The recent debut of digi:media in Düsseldorf, Germany was extremely successful: The approximately 170 exhibitors and 6,100 visitors unanimously praised the format of the new trade fair for commercial printing and digital publishing and welcomed the initiative of Messe Düsseldorf to launch a new trade show one year before drupa 2012.

Kai Büntemeyer, CEO at Kolbus GmbH & Co. KG, commented: "I am really excited about digi:media. This exhibition format works. It offers a forum for conversations at a new level. And this is rewarded by sufficient quantities of visitors with decision-making competence." Frank Beinhold, founder of the Munich based advertising agency S.A.M. and exhibitor at digi:media, added: "To me, Messe Düsseldorf's decision to create  a cross-media format such as digi:media is a very courageous and innovative approach in a market as fragmented as in Germany."

During the three day event, visitors from 29 nations were presented with a wide range of technologies for the No. 1 topic in this industry – printing in the mobile age of e-Books, iPads and Facebook. "Although we positioned digi:media to target the German-speaking and Benelux countries to start with, visitors from 29 nations came to experience the trade fair debut. From talking to the exhibitors we know that even very high-ranking decision makers from overseas, such as from the U.S., travelled to Düsseldorf specifically to attend digi:media," stated Hans Werner Reinhard, Deputy Managing Director of Messe Düsseldorf." The international trade press for this sector was also very interested in digi:media: 314 journalists from 19 countries were accredited for the trade fair.        

The digi:media strategy to bring all the target groups together and to initiate interdisciplinary exchange proved especially successful. Print and media service providers as well as advertising and creative agencies, marketing decision-makers and publishers used digi:media as a platform to gather information about the connection between the media channels print, web and mobile communication.

The ancillary program consisting of 13 congresses, seminars and workshops with 170 speakers was also very well received. Especially popular were the Media Mundo Congress for sustainable media production, the conference organized by the "Deutsche Akademie des Buchhandels" and the lectures at the Adobe stages.  

Statements about digi:media 2011:
Michael Mittelhaus, Consultant
"I am pleasantly surprised that the concept has proven to be right and was valuable to both content and hardware suppliers. I am also positively surprised by the amount of business done here. It was a brave decision by Messe Düsseldorf to launch this concept one year before drupa. My impression is that this concept has a future."
 
Karl Saueressig, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
"Apart from concrete deals concluded for Heidelberg's entire product portfolio including the new Ricoh press, numerous promising sales projects were initiated. Heidelberg presented solutions for combining offset and digital printing. At digi:media we met many of our regular customers who are already supplying advertising agencies and print buyers with innovative printed products. Both our established products and, of course, our new digital printing solutions were very well accepted by the expert audience."
 
 
Bertram Störch, Hewlett Packard
"Our impression of digi:media is very positive overall: very good conversations, very good attendance. The trade fair concept "Content meets Technology meets Business" was right on target. We also have to address content providers with our products. And of course Düsseldorf is admittedly the best trade fair location in Germany – if not in all of Central Europe."           
 
Peter Berger, Horizon
"We are very happy with the results of digi:media. We reach our customer here. This is the marketplace to meet both customers and colleagues. digi:media has clearly exceeded our expectations. The foundation for another successful digi:media has been laid."
 
Christian Seitz, manroland
"The digi:media format works. The mix of visitors was good, their quality was extremely high. And the visitors stayed in the hall for a long time. It was obviously the right decision to bring lectures and catering into the hall. We will definitely be part of the next event again."
 
Daragan Nolic, Müller Martini
"For us, participating at digi:media as an exhibitor was a logical step. digi:media is a good opportunity for all target groups involved in the workflow – from pre-press and print service providers to post-press operations. The dialogue with marketers and agencies will be even more decisive in the future."
 
Matthias Naumann, Schmitz-Weiss Werbeagentur
"We are positively amazed overall. As an advertising agency we are in a mediator's position here and have received very positive feedback so far. A big benefit is surely the compact range of products; the visitors have plenty of time to spend at the individual stands."
 
Albrecht Brenner, Xerox
"The concept of not focusing on technology alone but presenting it in conjunction with content and business has convinced us 100%. Demonstrating the complete workflow is decisive here. Xerox implemented the idea of digi:media 1:1 at its stand."
 
In 2012, digi:media will be an integral part of drupa, print media trade fair (May 3 - 16 in Düsseldorf, Germany) but will be held again as a separate event from April 11 - 13, 2013 in Düsseldorf.  For further information on visiting or exhibiting at  drupa 2012 and/or digi:media 2013, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: [email protected]; Visit our web site http://www.mdna.com; Subscribe to our blog at http://blog.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/mdnachicago