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Cary Sherburne:  Hi.  I'm Cary Sherburne, senior editor at WhatTheyThink.com and I'm here with Deb Hutcheson, director of marketing, from AGFA Graphics.  I'm so happy to see you.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Yeah, nice to see you again, too.

Cary Sherburne:  Yeah.  So, we're here coming up on Drupa 2012; director of marketing, you probably already have been planning for quite a while.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Yes, we're well under the way.

Cary Sherburne:  And so maybe you can talk a little bit about why you think this is an important show as an exhibitor and then what should attendees be looking for when they go.  Why would they even go in the first place?

Deborah Hutcheson:  Well, first of all, from an exhibitor's perspective, we really look at Drupa as a way to launch new technologies and from all the manufacturers I think we set the trend for the next four years.  So if when a customer comes to Drupa, they're really looking at what is going to be in the market for the next few years.  You'll see technologies launched and they'll test market.  They may never make it to the light of day but then you'll see new technologies really take off.  And I think that's the most exciting part about Drupa and it is, from our perspective, it's a big selling show.

Cary Sherburne:  Yeah.

Deborah Hutcheson:  You know, it's a major investment, but it's a very big selling show.

Cary Sherburne:  And you know, one of the nice things about Drupa is they have some great tools to help people plan again because you can't just show up at that show.

Deborah Hutcheson:  No.

Cary Sherburne:  You have to plan it ahead.

Deborah Hutcheson:  The one tip for Drupa is get a good pair of shoes.  A very comfortable...

Cary Sherburne:  Or two.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Or two.  That's right.  But you do want to make sure that you plan ahead, and I think it's important that, A, you know your business.  You really have at least a plan of where you want to take your business because it's a great opportunity to talk to all of these manufacturers and understand what the technology is, where that fits with your business, and where you can -- where it's going in the future.  So, plan ahead, you know.  Have an idea of where you want to be.  It's too big just to wander the halls without knowing who you want to see and, you know, what you want to accomplish.

Cary Sherburne:  And also getting appointments ahead of time is important.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Yeah, very much.  They book up very early.

Cary Sherburne:  So, companies should -- in January and February -- they should be having their internal strategy sessions for planning for the next five years or whatever and then that's a basis for that to go.

Deborah Hutcheson:  For where they're going to go, right.  And the manufacturers will too.  You'll start to see leaks come out, you know, early in the year just to sort of what the appetite of what Drupa's going to be all about.

Cary Sherburne:  Well terrific.  Thank you.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Thank you.

Cary Sherburne:  I look forward to seeing you there.

Deborah Hutcheson:  Absolutely.  Thank you.

 

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