The Big Picture - July 2012 - (Page 4)

insight by Gregory Sharpless www.bigpicture.net Gregory Sharpless Editor/Associate Publisher gregory.sharpless@stmediagroup.com Creating an Experience Within the Experience If you’ve never been to the quadrennial Drupa show in Dusseldorf, I highly recommend it. Yes, for the technology. Yes, for the vendors. Yes, for the networking. But also just to experience the sheer size of the exposition and the shock value that comes with it. It’s not unlike visiting Manhattan, Las Vegas, or Tokyo for the first time – until you’ve been there, it’s not quite possible to describe it. “Just go,” you tell your friends, “because you need to experience this yourself.” But even though this was my third consecutive Drupa, I have to admit I wasn’t quite prepared for the Landa Corporation’s amazing show within a show that took place in Hall 9. Now, I don’t typically point a finger at any particular manufacturer on this page, but I think all who attended Drupa will agree: The Landa experience was the first thing everyone mentioned when it came to the ubiquitous question, “So what have you seen interesting on the show floor?” If you’re not familiar with Landa and its founder, Benny Landa: Mr. Landa founded his namesake corporation 10 years ago following the acquisition by Hewlett-Packard of Indigo, which he had founded 25 years earlier. So he’s certainly no stranger to this marketplace. And he knows how to put on a show and generate excitement. At Drupa, Landa Corp. scheduled five daily theatre presentations in a 300-seat auditorium within its 15,000-square-foot stand, providing an inside look at its Nanography technology, which you had to sign up for well in advance. But even those seats weren’t enough. Because the theatre was typically sold out days in advance, Landa then streamed the noon presentation to the big video display at the company’s stand. But demand still exceeded supply, so another video presentation was added later in the afternoons. By show’s end, thousands of people were watching the show daily, either in the auditorium or via the monitor display. Just as intriguing, many people were getting their pictures taken in front of the printer prototypes, as if they were mugging it up with a celebrity. Heck, throw in some 1960s music, tie-dyed t-shirts, and mud, and it could have been Woodstock. But creating an experience like this need not be limited to Landa Corp. or Drupa. You can do the same with your own operation, albeit on a small scale. Think of it as a happening, and consider how you can wow your city’s or region’s business types. Create an experience for them they won’t soon forget and they’ll come back to you when they want to wow their own customers. Britney Grimmelsman Associate Editor britney.grimmelsman@stmediagroup.com Laura Mohr Art Director laura.mohr@stmediagroup.com Bill Parsons Art Director Marty McGhie, Craig Miller, Jared Smith Columnists Linda Volz Production Supervisor linda.volz@stmediagroup.com Lou Arneberg - East and Midwest uS, Eastern Canada Ben Stauss - West and South uS, Western Canada, Europe, Asia Business Development Managers Rick Bachelder, Kathy Boydstun, Terry Corman, Scott Crosby, Brandon Gabriel, Michael Garcia, Kirk Green, Robert Kissel, Tina McLaughlin, Craig Miller, Carmen Rad, Greg Root, Jared Smith, Mark Taylor Editorial Advisory Board Tedd Swormstedt President Steve Duccilli Group Publisher Christine Baloga Audience Development Director Kari Freudenberger Director, Online Media Subscription Services (847) 763-4938 tbp@halldata.com bigpicture.net/subscribe bigpicture.net/renew Single Copies/Back Issues Debbie Reed debbie.reed@stmediagroup.com THE BIG PICTuRE (ISSN 1082-9660) is published 12 times annually by ST Media Group International Inc., 11262 Cornell Park Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45242-1812. Telephone: (513) 421-2050, Fax: (513) 362-0317. No charge for subscriptions to qualified individuals. Annual rate for subscriptions to non-qualified individuals in the u.S.A.: $42 uSD. Annual rate for subscriptions in Canada: $70 uSD (includes GST & postage); all other countries: $92 (Int’l mail) payable in u.S. funds. Printed in the u.S.A. Copyright 2012, by ST Media Group International Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations. Periodicals Postage Paid at Cincinnati, OH and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, Il 60076. Change of address: Send old address label along with new address to The Big Picture, P.O. Box 1060, Skokie, Il 60076. 11262 Cornell Park Drive Cincinnati, OH 45242 tel (513) 421-2050 fax (513) 421-5144 4 THE BIG PICTURE july 2012 http://www.bigpicture.net http://www.bigpicture.net/subscribe http://www.bigpicture.net/renew

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Big Picture - July 2012

The Big Picture - July 2012
Contents
InSight
UpFront
Wide Angle
Inside Output
Decision Time: Rollfed Printers
Virtual Walk-Through
Laminators: Protecting Aesthetics
Inkjet Drupa 2012
Job Log

The Big Picture - July 2012