The Americas Print Show 2022 (APS22), scheduled for August 17–19 in Columbus, Ohio, will be an opportunity for commercial printing professionals to once again gather in person after a long pandemic hiatus. It’s location in the heart of the country where there are many printing firms located makes it easy to access and it is in driving range for a large number of printing companies.
The show already has more than 1,000 registered attendees (not including exhibitors or support staff) and already has 70 committed exhibitors, including well-known names as well as first-timers.
We spoke with one of those first timers, Mike Leciejewski of Add-Jet, located in Cincinnati, to gain insight into why he felt this was an important show.
“I think this show is going to be kind of a sleeper show,” Leciejewski said. “I think we will be surprised at the outcome. We are a regional company that covers seven states in the Midwest. We have about 15 employees and distribute products from MCS, Bluecrest and others, and we cater to the printing and mailing industry, strictly commercial printers. We are neophytes coming to a show like this. We don’t normally do shows, and we don’t do shows at this large of a scale. We have a 30x50 booth and are bringing close to a million dollars’ worth of equipment. I think people are hungry to go to a print show. They want to go, but they don’t really want to have to fly. They want to get into a car, and they want to be able to bring some of the people, but they also want to keep costs down. I think we will see a lot of people driving in, spending four or five hours at the show, and perhaps spending the night to drive back in the morning. I really thing the show is going to be a surprise!”
Leciejewski will be showing a Bluecrest high-speed inserter that produces 26,000 inserted envelops per hour with the ability to spray a corresponding address on the outside. He will also be showing and MCS Merlin K14 inkjet printer, an affordable sheetfed press that does not require a click charge and prints at about 8,000 sheets per hour. Finally, he will be showing an MCS color inkjet envelope printer that he says will help commercial printers better manage production time and costs for envelopes in light of the paper shortages.
Add-Jet is just one of many exhibitors at the show that will be showing new and existing solutions that printing business owners, managers and staff will be able to see firsthand and gain an understanding of how they might help their businesses grow.
In addition to the exhibit hall, the show will feature educational sessions with a wide range of current topics and speakers. We spoke with one of the presenters, Jim Russell of New Direction Partners, who said, “As the preeminent mergers and acquisitions firm working exclusively in the printing, packaging and labels industries, we are happy to be presenting two seminars at the Americas Print Show and are looking forward to welcoming attendees to these and other learning opportunities that are being made available. We are also glad to be getting back to in-person events where there are many networking opportunities as well, so important for the health of the industry.”
Americas Print Show will also provide a venue for many co-located events, including meetings hosted by 17 different printing associations, including most of the former PIA Affiliates. We spoke with Melissa Jones, President of GAA, who has been working hard to put together the Affiliates’ Summer meeting. In a piece of news she shared with us, the Affiliates organization will now be known as Americas Printing Association Network (APAN). The summer meeting will be held prior to the show, from the 14th to the 17th, and will culminate with a tour of the Canon booth on the first day of the show. APAN will also be hosting a welcome reception the evening of the 17th, to which all attendees are welcome, starting at 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., she proudly shared that the first annual Americas Print Show awards will be presented. “We have collected 15 top winning entries from each of 11 Affiliates for this competition,” she says, “and the entries are amazing. We are really excited about starting this tradition and recognizing the terrific work APAN’s membership produces.”
The summer meeting will also include two keynote speakers, WhatTheyThink’s President Eric Vessels, who will share ideas on how APAN can work with the media to mutual benefit; and Tim Minton, the Executive Vice President at the North Carolina Home Builders Association. Jones explains that Minton grew the association to the largest state home builders’ association in the country and will bring an outside-the-industry perspective to the association business.
For more detail about this upcoming show, we spoke to Jim Cunningham, who is President of Americas Print Show, and Jules Van Sant of Bubble & Hatch, who is doing marketing for the show.
