Much has been written about drupa in the trade press but for newcomers to the event nothing really prepares you for what you find when you get here. This is now my eighth drupa and my sixth as a journalist coming here. My first two were as a vendor. I have to admit I’m a ‘drupa junkie.’ I just love coming here. I may even come again in 2012!

The first thing that a newcomer will find is the scale of the event. If you are used to going to GraphExpo or Print at McCormack Place in Chicago then you are in for a shock. You could get the whole of one of those events into just a few of the halls at drupa. Here in Düsseldorf there are if I recall twenty halls, and most are quite large. I am here for two weeks and it is unlikely I will get into more than ten of the halls. drupa however is more than just the halls. It is all about the whole drupa community. There is as much happening outside the halls as in them. There are Bavarian beer restaurants, Indian restaurants, etc all built in the outside areas just for the event. There is even a beach area between two halls laid out with umbrellas, beach chairs etc for people to relax in the sun. Unlike other events like GraphExpo socializing is a key element of drupa and at lunch-time the beer and bratwurst bars are full.

For one company in particular, Heidelberg, this event is the key for their business operations. The whole management team moves lock stock and barrel from Heidelberg to Düsseldorf. For the management it is not like some US vendors where the Chairman and CEO will make a flying one-day visit to see the troops and perhaps sign a key order. Heidelberg’s management team is here for the duration. The event is that important for them. Heidelberg also offers the best customer support of all vendors. They build, just for the duration of the event, one of the best restaurants in Düsseldorf. Each lunch-time they have two sittings for up to 300 people, and in the evening one sitting with a quality entertainment programme.

For the press every journalist will tell you that there is nothing in the world of print trade shows that compares with the Messe Düsseldorf Press Center. We are looked after really well. We have excellent food at very good prices. The beer and wine is also good and at low price. The facilities are excellent with free WiFi and many Internet terminals. One thing however does worry me, is just how many journalists there appear to be. We are told that there are over 2,000 registered press members at drupa. The regular print trade press journalists are all there but then there are also journalists I have never seen before. These journalists never appear to leave the press center, never seem to write anything and certainly never go to a press conference or appear to visit the halls. They do however for week one of drupa get the best tables in the press center and are first in the lunch queue. Now we are at the second weekend of drupa and all of these ‘new’ journalists have disappeared. It is just the real ‘hardcore’ of the print trade press that remain. I can now afford the time to have lunch without having to wait in the queue for twenty minutes or more. The lunches here are well worth being a member of the press to receive.

One thing that the American visitors find strange is the train and buses are how most people travel. A drupa ticket gives you free travel all around the area on buses and trains. There are taxis but why use them when public transport is quicker and certainly much cheaper? It may also come as a shock to find the $US does not seem to go very far particularly as for two weeks at drupa is open season for price increases in many areas, particularly hotels. When a room at The Hilton may normally cost under $300 a night for drupa expect to double that during drupa.

Another thing to show the size of drupa is there is a bus service internally between the halls. If you are walking around as most of us do you have to watch your back from the buses. There is also the Audi VIP Service. This is a number of high-quality full specification Audi A8 cars (like a better quality Lincoln Town Car) that drive VIPs to drupa and between the halls. I wonder what constitutes a VIP as so far nobody has asked me if I need to be driven around!

So now as we enter the final few days of this event the halls are not quite so busy and all the vendor sponsored press and social events are over. The press can finally get down to really scouring the halls for new developments and finishing their event coverage. I shall continue blogging to the end and I may even identify the hot product of drupa that no other journalist has identified. The quest continues.

Keep blogging!