Still live from Messe Dusseldorf, we're starting the second half of the show with a lot of transition of team members. With so many people coming and going, and so many customers coming through to see us, it could have been a management nightmare. If you've been watching the Kodak press releases you may know why we are all calm and sane!

Here at drupa we're using the KODAK i220 Scanners with KODAK CapturePro to grab thousands of contact forms. These forms are the way we ensure that all points of contact are captured and that that we get the right information out to meet requests for sales proposals and brochures. It's part of the fun of Kodak, we have solutions that work for all of us. We are also doing Print on Demand of many of the product and solution brochures using the Nexpress devices... why carry it to Germany when we can make it as needed!

Another program here at drupa spotlights a relationship we have with Sheridan College in Toronto and The Language of Illustration Graduate Exhibition. This is a great marriage of Kodak corporate sponsorship and the concept of bring art into the world. Graduate students in the program created pieces that exemplify visual communication. Kodak has licensed some of the pieces and produces them live at the show for distribution. It's the ultimate test of the student's ability to create some thing that can actually be printed, and it's a great example of Kodak products working in synergy with the content creators to handle the prepress, approval, and production requirements. Here's a picture of the gallery. It might look a bit lonely but this corner is on the direct path between the halls and when the show is open, this is the place to be!

The Language of Illustration wall of posters in the Kodak stand

So, have you ever had an idea that you went with, but had doubts about? Many team members felt that way about the primary Kodak booth giveaway, the yellow messenger bag. It's made of recycled material, which works with the great sustainability story (just ask Rick Mazur, Mr. Sustainability in GCG as well as the Commercial Segment czar), and it has a distinctive look. There was some concern that they wouldn't be popular and we would end up shipping most of the 190 cartons of bags back to the La Hulpe office.

But guess what? It is THE drupa give away. Look anywhere and you see a sea of yellow bags. People beg for them at reception when the receptacles run out!  We've heard tell that the bags are being spotted across Europe as attendee head home. Hmm... sounds like a neat idea. Where have all these bags been seen?  Anyone think we can do something with that idea?

If you have heard of something really cool from drupa, would you share with me? I'm looking for eyes in the halls, feet on the street, and fingers on keyboards. Let me know what's hot, what's cold, and what I need to run out an look at before next week gets here and it's time to close the doors for this drupa!

Watch this space tomorrow... more fun from Messe Dusseldorf, home of drupa!

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When you are working a huge show like drupa, spread across 17 buildings, it is hard to get into every nook and cranny to see what is neat, what is cool, and what the emerging technologies are. All of us try to get out and see what's out there and share what we find. One thing that caught my attention was a company that was printing RFID onto labels. I had read about companies with this in an R&D lab, but here we are seeing a number of vendors show it as a viable commercial technology. Pretty cool!

But just having a neat print technology isn't enough, you need to be able to get the print data to the print device, with proper color management.

Rob Morgan and Nick Benkovich, before the energy drink, getting ready for the morning rush of folks looking for workflow!

To find out more about that side of the story I sought out my friend Nick Benkovich and his buddy Rob Morgan, masters of workflow, who have been demonstrating the InSite and Prinergy solutions non-stop. Nick says that we are perfectly positioned with customers who approach since many commercial printers are looking toward digital to expand their offerings and Prinergy 5 is right there with solutions like Digital Direct and Digital Submit to meet their needs.

Supported by the great La Hulpe (Belgium) demonstration team and TSS and DSC team members from across Europe, workflow is a key part of the story we're telling every day to hundreds of people. We're so popular that we have a full plate of demos booked through Friday! Whether these folks need to support Digimaster or Nexpress, the CREO color server controller is working together with the InSite family to let us help our customers.

Nick said it is all about connectivity to digital devices, and customers have come to the conclusion that mixed environments are getting so complex that they want a single workflow that manages all of their needs. Oh, and did I mention color management? They want that, too. A single, consistent color-managed environment; for that we introduce them to Colorflow

The Presenter and the Segway - this is how we hold the attention of attendees to the Digital Arena presentation!

How do all of these demonstrations happen with such flair and enthusiasm?  I have learned the secret. Do you know the energy drink with the magenta bovine on the can? This seems to be the secret ingredient. A team member who has been here from the beginning was supplying cans each morning to the team, but he departed last night. This morning it looked like mutiny.  Aaron Tavakoli of the Vancouver team was tasked with supplying the required elixir. I didn't hear back from Aaron, but I am sure he must have found what he needed. The passion of the workflow team seemed in full gear!

Kevin Joyce shared with one of our stalwart sales team members that he believes we've seen 30,000 people come through the booth each day. I wouldn't doubt that at all!

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I have to admit that most mornings and most evenings when the "one World, One Drupa" song plays, Eric Wilson (IPS Product Marketing Director) and I do the Macarena dance. I also have to admit to finding myself humming the insidious tune! It's like being on the Small World ride at Disney.. it gets into your head and its hard to get rid of! Even Marie-Luce Delaune and Olivier Zwartjes, my companions at the Data Printing Gallery, have been humming it! See below for the lyrics, and tune into www.drupa.com to hear the music.

Before the opening, the Nexpress team gets the printer ready for the long day

Over this weekend we had slight shorter days, ending at 5pm instead of 6pm, and continuing great swarms of people coming to the Kodak booth. The workflow team has had people waiting in line for demonstrations of the InSite packages, the Packaging Gallery has been crowded with people looking at the great solutions, Rick Mazur has been telling the Sustainability story and the Market Mover story, teaming with the fabulous German Sacristan from the La Hulpe office. 

No matter where you look, this booth is attracting customers and prospects! Pretty cool!

Well, not cool. Warm. Very warm. I am lucky to be someone who loves warm weather, and someone wearing one of the charming black short sleeve Kodak blouses. I have huge sympathy for the team members wearing suits. No matter what the material a suit coat in our stand is like wearing a parka in a sauna.

Data Printing Gallery Team members for week 1 - Federico Mertella, Olivier Zwartjes, Pat McGrew. Missing is Marie-Luce Delaune, IPS Marketing for EAMER

I promised we'd start wandering around the booth, but let's start with one activity that is going on off-stand with Mark Wilton from the Vancouver-based marketing team. Mark is our man in the Drupa Innovation Parc presenting our Unified Workflow Story. He is also the voice of Kodak on panels and in presentations over in Hall 7 where he talks about Kodak's Job Definition Format (JDF) open connectivity story.

In the stand we are sectioned into the digital arena and the workflow hub, with plate and CTP solutions stationed around the hub. It's almost impossible to get pictures of the hub during the opening hours because of the crowds, so I have included some pictures I took early in the morning. We have the plate setters and the workflow workstations. We'll catch up with the demonstrators over the next few days and get their take on the types of questions people are asking and how busy they have been. I had hoped to do that over the weekend, but we were all too busy...

The Staccato Gallery - where commercial printers come to talk about color

Watch this space tomorrow... more fun from Messe Dusseldorf, home of drupa!

Bonus feature:

One World, One drupa Song Lyrics

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