Commercial, display and sign printers showed up to Visual Impact last week to check out the latest wide format kit and hear from industry experts in Melbourne.
Attendance at the attached seminar series was more varied with some sessions packed out and others with only a handful turning up.
Organisers are not saying how many visitors attended, but say 2200 people pre-registered for the show, up 76 per cent on last time, and about 1000 walked in on the first day.
Not everyone who registered is likely to have actually attended, but the organisers say the number usually doubles with walk-ins and after day one expectations were for another 3000-4000.
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Exhibitors told ProPrint that by day two some stands were so busy with potential customers they barely had time for lunch breaks. The show was a three day event.
Some 80 suppliers and associations had stands, though there were some notable absences and some manufacturers had small stands with few if any machines.
Most products had already been launched at PrintEx15 or Fespa Europe, but several were making their Australian debut, like the Mimaki TS300P-1800 dye sublimation printer, Gotx-2190 fabric printer, and two Trotec laser cutters.
The suppliers uniformly say trade shows are important to be at because it allows a large number potential customers to see a wide selection of their kit at once, and many reported a few sales off the stand.
Visual Connections trade show general manager Peter Harper says events like Visual Impact are essential to printers keeping their businesses up to date and profitable.
“There’s no opportunity like a trade show to really see, touch and feel the solutions and to discuss the ideas and options with experts, to evaluate how they compare and – most importantly – how they might work for your specific business and situation,” he says.
“Given how time-poor most business people are in this very competitive and challenging market, it was great to see such a high number of decision makers taking the time out of their week to invest in their businesses by exploring the latest technology, systems and ideas in the market.”
Easily the most attended events were the ASGA Wrap Masters National Challenge final, and several car wrapping demonstrations – showing the growth of that section of the industry.
The next Visual Impact will be held in Brisbane next April.
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