Event Recap
OCT. 23- 2 5 , 2 0 1 9 | D AL L AS, T EXAS
Highlights
When Specialt y Graphic Imaging
Association (SGIA) and NAPCO Media first
announced their plan to combine forces
to create a tradeshow that the print world
had never seen before, professionals
eagerly waited for what was to come. We
are very proud to report that after a week
in Dallas, Texas, the decision to create
PRINTING United in 2019 was nothing
short of a grand slam success!
While a tornado wreaked havoc in North
Dallas earlier in the week, on Wednesday,
October 23, 2019 the weather calmed,
and business leaders from every North
American state, province and territory
began visiting the beautiful Kay Bailey
Hutchison Convention Center to begin
exploring the massive show floor.
Being the third largest city in Texas,
Dallas was smaller than anticipated, but
was a very clean and friendly city, and a
metropolis that is on track for tremendous
economic growth. It was absolute perfect
location for our industry to unite, learn
and grow together in.
A main focus of PRINTING United was
one that has been seen more and more
across the industry lately, which is the
vast convergence that’s currently taking
place in almost every sector of print.
Printers today are seeking to offer services
and products that were traditionally
beyond their scope, and PRINTING
United allowed all the leading equip-
ment manufacturers an opportunity to
20 | November 2019 | GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE
showcase their advancements to an
engaged audience of print professionals.
This was on full display at the very inter-
esting PRINTING United Experience Zone.
Here, attendees were able to travel
through a 4,000 square foot area, which
brilliantly highlighted the ever-expanding
capabilities of print in today’s modern
world. Denise Gustavson and her team
at NAPCO painted a wonderful picture
of the vast possibilities available to us.
Walking through the Experience Zone,
visitors could see first hand examples of
print in action, with many different retail
packaging designs, many printed wall-
paper decals, a beautifully wrapped
vehicle, and even an imprinted foosball
table! This installation was top notch,
and really helped showcase to printers
all the new products and services they
can offer customers in 2019 and beyond.
By having all the latest technologies from
a wide variety of commercial, in-plant,
packaging, wide-format and garment
printing equipment manufacturers, this
show was successful in showing attendees
what their businesses can transform
into, by using the latest tools available.
Exhibitors across the floor were very
excited to have found their new home
at PRINTING United. OEMs such as Fuji-
Film, EFI, Heidelberg, Konica Minolta,
and Kirk-Rudy all had great showings,
and sold multiple units on the show
floor. Kirk-Rudy President Rick Marshall
revealed that with support from their
Canadian distributor, Insource, they had
an outstanding response to the launch
of their new FireJet 4c at PRINTING
United and took numerous orders at the
event. “We were pleasantly surprised at
the high turnout at the inaugural PRINTING
United show in Dallas and are looking
forward to next year when it comes to
Atlanta,”
President of NAPCO Media’s printing and
packaging group, and PRINTING United
President Mark Subers, also echoed the
excitement of the show when saying, “I
couldn’t be more pleased with the amount
of people and diversity of the equipment.
It’s really representing the theme of
convergence. It has been great to see
people really digging in and looking at
the equipment.”
The inaugural PRINTING United was a
blast for all, and moving forward it will
be an important industry event to attend.
Our industry is in a state of constant
convergence, and PRINTING United is
the perfect solution to allow for the best
in our industry to unite, connect and grow
together. With its hugely successful
PRINTING United debut, Graphic Arts
encourages everyone to begin plans to
attend the second PRINTING United,
which will be held Oct. 21-23, 2020 in
Atlanta, Georgia. Next year's event is
set to have an even bigger show floor
and an even more diverse range of
equipment for a printer's needs. Hope
to see you all there!
Please check out all The Faces of PRINTING
United on Pages 22-24.
graphicartsmag.com