Last week’s Visual Impact/Image Expo, held at Melbourne Showground, closed with most exhibitors proclaiming it a success.
This was despite the last minute staging problems experienced by organisers.
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View of hall |
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Alupanel had a busy stand |
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Tony Coniglio of Conect Enterprises |
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Matthew Speck and Denni Slorach of iMedia. |
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Glenn Conyers, general manager of Project Engraving and Digital |
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Peter Harper, general manager of VISA in front of a newly wrapped helicopter. |
Although a pocket Expo in size compared to its Sydney sister show last year and the upcoming PacPrint in May, exhibitors who took part seemed happy with the numbers and the quality of visitors to the two-day event.
Visual Industries Suppliers’ Association (VISA) general manager, Peter Harper, said the Expo had been put together almost at the last moment as their original plan, for the Expo to be held in conjunction with PacPrint, had fallen through after protracted negotiations.
“Despite the setback, we decided to press on with a standalone show to comply with the wishes of many of our members, who have been anxious to tap into the Melbourne market. The last VI/Image expo down here was nearly three years ago and we wanted to show the flag to Victorian consumers.”
Only four large format exhibitors eventually took part in the show but 145 exhibition booths, representing 50 exhibitors, were open, selling, selling mainly signage accessories, engraving services and consumables. Overall, exhibitors interviewed by Wide Format Online were enthusiastic about the numbers – nearly 1500 over the two days – and the quality of visitors. Its popularity seems not to have been affected by its Flemington location, which VISA was forced to accept due to bookings at more convenient locations.
Tony Coniglio, whose Conect Enterprises, had the largest wide format stand, with three Roland printers - the Versa UV LEC-300, a VersaCAMM VP-540 and a Soljet Pro111 XC540 – said Conect had registered at least 30 requests for quotes. “I believe we should be able to close about half of those, which makes it a very successful exercise for us,” he said.
“I have to say we were pleasantly surprised. On the first day we couldn’t keep pace with the number of visitors to the stand, most of whom were knowledgeable about the products and the output. The types of questions we were asked were about prices of consumables and the cost of production. We were also asked about environmental considerations, which are becoming much more common these days.”
The only debut at the show was on the BiWise stand with director Bill Jones exhibiting a Mimaka JV33-160BS and its range of low price replaceable ink packs.
“Our message to the industry is that low price inks can save them thousands over the life of the machine. I’m happy say that the visitors we’ve met seem knowledgeable and able to grasp the concepts we’re presenting,” he said.
iMedia, a distributor of wide format solutions, says it sold its Epson GS6000 off the stand as testament to its success at the expo.
Matthew Speck says iMedia’s exhibit was smaller than their showing at the Sydney event but the leads they have received have been of equal quality. To cash in on the exposure, Speck says iMedia is planning an open day at its local office in Scoresby, and will invite those contacts they made at Flemington.
“What we noticed at this show was that the general level of expertise of visitors was very high. These are knowledgeable people who don’t roll up just to watch the machines working. They want to know about how that machine will fit in with their workflow.”
The fourth wide format exhibitor, Project Engraving and Digital, organised its stand around a Roland DFP-740 dye sublimation inkjet printer, and says it has been asked to present at least four or five quotes.
“Given the price of the machine, that’s an excellent result for Project,” says general manager Glenn Conyers. “it’s been a great show. We’re very happy.”
Peter Harper says that while VISA is gratified with the results obtained in Melbourne, he expects that VISA will look at Melbourne slightly differently from now on.
“Melbourne is a great market for our members and we have to work towards making our southern expo as successful as the ones we hold in Sydney and the Gold Coast,” he said.
“We’re doing Sydney this year in conjunction with POPAI, which should add to the numbers of visitors and exhibitors. We haven’t even gone online as yet and the show is already more than 75% booked out. Perhaps we could join forces with them in Melbourne as well for our next southern expo.”
Visual Industries Suppliers Association
www.visa.org.au
