WIDE FORMAT TRADE SHOWS

IRgA 2011 Conference Disappoints and Dies in Las Vegas

This year's IRgA's Convention & Trade Show was a disappointment. According to several wide format scanner manufacturers who exhibited at the event in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late April, visitor numbers were so low, no more than several hundred, that the IRgA organisers announced during the show that the 2011 event would be the last.

'Built on Blueprints, Focused on Service, Powered by Technology', the IRgA (International Reprographic Association) Convention & Trade Show has run in one form or another since 1928, the only independent association serving the reprographics industry and AEC community. Back in the days when expensive CCD (charge coupled device) wide format scanners were the preserve of reprographic specialists, the IRgA Convention & Trade Show was an exciting venue for buyers and vendors of large format scanning solutions to attend.

Now, apparently, 2011 sees the end of this long-running and once popular US trade show. In recent years the annual attendance at the IRgA Convention & Trade Show has been falling. To increase its members attendance, the IRgA organizers had the 2011 IRgA show run alongside the International Sign Association's (ISA) Sign Expo 2011. Their big idea was to give IRgA members a chance to attend both shows. However, ISA attendees were asked to pay a high entrance fee to enter the IRgA 2011 hall. As a result, most ISA visitors chose to ignore the IRgA Show. As did most IRgA members!

Readers with questions can contact the IRgA directly. www.irga.com

Scanners4CAD asked several wide format industry professionals for their feedback on the show. We began by telling them that we understood 'the IRgA show was a flop'.

Contex Inc

Phil Magenheim, President and COO, Contex Americas Inc, was first to defend the IRgA Convention & Trade Show. He said "I am not sure that 'flop' is the right word.

"The IRgA Conference was poorly attended compared to 10 or 15 years ago and I don’t think anyone was surprised by that. Attendance has been declining for many years and the recession took that a step further. The IRgA used to be a great show once a year to see big and expensive reprographics equipment all in place."

"Today because of decentralized printing and changes in technology, such as the movement from LED to inkjet, the IRgA Convention of the past is no longer the best forum to shop equipment. The association and the consortiums such as RSA, PEiR and ReproMAX, serve their members well allowing them to share ideas and practices. Like many other businesses, the IRgA needs to decide how to proceed to best serve their customers. They also need to find away to expand their membership base to independent reprographers who currently do not take advantage of the association."

Paradigm Imaging offer a growing range of wide
format scanning, printing and copying solutions.

"The ISA show, which was located next to the IRgA, was a very exciting and well attended show. There was lots of cool technology to see. I don't know the IRgA's plans for the future, but it would be interesting if they could develop a small technical graphics pavilion within an event like the ISA and continue to have their breakout sessions for IRgA members in conjunction with that event. For the record, Contex Americas will continue to support the IRgA in its future endeavors. It has value for its members and for Contex" said Magenheim.

es-te Folding Systems GmbH

"Yes, the IRgA was a flop" said Kevin Brinks, President of Large Document Solutions and PhD Imaging, a company he formed for US distribution of the es-te range of entry-level and heavy duty on-line and off-line folding systems.

es-te Folding Systems was one of several German companies exhibiting at the IRgA Show. In the past the IRgA Show would have been the ideal event at which to showcase es-te's computer-aided folding and stacking of large-format copies and plotter drawings to the US market. Its on-line folding machines work automatically in conjunction with es-te's own and other popular makes of wide format printers.

"IRgA 2011 was worse than previous years but pretty much what I expected" said Brinks. "I was there with es-te Folding Systems as the US distributor for their products. Financially and lead-wise this year's show was disappointing. I have always enjoyed going to this show because it was a good place to see the people in the industry that I have worked with for the last 25 years and to network with them. I will miss the IRgA show."

Paradigm Imaging Group

Jane Napolitano, Marketing Manager of the West Coast-based Paradigm Imaging Group, said "The event itself was not good. In fact, as you may have heard, this was the last IRgA trade show. Attendance was extremely poor."

Paradigm's Kurabo flatbed scanner
Coming soon - well in about six months!
Paradigm Imaging's new Kurabo flatbed scanner

However, she found a reason to be positive. Paradigm had shown a new wide format flatbed scanner from Kurabo at IRgA. "On the bright side," said Napolitano, "our new Kurabo large format flatbed scanner was very well received".

Kurabo is a distributor of the Colortrac range of SmartLF wide format scanners in Japan, as is Paradigm Imaging in the USA. The Kurabo flatbed scanner has previously been demonstrated at trade shows in the USA on the booth of Colortrac Inc where it attracted some interest.

The Kurabo flatbed scanner will take documents up to 24 x 36 inches According to Napolitano, Paradigm Imaging does not have the final specs - it offers up to 800 dpi resolution - or pricing yet. She suggests that the retail price will probably be in the $40,000 range.

Paradigm Imaging is the exclusive North American distributor for this new flatbed scanner which it will be releasing in approximately 6 months time once a new version is available. While many CAD users have expressed a need for an affordable A2 / C-size flatbed scanner, the Kurabo's price indicates that it is aimed at the top-end of the color reprographics market. Cost-conscious CAD users will have to wait a while longer.

Image Access Logo

Image Access IRgA 2011 Booth.jpg
Image Access is the only large format scanner manufacture to offer
flatbed scanners, book scanners, CCD and CIS wide format scanners.

Image Access GmbH

Thomas Ingendoh, President and CEO of Image Access GmbH, the German manufacturer of wide format scanners, went to the USA to launch the company's first CIS (contact image sensor) large format scanner, the WideTEK 36C, at the IRgA Show. The improved graphics quality of next generation CIS-based wide format scanners like the new WideTEK 36C is removing some but not all of the reasons for buying more expensive CCD-based wide format scanners for professional color reprographics.

Image Access Staff at IRgA 2011.jpg
Thomas Ingendoh, President (l) and Stephen Andrikut, (r),
of Image Access with arguably the most exciting new
scanner at IRgA 2011, the CIS-based WideTEK 36C.

"It was announced (at the event) that this was the last show. Even if it is not, we will not participate in future" said Ingendoh, a second-time exhibitor at the IRgA Show and an annual exhibitor at Europe's Cebit, the biggest technology show in the world.

"Attendance at the IRgA Show was indeed very low" he said. "On the other hand, we had the time to showcase our new WideTEK 36C to almost every visitor. We were able to sign up three new resellers, which alone justified the cost of the exihibition. The annual meetings of RSA and ReproMAX were also held in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center during and after the show. We co-sponsored both events. By the end of the week, the WideTEK product range had been exposed to about 200 business owners. This justified the travel cost."

Colortrac Inc

Malcolm Lane, President of Colortrac Inc, said "IRGA 2011 was again a smaller event than in the previous year, a continuation of the reduction in both member and vendor participation seen over the last few years, as the industry itself has been changing.

"It was announced that this was the last year for exhibitors, and the IRGA board are in process of deciding new goals and how the organization will be structured in the future. The future focus is expected to be more on education and communications. We look forward to the announcement of new initiatives from the IRGA board"

Colortrac has a new look booth.jpg
Colortrac's new look booth leaves rivals green with envy -
On display was the new SmartWorks Pro and EZ software!

"The IRgA Conference was not a good show for exhibitors, and especially disappointing as we expected to receive interest from the ISA exhibition attendees located next door. The IRGA attendees had complimentary passes to the ISA event, but the IRGA decided to maintain its high cost entrance fee. This resulted in very few ISA visitors entering the IRGA. Even though the show was smaller, networking was available, and as always we were able to make contact with some of the key persons within the industry.

The 'new look' Colortrac booth gained interest and featured the popular SmartLF:

Ci 24e on a tabletop with Colortrac’s SmartWorks EZ software
Ci 40e on a floor-stand with SmartWorks PRO & EZ with a touch screen monitor
Gx+ 42e (2011 model) MFP system with touch screen monitor, SmartWorks Pro & EZ software and Canon iPF 750.

"Both Canon USA and National AZON featured Canon’s highly successful imagePROGRAF MFP systems with their iPF 750/755 printers and the Colortrac Ci C40 scanner Lane concluded.

Where do we go from here?

Attendance at trade shows has been falling off, just like CAD and wide format printed magazines get smaller every year. There are reasons for this.

Perhaps the internet and the economy are the two main reasons. The internet is the biggest show in the global village, ideal for getting information and downloading and testing software, less so for hardware. It allows you to research your requirements and to shop around for the best price in the relative comfort of your offce. You no longer need to waste a day out the office talking to salespeople whose objectivity you suspect.

With affordable CIS scanners nibbling away at the graphics scanning market, previously the preserve of more expensive CCD scanners, there is now a less compelling financial reason to go to a show to see more affordable purchases in action. And then there is the economy. Some businesses are not buying at all, making do with what they have. However, when the economy turns around, and there are signs that it will, today's caution will be tomorrow's budget. At that point, the IRgA will be missed by some, not least the exhibitors who now have one less marketing option open to them.

For years the IRgA Show has served the needs of industry professionals with an investment in reprographics hardware. Despite the benefits of the internet, the IRgA's members are poorer for the demise of this dedicated event. We hope the IRgA board will take note of the comments of its market, the wide format scanner vendors, and come up with a plan to keep the IRgA Show alive for its members - and others!

For further information, contact: