Bohemia, NY – Under an open-air canopy of sails with nearly 360 degree views of the surrounding San Diego waters, the 31st annual INFO*FLEX Exhibition welcomed 1,600 delegates from every segment of the packaging, printing and converting industry. The two-day, event took place April 29-30 at the San Diego Convention Center Sails Pavilion in San Diego, CA. 

With a record 205 exhibitors occupying 247 booth spaces, the expanded sold-out show floor solidified its reputation as the packaging, printing and converting industry’s most powerful networking and lead-generation event in North America.

Keeping its theme “A Gold Mine of Solutions” close to heart, the 1,600 attendees from 26 countries, some as far away as Ethiopia, filled the nine aisles looking for innovations and solutions that will separate them from their competition in a industry that requires higher productivity and efficiency.

Attendees issued positive statements on their post-event evaluations:

“Networking with a great group, seeing innovative products, and learning from other professionals pretty much sums up my experience!”

“INFO*FLEX is an excellent way for us to connect with our target market. We can let existing customers see what’s new, meet new prospects and renew industry contacts.” 

“INFO*FLEX is the highest value flexo tradeshow. Period.”

A red-carpeted display area, complete with velvet roping showcased the one-hundred-and-four winning print samples that resulted in Bronze, Gold, Silver or Best of Show designations from the 2013 Excellence in Flexography Awards Competition. A call to action was issued to observers of the gallery to start preparing and sending in their print samples for entry into the 2014 competition.

On Monday evening attendees and exhibitors continued their interactions at the heavily attended Social Blues Networking Reception that took place on the adjacent outside terrace overlooking the picturesque San Diego Bay. There they enjoyed the soulful vocals and spellbinding guitar riffs of one of the city’s finest blues ensembles, the Lafayette Blues Band. To add to the festivities, the event boasted cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres, a cigar bar, a mentalist, a photo fantasy booth, and a host of raffles including a Kindle, an iPad Mini and a check for $1,100. It was, by one attendee’s account, “a perfect way to carry on the networking in a more relaxed atmosphere.” 

At the exhibitor sign-up desk for INFO*FLEX 2014 FTA staffers were kept busy with future booth reservations for next year’s Baltimore-bound exhibition. All told, some 165-exhibit spaces (a INFO*FLEX resign record) were booked, representing a show-floor now 70 percent occupied.

Sponsors of the 2013 INFO*FLEX include: Eastman Kodak Co.; 3M; Anderson & Vreeland, Inc.; Degraf S.p.A.; DuPont Packaging Graphics; Sun Chemical Corp.; Max Daetwyler Corp.; Pamarco Global Graphics; Xeikon America; ACTEGA WIT; Marathon Solutions Inc.; Polimeros Sinteticos; Siegwerk USA Co.; Sonicor Inc.; Flint Group; Harper Corporation of America; MacDermid Printing Solutions; Flexo Wash LLC; ICE USA; Polymount U.S. LLC; and Perfect Proofer.

Next year’s INFO*FLEX Exhibition is slated for April 28-29, 2014 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, Maryland.