This September, for the first time in four years, the United States will be the site of the largest printing, publishing and converting industry trade show in the world. PRINT 01 will take place September 6-13 at the McCormick Place Complex in Chicago. PRINT shares a four-year rotation with major international exhibitions in other parts of the world, including drupa in Germany and IPEX in the United Kingdom. In the years it is scheduled, PRINT takes the place of the leading U.S. national exhibition, GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO. This year’s PRINT show is expected to attract visitors from more than 100 countries. Some 30 travel organizers in 20 nations are organizing group tours to the show, and information is being disseminated through U.S. Commercial Service offices in more than 100 nations. Formal delegations at PRINT are expected to range from the economic powers of the European community including Russia and Ukraine, the Asian community including China, India, Japan and Korea, as well as several Latin American nations including Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Awaiting all these international and domestic visitors will be the largest and most complete exhibition of printing, publishing and converting technologies staged in the United States since the last PRINT show in 1997. Up-to-date information and registration options are available at www.print01.com. "PRINT will offer U.S. visitors an opportunity to see many exhibitors who don’t routinely display their products in this country," says Regis J. Delmontagne, president of the Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), PRINT’s organizer. "It also offers worldwide visitors a close look at the best new products from American as well as international vendors. And U.S. companies who regularly participate in GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO are taking significantly larger spaces in PRINT 01 because of the opportunity to reach a large international audience." Vast size and scope All of these factors combine to drive the quadrennial PRINT show to its extraordinary size and scope, with about twice the exhibit space of the largest GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO events. PRINT 01 will occupy the North and South Halls of the McCormick Place Complex. The South Hall, devoted to presses, pressroom systems, finishing and converting products, will be the largest single hall ever devoted to a printing industry exhibition. Across the McCormick Place Grand Concourse, both levels in the North Hall will offer additional press system and converting displays, along with the year’s largest exhibition of digital prepress and prepublishing technologies. PRINT 01’s largest single exhibitor will be Heidelberg, with approximately 100,000 square feet. Xerox is second with nearly 50,000 square feet. The show’s top 10 exhibitors include MAN Roland, Komori, CreoScitex, Indigo America, KBA, Muller Martini, Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses and Agfa. More than 150 exhibitors are scheduled to mount displays of 1,000 net square feet or more. But GASC stresses that this roster of big booths only tells part of PRINT’s story. "PRINT is also the premier venue in the world this year for start-ups, new market entries, and small companies seeking to reach large markets with new ideas," Delmontagne says. Often these smaller, less familiar exhibitors offer some of the most exciting discoveries for PRINT attendees, he adds. Where trends create opportunities PRINT arrives in Chicago at a particularly promising time in terms of major technological trends. Coming about 16 months after drupa 2000, PRINT will present market-ready products that have evolved from technological demonstrations and prototypes seen at the German show. PRINT also comes at a time when adoption of digital workflows is spreading rapidly throughout the industry, with profound results. Among the major themes of PRINT’s exhibits will be: • New presses and pressroom systems that combine high quality with extensive automation to boost productivity as never before. These displays will embrace sheetfed and web offset, flexography, gravure, and other technologies. • Digital workflows that unite all steps and processes in print design and production in a single data flow, and link print to other elements of the broad communications and marketing environment. • Digital printing, in both toner-based variable data (VDP) and direct imaging configurations. Both strategies are being widely adopted throughout the industry, and many thousands of company managers will look at PRINT to inform and support their investment decisions in this area. • Package printing and converting. Continuing the strong trend of GASC events in the 1990s, PRINT will bring the closely related printing and converting disciplines side by side so that specialists in both areas can explore all the opportunities created by their convergence. The largest show educational program ever PRINT is also a premier educational forum for the industry. This year’s program of more than 90 sessions is being organized by Prof. Frank Romano, of Rochester Institute of Technology, and it features: • 81 seminars in five tracks: business, production, packaging/converting, tools and prepublishing • Three brunch presentations, on e-commerce, workflows, and the future of the printed product • Three general sessions focusing on key industry trends • Five moderated panels of industry vendors, as well as five moderated user panels, discussing computer-to-plate, direct imaging, digital printing, e-business and workflow In addition, GASC will stage a full-day conference on September 5, the day before the show opens, entitled EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK. This conference explores the theme "Profits Through Technology - A PRINT Odyssey" and will offer both general sessions and breakouts designed to help participants approach the huge show halls more effectively. This year’s MUST SEE ’EMS - chosen by a panel of industry experts as the most compelling and interesting things to see at PRINT 01 - will be unveiled at the conclusion of EXECUTIVE OUTLOOK. Serving a global audience Six special events have been planned at PRINT 01 for international attendees: • The Official International Print Conference Opening on Thursday, September 6 • Asian Pacific Day on September 7 • Latin American Day on September 8 • Canadian Day, September 9 • European Day, September 10 • Middle East and African Day, September 11 Each of these events will feature a conference program with presentations of market conditions and trends in the focus region. About one-third of the international attendance at PRINT 97 came from Latin America, confirming again the show’s emergence as the dominant event in the Western Hemisphere. Europe and the Asia/Pacific region, however, each accounted for one-quarter of all international attendance, reflecting the show’s truly global attraction. The PRINT 01 exhibit floor will be equally international in flavor. The German Pavilion is among the show’s largest displays. Other international organizations staging displays at PRINT 01 include Abigraf, the Brazilian Graphic Industry Association; ACIMGA, the Italian manufacturers’ association; AMEC-ENVASGRAF, the Spanish Packaging and Printing Machinery Manufacturers Association; ANIDIGRAF, the industry association in Mexico; and the Japan Printing Machinery Manufacturers Association. PRINT will also feature a Canadian Pavilion organized by Canadian Printer magazine. "In its international scope, its comprehensiveness, and its commitment to showcasing the most important new developments, PRINT is truly the show of the year for 2001," says Delmontagne. He adds, however, that advance planning is essential to assure a successful show visit. Not only will the exhibition itself require significant time to explore, but both hotel and air travel accommodations will become more difficult to book as the event draws nearer. Complete information about PRINT 01 is available at www.print01.com or from the Graphic Arts Show Company, 1899 Preston White Drive, Reston, VA 20191-4367, Telephone: (703) 264-7200, Fax: (703) 620-9187, E-mail: [email protected], Internet: www.gasc.org. A Fax-on-Demand service is available at 888/920-GASC for U.S. and Canadian callers.