IIR Cancelled Total Print! Expo 2009

By: Shawn Nag  |  Posted In: Print News  |  July 14, 2009

The news is quite depressing, especially for those who are a part of the printing industry. IIR has shelved this autumn’s Total Print! Expo (TPE) show. They put the blame on tricky market conditions. To go by the words of IIR managing director Nicky Mason – “To make it work sensibly we needed three or four of the big guys to say yes, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen. She further confessed that possibly Northprint’s relatively poor showing had a poor impact on bookings for TPE. “I think because we held people to contracts [for Northprint], they have been relatively slow to book for TPE,” she added.

IIR was supposed to begin investing in visitor promotion for TPE and to confirm its October booking of Earl’s Court 2. But unfortunately, they couldn’t, as they were not sure whether they had a show. The organizers are careful this time! Though they are in a mind to launch the show next year, they are welcoming industry feedback on the event’s content, format and frequency with open braces so as to make it a hit next year. They are putting their best shoes on to look different to the old Digital Print World (DPW). Therefore, they are all doing their best to find out the want and need of the exhibitors and visitors.

Irrespective of the degree of makeover the show has to undergo to be a crowd puller, the show would still be made to fit into IIR’s “commercial criteria” and should not be confused with a conference. “We need to get the audience right and focus on what’s new and what people are trying to do with their businesses.”, said Nicky Mason.