for was through the walkway he was blocking. Short of striking the elderly gentleman and pushing him aside I was reduced to asking the assistance of a lively lady in security to finally gain access to the walkway and thus the remotely located Xplor registration and session rooms. The sessions themselves and the intelligent people presenting and attending them made up for feeling part of a relegated group.