Our first impression was that it was a smallish show compared to the huge Chinese, European and US shows and even our own combined graphic arts shows that now take place in Australia. Having said that it did seem to attract good crowds on all three days,
albeit we don’t have the official numbers.
What was a little disturbing for the organisers was the quite large numbers of unsold stands that were converted to “Seating Areas” for the visitors.
In spite of the size of the show, it had the honour of being the launch pad for several products and attracting many of the big names in the industry. To name a few; HP, Roland DG, Oce, Agfa, Mimaki, Mutoh, EFI, FujiFilm, d.gen, EskoArtwork plus many more.
There seemed to be a good contingent of Australian visitors mingling amongst the Asian majority (forgive the politically incorrectness of that statement considering that our government is trying to convince us that we are all Asian now). There were also several Australian suppliers at the show to help out their Asian associates.
The seminar program at FESPA Asia was divided into three, with the first two segments being devoted to the CSGIA (Chinese Screenprinting and Graphic Imaging Association). The last segment being given to the broader and more generic digital arena. Our own Keith Ferrel of Cactus Imaging delivered a paper entitled “Meeting the colour management challenge for global brands" during this segment.
Overall, a nice compact show that hopefully will grow and be successful for all concerned.