While the committee vote went against the recommendation of show organiser Messe Düsseldorf, as revealed by PrintWeek last month, Drupa director Manuel Mataré was sanguine about the decision.
“The industry changed our minds,” said Mataré. “There are personal opinions and there is the mirror of the industry and the mirror of the industry was quite clear.”
Many exhibitors lobbied for the show to remain at four years as they feared a switch to a three-year cycle would have increased their costs at a time when their margins were already under sustained pressure.
However, while Mataré said he fully accepted the committee’s decision, he added it was a show organiser’s duty to constantly review its offering and hinted that the show’s cycle could re-emerge as a topic of discussion after 2016.
“There were challenges and risks [with moving to a three-year cycle from 2015] and one day we will see if that decision on Friday reflected the picture of the past two or three months, or maybe in two years’ time we will know better or perhaps we will confirm that [four years] was the right decision.”
While the show’s 2016 date is now set in stone, Mataré stressed that any future cycle change would have to be the “right thing for the industry and depended on the timing”. It would also be something for his successor, Sabine Geldermann, who takes over after a six-month handover that begins in January, to decide with Messe Düsseldorf and the committee and in consultation with exhibitors and visitors.
“The big players in the industry gave us this picture [to stay at four years], but there are mid-sized ones and continental European vendors that are disappointed. We know of quite a number of disappointed exhibitors,” said Mataré.
While a minority of Drupa exhibitors may be disappointed that the event remains glued to its four-year cycle for now, the switch to a shorter 11-day show duration is more likely to be universally welcomed.
“We appreciate the decision of the Drupa committee to retain the four-year cycle. What’s more, the abbreviation to 11 days will even provide an improved focus for the show,” said Adriana Nuneva, senior vice-president global marketing and communications at Heidelberg.
This was echoed by HP’s Graphics Solutions Business vice-president, marketing and strategy, Sumeer Chandra: “We feel this is good news, and are pleased the Drupa organisers listened to feedback from the industry in making this decision. Four years remains consistent with R&D cycles for major platform introductions.”
The show will run from 31 May to 10 June 2016.
Werner Matthias Dornscheidt, chief executive of Messe Düsseldorf, said the move to a shorter duration reflected the changing needs of exhibitors and visitors, and the evolving demographic of the latter group.
“At this year’s Drupa, 78% of the international visitors and 52% of German visitors came from top management; respectively, this is four and five percentage points more than in 2008. This makes running over two weekends unnecessary. With 11 days – one weekend and nine working days – we perfectly cater to the needs of both supply and demand,” Dornscheidt added.
The decision to leave the show’s cycle at four years will also be welcomed by rival exhibitions, as a move to three years could have had far-reaching ramifications for other events on the global print calendar in the short term, including Ipex 2014 and Igas in 2015. It would also have raised the spectre longer term of many events having to amend their cycles in line with Drupa’s now aborted proposed new format.
This article originally appeared at printweek.com
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