LFP - Large-Format-Printing
FESPA European Congress Scores Top Marks in Brussels
Monday 13. December 2010 - The first FESPA European Congress involving FESPA member associations has taken place at The Egg in Brussels, Belgium, attracting over 80 delegates. Focusing on the theme "Continuing to Innovate", the event looked at the latest innovations in ink, digital technologies, green issues, sustainability, communication in print and sales and marketing.
Members of FESPAs national associations from the northwest region of Europe attended the one-day event, along with suppliers.
Delegate feedback confirmed the success of the Congress, with nearly 100% declaring that they would be keen to attend FESPA events again in the future. A further 95% stated that the Congress represented excellent value for money.
During the Congress, key industry representatives shared their expertise on the challenges confronting the industry. Frazer Chesterman of FESPA kicked-off with an inspiring 45 Minutes to Innovate session, followed by Steve Lister, Group Business Development Director at Robert Horne, who examined the trends of POP in retail stores and the effect of these on printers.
FESPA board member Christian Duyckaerts continued the innovation theme by drawing on his companies accomplishments to demonstrate what printers can achieve through the application of innovative thinking.
FESPA Managing Director Nigel Steffens comments, “The reaction to our first FESPA European Congress has been tremendous. The speakers delivered informative analyses of the trends affecting the wide-format print industry, with real significance to northern European territories, and this was clearly recognised by the delegates in attendance.
“Understanding and supporting our national associations and their members is an integral part of FESPAs mission. Events like the European Congress exemplify FESPAs commitment to them, and to the wide-format community at large.”
Following the Congress, delegates were encouraged to engage with speakers and suppliers and to network with industry peers. These included representatives from the six FESPA member associations partnered with the Congress; Febelgra (Belgium), ZSO (Netherlands), BVDM (Germany), VWP (Switzerland), GPSF (France) and Prism (UK). Facilitating regional interaction for delegates, the associations were there to articulate the benefits of national association membership, which include discounted delegate rates for similar FESPA events globally.
FESPA will shortly announce dates and locations for its 2011 regional congress programme with the first of these events being held in Gothenburg in April 2011.