Drupa always lands in an Olympic year. The slogan of Sydney 2000 was “Share the Spirit” and Drupa 2012 will have the same feeling, in terms of new possibilities and cooperation. We will see outstanding examples of vendors working together. Drupa 2012 will be all about partnerships.

In July, I got to experience another of the great Drupa connections – our relationship with Aussies and New Zealanders. I was ‘down under’ for the Drupa Roadshow, which took place in Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland. It was good to meet old friends and make some new ones.

There are many loyal followers of Drupa in ANZ; maybe this is because the countries are so remote. People make a real effort to come to the show. Of those
who attended our roadshows, 80% had attended Drupa in the past. The benefit for us as the organisers is that these are the evangelists who tell others.

During my trip, the enthusiasm about the show really stood out. Here in Germany, some people are reluctant to talk about the future of print. In Australia and New Zealand, I felt like I was talking to the optimists. It was very clear that while people accept the industry is changing, people feel there is a definite future for printing. There are challenges, but there are also opportunities.

Drupa is the birthplace of new technology. There is a saying: ‘someone will go to Drupa – if you don’t, it will be your competitor’. The people I spoke to said they wanted to come to the expo to see what’s coming, before their competitors do.

There have been plenty of discussions in the past about offset versus digital. It is now clear there is no more discussion: digital has arrived and will work in conjunction with offset. You will see this at Drupa.

There will be world firsts, you can count on that. A lot of them will be surprises. One we do know about is the appearance of the new company run by Benny Landa, the father of digital print.

You will also see exciting ideas at the Drupa Innovation Parc, the space devoted to start-up companies. When we launched this section in 2004, there were 30 exhibitors. In 2008, there were 150. Next year, who knows? Drupa Innovation Parc exhibitors are always the latest to book. They are small vendors; some probably don’t know even know they will be at Drupa.

But other than this, we are totally booked out. Yes, we will miss some names who were here in the past. Some companies have vanished. Others have merged. But all the big names will be there along, with plenty of surprising new vendors.

Can you afford not to make the trip? Because there’s a good chance your competitors will be there.

And if you need one last sweetener to convince you, remember the exchange rate. The currency conversion makes it favourable to get a bargain. And I don’t mean just products: you can get three beers in Düsseldorf for the price of one in Sydney!

Manuel Mataré is exhibition director of Drupa

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