And What Did You Like About the SGIA Expo?

Last year’s SGIA might have been a little slow, stuck in the stickiest hot weather that New Orleans had to offer and held during the second worse recession in the U.S. But SGIA says this year was a record-breaking winner surrounded by all the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas.

Last year’s SGIA might have been a little slow, stuck in the stickiest hot weather that New Orleans had to offer and held during the second worse recession in the U.S. But SGIA says this year was a record-breaking winner surrounded by all the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas.

According to SGIA numbers, the total registrants numbered 21,956, the highest reach so far. There were 487 exhibitors on the floor, many with tall booths and lots of equipment. Of those attending, 34% identified themselves as first timers. The size of the exhibition floor was up 30,000 square feet from last year, spreading out more than 184,060 square feet.

Most of the registrants came from California (27.78%), Nevada (8.28%), Texas (5.08%), Illinois (4.42%), and Arizona (4.04%). And a total of 82.5% came from the U.S., as one might expect.

The winner of the Swormstedt Award was announced at the keynote breakfast. ST Media Group’s Dave Swormstedt Sr. invested his life in creating trade journals for the printing industry, and the award honors his commitment; therefore, we’re especially proud of the winning papers. Art Dobie, Sefar Pinting Solutions and Dean Busby, Heraeus Inc. received the award for publishing “Fine Line Screen Printing of Thick Film Pastes on Silicon Solar Cells,” which was published in the Proceedings of the 41st International Symposium on Microelectronics, November 2008.

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The Academy of Screen Printing Technology added Wim Zoomer, board advisor for Industrial + Specialty Printing magazine and owner of Nijmegen, Netherlands-based Technical Language, a consulting and communications business that focuses on flatbed and reel-to-reel rotary screen printing and other printing processes, to its ranks. He has published many articles in Screen Printing and Industrial + Specialty Printing magazines.

The keynote speaker, Orvel Ray Wilson, had lots of information on how to expand your value and sell at higher prices. He said that the printing industry is much like any other: the customers want more, expect to pay less, and they want it delivered yesterday.

But, he advised, “Don’t even think of cutting your price; if anything, raise it by $10%.” Then the work begins for sales people as they begin training the customer how to buy the product. You can always take the ethical stance when a customer asks for a discount saying, “What would I say to my next customer, and what makes you think I wouldn’t give you the lowest price upfront?”

The press conferences were lively. New products abounded. Riley Hopkins sponsored an educational session on the show floor on how to do screen printing. “You have to see this to believe it,” he said. “Competitors are teaching side-by-side and our chairs are filled to capacity to learn from them how to make heat transfers and how to use various products.”

If you didn’t attend SGIA Expo, you missed a really great show.