New live Fespa virtual series to get fit for recovery

Global wide format print association Fespa is introducing FIT – Fespa Innovations and Trends, a new series of live virtual events it says is aimed at helping printers plan effectively for their business recovery.

The new interactive online events are each themed around a particular area of technology and applications, giving visitors a focused environment in which to engage with new products and explore trends. The first two events in the series are wide format in May and printed clothing in June.

The wide format event takes place 26-27 May, and focuses on wide format graphics and the evolving printed décor market. The event will showcase innovations from a range of leading technology, software and substrate suppliers.

Gold sponsors include: Durst, highlighting its latest P5 portfolio; EFI, showcasing its new EFI Vutek Q5; HP, showing its new Latex 700 and 800 portfolios; Kornit Digital, explaining how printers can harness its NeoPigment inks; Mimaki, presenting its new 100 series of UV, solvent and sublimation printers; OneVision, highlighting its end-to-end automation suite; and PrintFactory, discussing the benefits of using correct workflow and colour management tools.

The printed clothing series is scheduled for 9-10 June, and focuses on the textile printing and garment decoration sectors. It will cover direct-to-garment (DTG), screen printing, software and materials.

Gold sponsors include: B-Flex, showcasing its growing heat transfer vinyl portfolio; EFI Reggiani, introducing its integrated offering for digital textile production; Gemini CAD, highlighting its software solutions for fashion designers, manufacturers and e-commerce brands; Kornit Digital, presenting the latest Kornit HD industrial DTG printers; Polyprint, presenting its DTG and direct-to-fabric (DTF) printers and pre-treatment machines; PrintFactory, highlighting its suite of textile software tools; Roland DG, introducing a new compact DTG printer; and ROQ, showing its latest innovations in automatic screen printing and hybrid printing.

Each FIT event will feature a minimum of 16 exhibitors presenting their products and solutions. Visitors will have open access to virtual demonstrations, exhibitor insight and Q&A sessions. Participants can see the full event programme in advance to plan their time, and the online platform makes it easy to join live chats, network via video chat, and schedule timed meetings.

Fespa FIT events are free to attend for visitors, but numbers are capped to manage the quality of the interactive experience for printers and suppliers alike.

Fespa CEO Neil Felton explains, “Businesses are increasingly focused on their plans for reinvigoration after this hugely challenging year. To plan investments and make informed decisions, printers need to be able to see new products, discover technological developments, and access expert advice on products, applications and avenues for diversification and development.

“Speaking to printers across our communities, it’s clear that while their strong preference is to do all of this in a live event setting, there’s a pressing need to access information in a time-efficient way. They want the opportunity to ask questions, take advice, interact with suppliers and nurture relationships with like-minded entrepreneurs. By launching the FIT series of virtual events, we’re supporting our community in the most effective way available until we can meet in the real world again at a FESPA live exhibition.”

The events will take place on the digital event hosting platform that was used for the virtual Fespa Global Summit, which took place in January, providing an accessible and easy-to-navigate environment.