Business News
FESPA ACQUIRES iMAGEWORLD MEXICO EVENT FROM ST MEDIA GROUP
Wednesday 02. April 2008 - Expanded event to run in August 2008 under FESPA Mexico World Expo brand
FESPA has acquired all rights to the imageWorld event (Centro Banamex, Mexico City, 21-23 August 2008) from ST Media Group International, with the aim of expanding the event under a new brand – FESPA Mexico World Expo.
imageWorld has established itself over the past decade as Mexicos leading trade show for the sign making, screenprinting and digital imaging industries. FESPA assumes complete responsibility for all sales, marketing and operations of the event with immediate effect, though ST Media will remain involved with the show in a consultative capacity over a five-year period.
The show, which will run to its original schedule in August under the new FESPA Mexico World Expo brand, already has 3100m2 of allocated space, including prominent industry brands such as Canon, EFI VUTEk, Fujifilm Sericol, Gandi Innovations and HP. FESPAs first move as the events new owner has been to expand the available floor space by 25% to accommodate demand from first-time exhibitors, and to reinforce its investment in promotional activity to attract the highest calibre audience of decision makers to the event.
FESPA managing director Frazer Chesterman explains, “In recent years, in response to clear demand from the marketplace, FESPA has demonstrated a commitment to expanding our event portfolio into strong emerging markets. These include, for example, the successful launches of FESPA India and its Digital spin-off, and the forthcoming FESPA Asia-Pacific event.
“Like these markets, demand for wide format print is booming in Mexico. The economic and political landscape is more stable than ever, and the time is right for FESPA to branch out into the region. imageWorld has established itself as a successful forum for the Mexican imaging market. Now, our ambition is to expand the show, appealing to a broader community of screen printers, signmakers and digital print service providers, as well as textile and garment manufacturers in Mexico and the wider Latin American market.”
FESPA Mexico World Expo will be co-ordinated by FESPA event manager Michael Ryan, who has been pivotal to the growth of FESPAs shows, both in Europe and in other emerging markets such as India. As part of FESPAs in-house events team, Michael has contributed to the growth of the FESPA exhibitions, including a sell-out FESPA Digital show in Europe, and brought two successive Indian events to fruition. The last international FESPA event in Berlin in June 2007 attracted a record-breaking 24,232 visitors, including 300 from Latin America.
Mike, a Spanish speaker, will be supported locally by Humberto Garcia, ST Medias local representative for the show, who will continue to handle Latin American advertising sales for Signs of the Times and Screen Printing en español, the regions leading publication for the signage and graphics industries. Michael and Humberto will both have the support of FESPAs exhibition organising team, based in the UK. FESPA board member Ricardo Rodriguez Delgado will take on an ambassadorial role for FESPA in the region, with a focus on cultivating relationships with the printing community in the region, including trade bodies, vendors, distributors and service providers. A former president of FESPA, Ricardo has been closely involved with the organisation and its Iberian associations for many years.
“We believe FESPA brings a number of critical strengths to this show that will enable it to grow significantly in the future under its new identity,” said Tedd Swormstedt, president of ST Media Group International. “FESPA is very well positioned to build the international representation at the show and expand the breadth of imaging technologies displayed there. We are very pleased to be working with them in our continuing efforts to provide information to Latin American signage and imaging professionals, a market we have served for over 15 years.”
Revenues from FESPA events are reinvested in a dynamic programme of educational and training initiatives, seminars, conferences, industry summits and publications to support screen and digital print service providers. These are delivered through FESPAs network of member associations and associate members, which currently covers 34 individual countries.
Frazer Chesterman concludes, “Feedback from vendors and print service providers tells us that there is a need for a world-class event in Latin America which brings together global brands and local distributors, while providing a showcase for innovation and a forum for learning and knowledge sharing. We look forward to working with ST Media and its titles, as well as other key industry publishers in the region to develop and deliver a stronger and expanded FESPA Mexico World Expo event. Beyond that, we see FESPA playing a key role in the positive development of this sector in Mexico and more widely in Latin America for many years to come.”