Focus on future at Ipex: Frank Romano

When it comes to Ipex, Frank Romano is no stranger. In fact, he's being attending the shows for 29 years. In an exclusive column for Print21, he reflects on what the show means to him.

My first Ipex was in 1971. The exhibition was split between Olympia and Earl's Court during the hottest July in the history of the world. It was the first showing for many new phototypesetting systems. In the eighties, we saw imagesetting and digital colour scanning. In 1993, it was the first showing of cTp and digital colour printing. Ipex has always been a landmark event.

2010 will be the first Ipex where the number of digital printers will outnumber the number of offset litho presses. It will be the first Ipex where inkjet is a dominant product being exhibited. It will be the first Ipex where you can say that it is predominantly digital in terms of workflow.

Like recent international events, attendance may be down slightly. This is because the global economic downturn and electronic substitution for print have reduced the number of printing firms and travel budgets have not allowed the large contingents that would usually attend.

But printers must attend if they are to prosper in the post-downturn world. They will have to find the right blend of equipment and systems based on new approaches to marketing and print buying by their customers. It is truly a time of change and we expect new technologies that will allow printers to succeed in a time of change.

After 50 years in the printing industry, I have discovered that trade exhibitions are opportunities to reinvent one's company. The new technologies that are displayed, even if premature, will help build new markets and build new businesses. Most of all, it is being in the midst of new ideas – ideas being promoted at stands or discussed at forums and presentations – that help printers see glimpses of their future.

Frank Romano is a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology