With over 1,250 participants, the fifth edition of the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION successfully closed in Düsseldorf, Germany. The event was again an important platform for multichannel and dialog marketing. The focus was on sustainable media production, programmatic print and value-added printing. The unique concept of congress and trade show ensured a communicative and busy atmosphere and enabled long-awaited networking and knowledge transfer at the booths and the presentations. The annual industry event has not only firmly established itself in the German-speaking region - many visitors also came from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

“The atmosphere was excellent! Compared to the previous event, we were able to record an increase of over 50% in the number of participants. That's a top result”, said Rüdiger Maaß, Managing Director of Fachverband Medienproduktion (f:mp.). “And we managed to bring the right target groups together to network and exchange ideas intensively. It was a wonderfully inspiring two days - not only for us, but also for the entire industry!”

Extensive program

Nine theme worlds, four stages, 50 top-class speakers, 19 half-hour presentations each day and 63 international exhibitors - including DATEV, Deutsche Post, FKS, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Mondi, Xerox and HP - offered participants future-oriented content on the potential of digital printing applications, multichannel solutions, creative finishing and sustainable packaging solutions.

Highlight projects show the fascination of print

Visitors were particularly interested in the seven highlight projects which f:mp. realized with its partners. These projects represent hands-on best practice and thus reflect the special unique selling point of the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION: a "hands-on" trade show with concrete and practical application examples.

Next generation of Print

In order to get new and young target groups interested in print and packaging, the Media Production Association and Messe Düsseldorf, as organizers of the congress trade show, cooperated with the Fritz-Henßler-Berufskolleg (FHBK) from Dortmund, the Stuttgart Media University, the Akademie für Mode & Design (AMD) Düsseldorf and the Berufskolleg Bachstraße from Düsseldorf. The young talents of tomorrow were able to find out directly from the experts at the booths and in the lectures about the fascinating applications of print and packaging in modern and sustainable media production.

“Even in the digital age, print is highly relevant and indispensable in its many facets - we want to convey this to the younger generation in particular,” explained Sabine Geldermann, Project Director Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf. “The response from students and trainees was very good. The demand for information is extraordinarily high! Young people want direct access to the market and want to experience live what potential print has to offer.” 

For this reason, the organizers are planning to increase investment in the skilled workers of tomorrow even further for the next edition of PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION. For example, it is planned to offer “Youngster Talent Recruitment” for prospective trainees and interested companies while a “Start-up Area” will connect established companies with young and innovative newcomers.

The sixth edition of the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION will take place in May 2023 in Düsseldorf, Germany (before drupa 2024). For further information on visiting or exhibiting at PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION 2023, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America; Telephone: (312) 781-5180; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit https://www.printdigitalconvention.de/en, www.drupa.com/en/drupa_global and www.mdna.com.

PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION 2022 Exhibitor Statements:

Frank Siegel, Managing Director Obility GmbH
“The PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION presented itself as the perfect marketplace for the graphic arts industry. Everyone was there: brand owners, buyers, production people, printing companies and suppliers. This advantage paid off for us in concrete terms.

We were able to demonstrate how print stores can process jobs much faster and more cost-effectively with our modern ERP/MIS system and make their work easier for their customers with integrated customer stores, web-to-print and job interfaces. These advantages of digitized business processes were reported to us by visitors. So we are now looking forward to follow-up appointments and certainly interesting projects.”

Christian Kulhanek, Key Account Manager Digital & Print Solutions DATEV eG
“You can literally feel that there is more dynamism and movement in the industry again. The desire to network and exchange ideas has increased. This shows that the digital solution is not the only one - it's the mix that counts! I see myself as a digital print bridge builder.

The audience at the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION was broad and thus perfectly matched DATEV's equally broad range of products and services. It was a matter close to our heart to present our trainee project "DATEV Cookbook" at the fair - presented by the trainees themselves. The special thing about it: The entire process of creating the cookbook was implemented independently by our junior staff from A to Z.”

Sebastian Hardung, Director Alliances & Marketing print Group / Werk II Medien- und Informationsgesellschaft mbH
“As a long-standing exhibitor at the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION and a strategic partner of f:mp., we are delighted to be present again this year. For us, the trade show is a place of encounters and it is here that you notice that the industry wants to meet and exchange ideas again. We are noticing more and more in the market that print as a medium is no longer being declared dead but has arrived in the mainstream of digital marketing. As a software manufacturer, we are all the more pleased to accompany the further development of partners and customers. That's why we also joined the Programmatic Print Alliances (PPA) in January.”

Kim Niemeyer, Marketing & Communication, Ing. Fritz Schroeder GmbH & Co. KG, Barsbüttel
“The industry get-together shows once again that print is alive and how print can be experienced. We are delighted to be part of the PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION and to help shape the mix of technology, knowledge transfer and networking. For FKS, this year's event was all about Industry 4.0, because automation and networking are the be-all and end-all of efficient process design these days. We were also able to present a European premiere for our B2 solution in the area of multifinishing. We held exciting discussions on all aspects of printing, postpress and intelligent process design and thus jointly developed and took away valuable inspiration and innovative ideas.”

Bernhard Cantzler, Head of Marketing & Innovation at Mondi Uncoated Fine Paper
“At this year's PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION, we were able to hold exciting personal discussions with representatives from industry, retail and brand manufacturers. We also received positive feedback from numerous visitors about the interesting presentations. Here, for example, we were able to connect very well with the sustainability presentations with the fact that all Mondi own brands such as PERGRAPHICA® or Color Copy are Cradle to Cradle Certified® Bronze. A huge compliment to the excellent organization, which allows us to focus on our core competence: Advising customers on paper selection.”

Mirko Pelzer, Offering Manager Professional Printing Konica Minolta
“The PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION is a driver of innovation. Various companies and industries show here how the graphic arts industry will produce tomorrow. And all this in a familiar atmosphere with many and good opportunities for networking. That's why Konica Minolta has been part of the event since the very first edition. We also have a traditional and longstanding partnership with f:mp.

The PRINT & DIGITAL CONVENTION is something special: The focus is not on the pure sale of machines, but rather on demonstrating solutions and application possibilities. To this end, Konica Minolta has implemented GLAMPRINT - a symbiosis of glamour and print. Here we can show all printing options and solutions that are possible in extended four-color printing. The focus for us is to offer the customer added value. This year, we were particularly pleased that many young students and trainees visited the trade show.”