Ipex will next take place at ExCeL in March 2018, with cross media as a ‘key editorial theme’.
Ipex organiser Informa Exhibitions has responded to speculation about the future of the show by stating that ‘categorically there is no intention to either close down or sell off Ipex’.
Managing director Peter Hall issued the statement to Digital Printer in the wake of the departure of event director Trevor Crawford a matter of days after Ipex 2014 ended, and consequent rumours that further sales and marketing staff would follow him.
When asked about the longer term prospects for Ipex, Mr Hall gave a bullish response, stating: ‘Ipex 2014 was a great success, against many odds. Informa are very optimistic about the future of Ipex and feel the 2018 edition has a lot of potential. Categorically there is no intention to either close down or sell off Ipex.’
In a separate statement, Mr Hall pointed out that, as a quadrennial event, the sales and marketing team that worked on Ipex 2014 were now either being re-deployed within Informa or would seek opportunities externally.
‘We are currently working with the Ipex team towards this objective,’ he said. ‘Ipex 2018 will take place at ExCeL London in March 2018 and therefore the Ipex 2018 sales and marketing team will reform during 2016.’
However, Mr Hall also revealed that Informa Exhibitions has decided to cancel its two-year old Cross Media show as a standalone event, and instead plans to use the subject area as a ‘key editorial theme’ at Ipex 2018. The third running of the exhibition was due to take place at London’s Business Design Centre in October this year.
The event aimed to reach an audience of marketers, brand owners, agencies, publishers, printers and print buyers, with content that demonstrated how multi-platform integration could help achieve better returns on multi-channel campaigns. While the inaugural exhibition in 2012 constituted a slow start to a new idea, and was considered by many to be too print-centric in terms of exhibitor profile, the second show in 2013 attracted more visitors and created a greater buzz. Ipex 2014 had a small, co-located Cross Media Production area and seminar theatres.
Mr Hall told Digital Printer: ‘While visitor numbers have grown between the last two editions of Cross Media at the BDC, the event has not received sufficient exhibitor support from the supplier community for it to be viable as a stand-alone annual event. Consensus feedback from both exhibitor and visitor groups has also not been positive enough to suggest that the event has the scale potential that was initially envisaged when the show was launched back in 2012.
‘Informa has therefore decided that Cross Media will continue to exist as a key editorial theme within Ipex 2018 but that unfortunately it will no longer exist in its stand-alone annual format. All exhibitors and partners for the Cross Media 2014 event have been informed.’
Among those is Tony Hodgson, European director of the digital printing initiative PODi, which was to hold its European App Forum at the same venue and time as Cross Media 2014 in October – a co-location that was only announced during Ipex 2014.
Mr Hodgson confirmed that it is still PODi’s intention to stage a cross media-themed European App Forum in the autumn, but that the exact nature, timing and venue of this is currently under review.
‘We remain very committed to holding a high quality conference, as we have done in the past, helping to grow the market, share best practice and build a community of digital print service providers,’ he told Digital Printer.
‘We will be talking to key stakeholders – exhibitors and sponsors of Cross Media 2014 being primary people – about what they would like to happen in light of what’s happened to the show. I want to hear from these key industry players, to listen and understand their goals and aspirations going forward, so we can get the focus right and deliver a successful event later in the year.’
