Virtual drupa 2021 – four days on your screen

Drupa 2020 is history – that never happened. Drupa 2021 fell victim to the pandemic as well. But there is still virtual drupa in 2021 and we are all curious on how this experiment is going to work out. After all, a virtual event is almost the opposite to the live, meet and touch drupa we all know. Virtual drupa 2021 is going to take place next week on four days on your screen, from the 20th of April to the 23rd.

Virtual drupa will have several elements:

  • An exhibition space
  • A networking plaza
  • A conference area
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15. April 2021 Blog No Comments on Virtual drupa 2021 – four days on your screen

Some inkjet events to watch out for

Printing is not all about inkjet, but this is the most dynamic type of technology, with the potential to drive new applications and markets. Therefore, some inkjet events to watch out for are lining up.

Inkjet Insight is having an Innovation Week. This is series of webinars to educate the industry on the latest inkjet technology coming to the market, across document, labels, packaging and industrial segments. Technology coverage includes presses, press components, software and finishing. Different experts will share their knowledge and are available for Q&A. The webinars will run from June 14th to 18th.

Also, at Inkjet Insight a monthly overview on the latest inkjet production press installations gives readers an overview on which company installed which device into which company. It will be interesting to see how markets and demand develop. We started this series in January 2021 and will have a monthly update. January was a strong month with 16 installs, followed by 11 in February. You would need to become a member, but this is definitely worth it. Naturally we will miss some installations, as there was no press release or other public mention. If you know of any installs, please let me know.

There will be some more inkjet events to watch out for this year. A lot will still be virtual, but I hope on-site events will resume. I certainly have marked my calendar for the Hunkeler Innovationdays 2022, starting on the 21st of February 2022. Hopefully there will be opportunities to see the latest launches even before that.

10. March 2021 Blog No Comments on Some inkjet events to watch out for

not as reliable as paper …

… has been my website lately. However, after fending off some hacking attacks and switching providers the website should not only be up-to-date again but loading faster as well. And maybe you have noticed that you were redirected to a .eu domain, which better reflects my focus of coverage.

Don’t forget to have an occasional look at my articles on Inkjet Insight here – where you find articles on production inkjet solutions, applications and technology.

Or have a look at the European section of WhatTheyThink.com – where I write about all kinds of European issues of the printing industry, like industry sizing, regulations, applications, trends and industry events.

7. March 2021 Blog No Comments on not as reliable as paper …

Interior Décor printing with HP

Today, the 14th of Jan, HP held a webinar on interior décor printing. I hoped to learn more about the market in general and HPs printing options for the different types of applications and maybe even some hot news. The webinar remained more general however, presenting designers, printers and futurists – and less of my beloved stats and technology.

Nevertheless, there were a few important things that stuck.

  • Covid offers new surfaces too print on
  • Home office means home improvement
  • Ease of use is important
  • Think international

I would like to give a little bit more detail on each of the points:

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4. March 2021 Blog No Comments on Interior Décor printing with HP

Drupa or the pain of going virtual

I do feel that drupa is an important event for the printing industry, likely the most important one. Sadly, there have been many exhibitors pulling out of drupa 2021 – which is understandable in the face of rising Covid numbers all over Europe currently and increasing travel restrictions.  Still I – and many others – want to hear about the latest products and technologies.

With a great number of vendors resorting to virtual events in the meantime I believed it to be a smart move of the drupa organizers to have a virtual platform for news and announcements as well as recently posted. Drupa is still THE brand for exhibitions around print, gets worldwide attention and has immediately a large reach.

Today was supposed to be the day for the platform to go live with several panels and supplier presentations. I was prepared to cover it. Admittedly the registration process was lengthy, and I did not get any notification e-mails for sessions booked. I also missed any promotion on social media like LinkedIn to prep for the day. I must be in the wrong groups then and/or use the wrong hashtags – but if I missed it, I wonder who else missed it?

Trying to login today I have never seen so many forms for cookies and privacy notes to click through. I also failed to login into the live stream. More logins, more popups, more dead ends but no stream. Maybe it is just me. Maybe I have not been in enough webinars yet …

I spent some time to make it work. The site looks sleek, but I constantly got lost and for every action a new tab pops up. Since my income depends on covering printing industry events, I was prepared to make an effort. Compared to webinars I have listened or presented in previously, this was by a factor more complicated that rivals the Düsseldorf hotel price multipliers during drupa. I wonder what customers whose main line of business is to keep machines running or designing and producing these machines did.

On the website there is a replay of the opening session announced. I might be able to report eventually on drupa or the pain of going virtual.

27. October 2020 Blog No Comments on Drupa or the pain of going virtual