The Graphic Arts Merchants Association of Australia (GAMAA) and the Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) have announced that PacPrint13 and Visual Impact Image Expo (VIIE) will co-locate in Melbourne in 2013. This follows on from a successful partnership between PrintEx11 and VIIE, owned by the Visual Industries Suppliers Association (VISA) in Sydney last year.
PacPrint is Australia’s premier print and graphic communications exhibition presented by GAMAA and Printing Industries, while VIIE, presented by VISA, is the showcase for the display and visual graphics industries.
The two exhibitions will run at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre from 21 – 25 May, 2013 for what promises to be one of the most comprehensive shows this country has seen for the print, graphic communications and visual graphics industries in Australia...all under one roof.
Organisers Reed Exhibitions confirm that the branding and registrations for the two shows will remain separate but the exhibition space itself will be completely open, allowing visitors to move freely between the two shows.
Ian Martin, President of GAMAA and also PacPrint13 Chairman, joined with Karen Goldsmith, Executive Director of GAMAA, Peter Harper, General Manager of VISA, Susan Heaney, President of Printing Industries and PacPrint13 Board Member, and Bill Healey, CEO of Printing Industries to make the joint announcement today in a move which cements the very positive trend for major industry bodies to work more closely together.
“We’re delighted to continue the very successful partnership established at PrintEx11 in Sydney, which demonstrated the value of co-operating to provide visitors with a truly comprehensive offering that covers the full spectrum of our dynamic and fast-moving industry,” Martin said.
“By combining our resources in an open environment, visitors will be able to see the latest advances and gather the best advice across the broad print and visual communications market, creating an outstanding experience and ensuring that both visitors and exhibitors reap a return on their investment of time and resources.”
“We recognise that there are many important synergies between PacPrint and VIIE. The co-location provides an enormous opportunity to share information, ideas and resources.”
Harper agrees, saying that VIIE is a perfect complement to the PacPrint13 show...and vice versa.
“We’re delighted to be co-operating with GAMAA and Printing Industries to bring the industry a complete showcase of the latest technology, equipment, ideas and innovations for the signage and display market as well as the wider graphic communications sector,” he said.
“With businesses increasingly looking for ways to diversify and develop new income streams, it’s more important than ever to be informed about the broadest possible range of options – and this partnership between PacPrint13 and VIIE will allow us to deliver that,” he said.
With such a comprehensive show and visitors expected from across Australia, New Zealand and the wider Asia Pacific region, it’s clear the industry’s eyes will be firmly focused on Melbourne in May next year – something Martin says organisers welcome.
“By joining forces with VIIE, we are confident we can offer the most exciting showcase of technology across all facets of our industry and provide a real ‘industry hub’ for businesses to gather valuable information, learn new skills, share their ideas and develop positive new directions to strengthen our collective future,” he said.
