March 31, 2008 -- FESPA has acquired all rights to the imageWorld event (Centro Banamex, Mexico City, 21-23 August 2008) from ST Media Group International, with the aim of expanding the event under a new brand – FESPA Mexico World Expo.

imageWorld has established itself over the past decade as Mexico's leading trade show for the sign making, screenprinting and digital imaging industries.  FESPA assumes complete responsibility for all sales, marketing and operations of the event with immediate effect, though ST Media will remain involved with the show in a consultative capacity over a five-year period.

The show, which will run to its original schedule in August under the new FESPA Mexico World Expo brand, already has 3100m2 of allocated space, including prominent industry brands such as Canon, EFI VUTEk, Fujifilm Sericol, Gandi Innovations and HP.   FESPA's first move as the event's new owner has been to expand the available floor space by 25% to accommodate demand from first-time exhibitors, and to reinforce its investment in promotional activity to attract the highest calibre audience of decision makers to the event.

FESPA managing director Frazer Chesterman explains, "In recent years, in response to clear demand from the marketplace, FESPA has demonstrated a commitment to expanding our event portfolio into strong emerging markets.  These include, for example, the successful launches of FESPA India and its Digital spin-off, and the forthcoming FESPA Asia-Pacific event.

"Like these markets, demand for wide format print is booming in Mexico.  The economic and political landscape is more stable than ever, and the time is right for FESPA to branch out into the region.  imageWorld has established itself as a successful forum for the Mexican imaging market.  Now, our ambition is to expand the show, appealing to a broader community of screen printers, signmakers and digital print service providers, as well as textile and garment manufacturers in Mexico and the wider Latin American market."

FESPA Mexico World Expo will be co-ordinated by FESPA event manager Michael Ryan, who has been pivotal to the growth of FESPA's shows, both in Europe and in other emerging markets such as India.    As part of FESPA's in-house events team, Michael has contributed to the growth of the FESPA exhibitions, including a sell-out FESPA Digital show in Europe, and brought two successive Indian events to fruition.  The last international FESPA event in Berlin in June 2007 attracted a record-breaking 24,232 visitors, including 300 from Latin America.

Mike, a Spanish speaker, will be supported locally by Humberto Garcia, ST Media's local representative for the show, who will continue to handle Latin American advertising sales for Signs of the Times and Screen Printing en espa-ol, the region's leading publication for the signage and graphics industries. Michael and Humberto will both have the support of FESPA's exhibition organising team, based in the UK.  FESPA board member Ricardo Rodriguez Delgado will take on an ambassadorial role for FESPA in the region, with a focus on cultivating relationships with the printing community in the region, including trade bodies, vendors, distributors and service providers.  A former president of FESPA, Ricardo has been closely involved with the organisation and its Iberian associations for many years.