Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, organisers of the annual US-based PRINTING United exhibition have decided that the event will move online in 2020: the virtual gathering will run from 5-26 October.
PRINTING United was one of very few exhibitions on the calendar for 2020 that had not yet been rearranged - the physical event was scheduled to take place in Atlanta, Georgia on 21-23 October - but organisers say they finally reached the decision to ‘terminate the in-person expo’ following extensive conversations, up-to-the-minute surveys, and projections that the team had been navigating since the onset of the pandemic in the US.
The vast majority of this year's physical events have either been cancelled or pushed back to 2021 as a result of the ongoing pandemic. Consequently, OEMs have been limited in where and how they can showcase their latest products and solutions to a global audience.
“The PRINTING United Digital Experience will provide a unique opportunity to bring highly-anticipated product launches and engagements to the printing community at large, both from an exhibitor and attendee standpoint,” says Mark J Subers, president of PRINTING United. “Our expert team has worked diligently to build a unique digital model to ensure that all market segments have a front-row seat to this powerful, guided event, to further enhance opportunities for engagement and interaction.”
It is understood that PRINTING United met continuously with experts from the Georgia World Congress Center, the city of Atlanta, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security specialising in mass gatherings, and local authorities on guidance and recommendations on best practices as related to all aspects of their physical event. Additionally, past attendee and exhibitor feedback suggested a willingness for companies to travel and participate in this year’s show up until very recently, when projections for re-opening and trends in Covid-19 began to shift, organisers add.
“The decision to cancel this event did not come easily and we have waited as long as possible before costs and logistical implications to our exhibitors and attendees became irreversible,” says Ford Bowers, president and CEO, PRINTING United Alliance. “Many factors are unfortunately out of our control, including travel restrictions and federal, state, and local governmental regulations, as well as the potential for another spike in Covid-19 cases. These factors, and the attendant uncertainties around them, have made it nearly impossible to responsibly hold the event.”
The inaugural PRINTING United exhibition took place in Dallas, Texas, in October last year following a rebrand: the expo was formerly known as SGIA.
Further developments ensued in 2020. In May, SGIA – the organiser of PRINTING United in 2019 – and PIA officially combined to create PRINTING United Alliance, which the partnership describes as the largest member-based printing and graphic arts association in the US.
The association says members now have unparalleled access to preeminent education, training, workshops, events, research, government and legislative representation, safety, and environmental sustainability guidance, as well as resources from the “leading media company in the industry: NAPCO Media.”
PRINTING United Alliance’s chief economist, Andy Paparozzi, says: “According to the consensus of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal, they expect the American economy to grow robustly in 2021 - by its fastest pace in nearly 40 years. That will give the printing industry a big boost, flipping the mindset from cost reduction and survival to capital investment and growth.”
But the economic expansion will depend largely on consumer confidence, and with unemployment rising and Covid-19 flare-ups expected for some time, it remains unclear how much consumers will be willing to spend on textile-printed goods in the second half of 2020 and beyond.
