Manuel Mataré.
Next April’s digi:media 2013 cross media show in Germany has been cancelled, with the organiser Messe Düsseldorf (which also organises drupa) blaming a lack of bookings and reductions in floor space commitments by the target participants.
The first digi:media was held in 2011 and was aimed at the German speaking market, so made little impact on the international stage. The digi:media name was then applied to a cross media area within the big drupa international print show in May 2012.
The 2013 event was intended as another standalone show but with somewhat more international ambitions. It was supposed to combine the subjects of publishing and digital printing in a mix of exhibits and conference programmes. However, the organiser said: ‘the indications are that participation by the industry will not be sufficient to truly mirror the sector.’
‘It was a hard decision for us to cancel digi:media 2013,’ said Manuel Mataré, director of digi:media. ‘But given the current state of registrations and the unlikely prospect of a radical turnaround in registration patterns, it was time to pull the ripcord.’
The organiser said that: ‘cancellations, cutbacks of exhibition space – but above all the pronounced reserve shown by representative players in the sector do not let us expect a digi:media which will do justice to its own quality claims and the interests of the industry.’
It added that it will examine ‘whether and to what extent individual elements of the content part can and will be realised in Düsseldorf in future.’
Contact: www.messe-duesseldorf.com
