(Abstracted from official press release of GASC : http://graphexpo.gasc.org/)
Hailed by exhibitors as "spectacular, absolutely incredible," "phenomenal," and "the best show I can really remember," the four-day GRAPH EXPO® and CONVERTING EXPO® held at McCormick Place in Chicago in mid-October, was an unprecedented success.
With more than 630 exhibitors filling over 440,000 square feet of booth space, this was the largest U.S. national graphic communications and converting trade show since 2000. Its education program of nearly 70 sessions drew a record number of ticket sales, notably the largest registration since 1995, with participants choosing to attend more sessions than in the past, including six sold out sessions.
Some comments from exhibitors are asa follows,
"This Show is Smokin'!"
"We were optimistic; but this is beyond anything that I expected."
"Standard Finishing Systems had another record show this year. We did more business at this year's GRAPH EXPO than we did at PRINT® 05 last year, and last year's PRINT was a record for us!"
"We've been to other trade shows, but this is probably the best show I can really remember. The numbers are dramatic and people are in a buying mood."
"It's a great way to generate new business."
"Traffic has been great; it's the decision-makers who are coming to this show."
Komori America met at GRAPH EXPO and CONVERTING EXPO with "customers who weren't on our radar screen and whom we probably would not have had an opportunity to talk with had we not been here," according to Susan Baines, marketing communications manager. "We have been extremely busy here. In the first day of the show we signed 16 contracts. The response has been phenomenal."
Next year, GRAPH EXPO will be held on September 9-12 at McCormick Place in tandem with the first edition of PackPrintSM, a new exhibition launched by the Graphic Arts Show Company with the support of the Flexographic Technical
KOMORI CLEANS UP AT GRAPH EXPO 06 WITH $74 MILLION IN SALES
(From Komori America Corporation’s press release)
(Rolling Meadows, IL October 30, 2006) Graph Expo 06 proved to be the most successful Graph Expo for Komori America in the new millennium, with 46 orders totaling in excess of $74 million in sales. Press orders ran the gamut from the full size System 38S web press to the small format Spica 429P. Standing room only crowds filled the booth for the multiple daily demonstrations on the award-winning LS640, the new LS629 and the Spica 429P. “We are overwhelmed at our success at Graph Expo. Attendees were in the buying mood, and the Komori press technology on display in our stand piqued their interest. Printers who have waited to purchase new press technology, now know that to stay competitive they need state of the art technology. We were able to show a wide range of equipment as well as some unique applications that drove that message home,” says Stephan Carter, President and COO, Komori America.
Komori accomplished a feat never before accomplished on a tradeshow floor; the completion of 17 jobs in less than 90 minutes on the new LS29. “The tradeshow floor is a unique printing environment,” says Don Newberry, Manager of Komori’s GraphiCenter. “You tend to print conservatively, but the makeready speed of the LS29 and its advanced technology allowed us to demonstrate to show-goers what the LS29 is truly capable of achieving in a real production environment.”
Komori also demonstrated value-added printing techniques by running both jobs on the LS640 using MetalFx technology,that provides a full range of metallic colors using only one base metallic ink. The Spica 429 was demonstrated running Toyo’s new Kaleido ink, that expands the color gamut of four color process to that of six colors.
“Our stand design, our demonstration format and having our award winning equipment on display really paid off for us,” says Carter. “The momentum we built at Graph Expo has put us well ahead of our sales goals for this year.”