June 22, 2009 — Print/Graph Expo backer focusing on newspapers

The Graphic Arts Show Co., the organizer of the annual Graph Expo and quadrennial Print exhibitions, said it plans to have a newspaper pavilion at the 2010 event, as well as more newspaper production-specific educational seminars, in an effort to fill the gap left by the demise of Nexpo.
Ralph J. Nappi, GASC president, said he’s already been in contact with newspaper industry vendors and major publishers to elicit support, and he said he’s received positive response.
Our plan is to have a separate newspaper pavilion,” he told News & Tech. “We’re identifying the key players and we expect to have more information in the next few weeks.
“It’s not about one show or the other,” he said. “We’ve heard from many companies over the past several years that they would rather focus on attending a Graph Expo or Print because there is more potential for business. Certainly the press vendors are interested.
“We have received a positive indication from the marketplace that Graph Expo would be an ideal and natural venue to have a newspaper pavilion and we are ready to do that.”
For this year’s Print ’09 conference, slated for Sept. 11-16 at McCormick Place in Chicago, GASC is scheduling a newspaper production segment in concert with News & Tech.
News & Tech will have more information about the session, which will take place Monday, Sept. 14, in the next few weeks.