The crowds were moderate at best, but at least for the larger print engine vendors this show seemed to end on a positive note. It's hard to say for sure until the leads are pursued and tracked and deals are signed, but I did see a goodly number of SOLD! signs on everything from smaller light production devices right up through high-end production digital presses. Of course, these were not impulse buys. No one goes to a print show and suddenly thinks, "Gee, I think I'll buy a XeiPrint VarioGen 8000." The signs showed off the consummation of deals that had been in process for some time and were finalized at the show. Still, that's real positive because it shows that some print providers are moving forward and seeing the glass as half full.
In addition, vendor execs I talked with told me visitors to their stands were asking the "right" questions: not info-gathering, tire-kicking stuff, but the nuances of mixed datastreams, production workflows, integration with networks and mailing systems, expectations of peak period performance and support and more... the things you ask when you're narrowing down choices and getting ready to do some serious application testing before pulling the trigger.
This is positive news, especially given the vagaries of the economy and the availability credit. The real numbers will come out in a few days, but Graph Expo 08 seems to have turned out to be a decent show. What came though in many conversations I had was that since none of us can do much about the economy we all just need to pay attention to business, keep marketing, work smart, and keep our eye on the ball.
Noel Ward
Industry Analyst and Journalist
WhatTheyThink.com
