Raft of new features announced for FESPA 2013

FESPA has announced a number of new features for its 2013 event, scheduled to take place in London.  FESPA 2013 will host an array of features packed with interactive and educational content and will take visiting printers on a business journey to explore the wider opportunities of print.

First stop on the screen and digital printing travel itinerary, located in the North Hall, is the Jet Set conference. The content-led theatre, seating up to 100 delegates will be compiled of nine half day sessions across the duration of the show. The free sessions will address key areas of opportunity for today’s PSPs including, pre-press, workflow, finishing, textile printing, interiors, narrow format, promotional products, 3D printing, colour management, digital signage and printed electronics.

Next stop on the show floor and new to FESPA 2013 is the Promotional Products Business Academy (PPBA). In partnership with CTCO, the PPBA will bring the business opportunities of the promotional products market to the forefront of the minds of printers. The PPBA will offer visitors a market-entry brief to promotional products, including case studies of successful practitioners and companies showcasing the range of promotional products available through printing and personalisation. (Note to editors: see separate release re PPBA).

Travelling across the show floor, take a trip down the Print Inspiration Runway where you’ll find a collection of inspiring prints provided by printers and exhibiting companies showing how effective print can be across a variety of applications. Showcasing the latest special effects and clever applications of print all in one place, each piece featured along the runway will be accompanied by a case study describing how it was created and how effective it was for its intended purpose.

Visitors searching for a more hands-on experience during their trip to FESPA should visit Print Shop Live!, a unique platform of wide and narrow format print technologies from pre-press to production to finishing. This interactive feature offers production managers the chance to experience, test and learn the technical know-how of the latest technologies on the market.

If vehicle wraps and decoration excites you, then why not make a pit stop at the Wrap Cup Masters ‘World Cup Final’, this year it’s bigger than ever! Vehicle wrappers from around the world will descend on FESPA 2013 for the highly acclaimed title of ‘Global Wrap Cup Master’. The event will take place across four days, with the final taking over two days where winners from the regional shows since 2010 will compete for the global title. Global wrap experts will also be on hand to offer training to budding vehicle wrappers.

Looking to discover the power and potential of print? Then why not travel to the Creative Corner. Targeting designers, creative and brand directors, the Creative Corner aims to showcase what print can do, opening up the relationship between PSPs and end-users, while FESPA Fabric, the ‘show within a show’ for garment printing and decoration will interest printers considering a move into promotional wear or other garment applications. (Note to editors: see separate release re FESPA Fabric).

Next on the list of ‘must visit’ destinations is the Pilots Briefing Zone, located next to FESPA Fabric. Incorporating Charlie’s Corner, the briefing zone will include sessions specifically on garment decoration from leading industry individuals. Charlie Taublieb, will also be on-hand to lead sessions on certain techniques and providing practical demonstrations as well as advice on how to scale up your print operations.

Returning to FESPA 2013 is the Hall of Fame which highlights the ‘who’s who’ of leading printers across the global print community. This initiative which started at FESPA Digital 2012 will continue at the flagship London event, where the overall Global Printer of the Year will be announced, alongside the top five printers in each country. Printers are nominated by their peers for having pioneered a new approach or technology. The winners and top five nominees per country will be announced at the Awards Gala Dinner on the 27th June 2013.

Duncan MacOwan, head of events and new media, FESPA comments, “We have nine confirmed show features for FESPA 2013 - a mix of new and returning - designed to take visitors on a business trip to find a new Destination for Print. The show features are created with the aim to encourage and inspire PSP’s as they travel around the show discovering the many aspects of print, from multiple processes (screen, digital, etc) to diverse applications. Not just the theme of FESPA 2013, the campaign strapline is a call to action for printers around the world. A productive mix of knowledge-based and practical content, real life business examples will be presented, as well as a raft of new ideas to enable printers to explore opportunities and develop products and services that will benefit their customers, helping them increase the business bottom line.”

For more information about any of the features at FESPA 2013 and to sign up to take part in items such as the Wrap Cup Masters Series or to nominate a note worthy printer for the Hall of Fame, please visit http://www.fespa.com/london/en/features.