The first FESPA Global Summit - which took place from 25-26 March 2010 in Miami, Florida, USA - called for stronger business leadership and a strategic commitment to innovation for print service providers to grow again out of the downturn.
The event was designed to provide attendees with an open environment in which to tackle the challenges affecting the wide format printing industry, consistent with FESPA’s commitment to sharing examples of best practice across the global wide format printing community.
It was the first such forum to connect so many leading innovators from Europe and the United States & Canada. Over 100 delegates, sponsors and speakers from across the US, Canada, Central and South America were in Miami to share ideas, knowledge and insight with some of Europe’s foremost wide format entrepreneurs.
The FESPA Global Summit programme featured inspiring speakers from trend-spotting, marketing and creative agencies, mixed with leading print innovators from Europe and the US. In addition to the plenary sessions, Summit attendees participated in group discussions to assess the opportunities and threats confronting the modern print business as it recovers.
“This event was designed to support and motivate business leaders in our sector, at a time when FESPA felt the need to create a unique transatlantic connection in the wide format community”, says Frazer Chesterman, Managing Director, FESPA. “The Summit has given us fascinating insights into the challenges our market is facing. The valuable information exchange facilitated by this gathering offers us the opportunity to summarise clearly the global trends that our market now confronts. From there, FESPA can provide clear direction as to how business leaders can innovate to enhance their success in the recovery.”
Delegates responded enthusiastically to the conference programme and open discussion forums, describing the event in glowing terms: “Inspirational”; “Informative”; “Visionary”; “Awesome view of the future”; “Wow!”; “Energising”; “Very thought provoking”; “Very impressive”; “Actionable information”.
VP of Corporate Marketing at EFI, Frank Tueckmantel comments: "EFI was thrilled to be part of the inaugural FESPA Global Summit in Miami. As a European working and living in the US, I was honoured to be part of this exciting multinational meeting of graphic communications leaders. The event provided an excellent venue with engaging speakers and relevant, thought-provoking topics. As an event sponsor, EFI truly benefited from the valuable innovative strategies, collective intellect and customer partnerships. We are looking forward to the next event and hope this will become an annual tradition."
FESPA Sales & Marketing Director Marcus Timson concludes: “Print still has a strong place in the communication mix, but the Summit emphasised that traditional market structures have altered forever, and emerging techniques and trends are forcing a change in how we deliver print. Print service providers need to properly understand these forces for change in order to continue to provide value for their customers.”
A collaborative white paper entitled ‘Innovation - the Way Forward’ is currently being produced based on insight gained at the summit. This white paper will be available for the whole community.
Printers worldwide who are looking to interpret trends and apply innovation in their business can pre-register now for FESPA 2010 (22-26 June 2010, Messe Munich, Germany), and participate in the comprehensive FESPA Innovate! Programme of educational and knowledge-sharing sessions. For more information, visit www.fespa2010.com
