The future of trade shows

I just returned from visit to one of my favorite cities, Chicago, for the Print 09 trade show. Chicago was at it's September best... wonderful, vibrant, great food...oh, and, the U2 concert wasn't too shabby as well (thanks Brian Segnit from Xerox for the invite!). Print 09? Not so much. In fact I've never been to a trade show ever that was less attended than the last day of this year's Print show. It was great for those of us that were taking last minute meetings and doing a bit of research, but I have to ask if these types of shows can continue to be viable and profitable in the future.

Blurb uses these types of events as meeting opportunities for our print partners and suppliers. And for that purpose the show was a great success. We invited folks from all six of our printing locations worldwide and, because of the great hotel rates and air fares associated with Print, it was an obvious location. Add to that the fact that the leadership of our major vendors like HP, Xerox, Oce, and Xeikon attended the show we were able to get a lot of business done in a few days.

So are trade shows important? Most definitely yes. The 1:1 contact transcends all of the emails and phone calls that go on for most of the year and assures companies like ours are in sync with our major suppliers. Have their usefulness changed? Again, a strong yes. The days of going to a trade show just to see what is new are over, replaced by the constant chatter and research on the Internet. So what is the future of trade shows and what's the best way to make the best use of them?

First off, Print 09 was too long. People vote with attendance and Wednesday was a lost day for most of the exhibitors. Print 09 was the biggest print show in the world this year (no Drupa or Ipex in 2009) but six days was more than needed and diluted the show. I suggest that instead of a Friday start a Sunday start would have been better. Some of the companies that had major announcements made on the first day of show were gone by the time most of the movers and shakers arrived at the show on Monday, traditionally the real beginning of the show.

Second, make it easier for affinity groups like the Blurb print network to meet by making reasonably priced meeting space available. Last year at Graph Expo (the off year print show in Chicago) I wanted to secure a room for meetings with our printers but it was going to cost me $800 a day! I'd rather spend that money for cocktails and snacks, which I did at our "Blurb Cocktail Time at Print 09" this year. But if I could have gotten a room for a day I would have stayed at the show longer and it would have brought more folks into the show, not to a downtown hotel.

Third, encourage pre-show research. There is so much information available these days that most savvy trade show attendees do their research in advance and schedule their days around what they want to see. This also is a reason that the show does not need to last as long, as attendees are targeting previously scoped products and are looking to maximize their time at the show.

One of the "innovations" at this year's show was at the Kodak booth, where they had no printers in the booth, only presentations and marketing material. Isn't this just the wrong way to innovate? I can get all of that from my laptop and the presentations can be done via webinar. Sorry, Kodak, I think this was a really bad idea. I only stepped foot once in your booth and that was as a meeting place not to see any of your presentations. And, yeah, I might have been someone you would have wanted to impress.

My overall experience in Chicago was a very good one, but a big part of that were the meetings with our print network. I hope that the organizers of Ipex in 2010 and the exhibitors learned a lesson about what works in this economy and information environment.

Next year in Birmingham!

On coopertition

"coopertition" (co-oper-tition), a hybrid of cooperation and competition, is the term coined for the teaming up of rival companies.

"Print Partner Summit" week is one of my favorite weeks of the year as SVP Print Operations for Blurb. For the third year running, we brought all of our global print partners (the folks that actually print and fulfill books for our customers) together for a week of meetings as a post mortem for 2008 and to begin planning for 2009. It's a concept that I first used when I was at Corbis and we were literally writing the rules about converting silver halide film to press-ready digital imagery, the backbone of all legacy stock photography that now resides on the servers of the major stock photography houses. At that time we really needed to better understand how to repurpose prepress equipment that had been used for purpose-specific scanning and make it work for building a digital image archive. The meetings were interesting, and the power of Gates allowed me to get participation from all of the major players in the industry. The meetings advanced the cause of high-end capture quickly and the results speak for themselves.

At Blurb, it's a bit different landscape. We have print partner locations throughout the US and Europe. These printers often compete for business in the consumer printing sector. But in our case, they have come together to really change the way that people author and self-publish books. It is really terrific to see all of these great minds in one place, each with their personal agendas, but with the overriding desire to see Blurb (and, in turn, themselves) succeed. Again, the results speak for themselves.

In 2008 we printed over 800,000 books with nearly $30 million in revenue with a growth of more than 3X year over year. This, in our second full year in business. We are definitely a success story in a down economy, but it wouldn't have happened at all without the trust, guidance and partnership of our print network members. You don't change an industry alone, it takes a group of entrepreneurial-minded businesspeople with equal doses of guts, operational and technical acumen, and belief that the time is right to push the envelope.

Each year our Summit group grows larger and it's Blurb's role, besides the obvious of making sure we have adequate capacity available that meets our quality demands, to make sure the people in the room "get it" and are willing to share when appropriate while maintaining their overall business objectives. That may seem like a hard balancing act, but it's really been a joy to see the relationships and ideas that come out of our sessions each January.

Coopertition is not an easy path to navigate. It takes confidence from all parties in themselves and the overall goal. And it takes the right people in the room. For Blurb this has come up aces and because of that we are changing the way that the world views book publishing.

Wishing you a great 2009

I know I've been a bit lax here on the print/ready blog, but Blurb has had an amazing run to the end of the year and with all of the weather problems in North America this December it's been a bit more exciting than expected.

But here's wishing you a most successful, happy, and fun New Year. We do live in interesting times and I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about in 2009.

A vital photography resource in Seattle

I've just spent the better part of the last two days with the folks in the Creative Academy at Seattle Central Community College. Along with Chad Jennings, Blurb's VP Design, and Dan Milnor, an FOB (Friend of Blurb) and a great photographer and communicator, we were invited in to share the Blurb story with the commercial photography, graphic design and publishing arts students. We had a blast and it's great to see the energy and life at the SCCC campus.

For those of you who are not aware, the SCCC Creative Academy, which opened this spring, is one of the best learning environments for visual communications in the country. After an $8.1 million renovation, the 38,000 square foot facility boasts natural lighting throughout, sweeping views of Seattle and Puget Sound along with a spectacular vista toward Mount Rainier.

Included in the facility is a 10,000 square foot photography studio, commercial digital printing, production binding labs, four graphic design studios full of Mac desktops, a 2,000 square foot print production lab and a color science laboratory. I just can't say enough about the place, the faculty and the students there.

It's always fun to spread the gospel of Blurb but it is especially gratifying to be able to help educate the future of photography and printing. Hats off to our hosts Tomas, Robbie and Natalie for inviting us into their curriculum and to get a first-hand look at the great work they are doing. More on the commercial photography program at SCCC is available here.

On the road again..to NYC

The global Blurb tour is coming to a close so we can concentrate on making lots of folks happy this holiday season with custom on-demand books. Next week is the final stop of the Photography.Book.Now tour and PhotoPlus. If you are interested in coming to our PBN meet-up on Wednesday the 22nd you can RSVP here. If you are planning to go to PhotoPlus and don't have an expo pass yet I can help you out with that at no charge. Just head over here and you are on your way.

I'll be at the meet-up and the show pretty much full time. Be sure and stop by to chat.

Lulu effect?

I've gotten a lot of email the past 24 hours since Lulu announced their big layoff. As one of the first and an innovator in the self-publishing marketplace, the news from Lulu was a bit of a surprise. My boss and Founder/CEO of Blurb Eileen Gittiins gave an interview yesterday that gives a glimpse of our position and why we may be different from the competition.

Good gauge of economy? SBUX and trade shows

It's raining here in Seattle, seems that fall is getting ready to settle in. With that the end of year trade show season for photography, digital lifestyle and printing is getting ready to hit high gear. But if I was in charge of PhotoPlus or GraphExpo I'd be a bit worried because when businesses get cold feet one of the first expenses to go are trade show exhibits and attendance.

Digital Life was cancelled this year in a harbinger of what is to come. I expect the exhibits floor at PhotoPlus and Graph to be significantly downsized, especially as we are in a "Euro-centric" year, with Drupa and Photokina as the major events for 2008.

The slowdowns at Starbucks during economic downturns are well known but I think we are all in for a jolt later this month when we attend two of the biggest shows for publishing and rich media. I expect this down trend will still be heavily felt when we get into 2009 with MacWorld and PMA. My suggestion if you are thinking about exhibiting; hold tight and take advantage of late exits with good locations and negotiate a better price.

If you are planning to head to NYC for PhotoPlus or if you live in the Gotham area be sure and stop by at Blurb's Photography.Book.Now meet-up. It's free and should be a great group of folks to mingle with.