Recently we spoke with Frank Tueckmantel, one of the people involved in designing and running the new drupa next age (dna) trend forum and program for drupa 2024. We talked about the initiative, what it offers, and how people can get involved.
Frank, who is working with Deborah Corn on this initiative, says dna came about because Messe Düsseldorf GmbH wanted to develop and offer a turn-key solution for potential drupa 2024 exhibitors who cannot afford the larger booths as well as a related presentation program. To help keep costs low for exhibitors, the drupa dna booths will be simple 10 x 10 square meter spaces and will be clustered in groups of four (see image below). Frank says the goal is to have (at most) 50 or so exhibitors for the dna section, and the company has already sold about half of these spaces.
In addition, Frank and Deborah are working on a slate of presentations, panel discussions, and interviews to take place on the dna Stage, which will be in the same exhibition area in Hall 7.0 as the dna exhibit area. The idea behind this forum, he explains, is to provide dna exhibitors and others a 20 minute span of time (per presentation) on stage to talk about their products, services, solutions, and so forth.
Frank adds there will be a strong emphasis on face-to-face interaction between exhibit area visitors, speakers, and exhibitors. “Face-to-face marketing is all about visibility and trust. Moreover, in-person interaction fosters engagement. For this reason I am honored and excited to work together with drupa on the 2024 drupa dna program, hopefully engaging with many of the attendees that will participate in the largest get together our industry has to offer.”
The themes for drupa dna exhibits and presentations include Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Business Intelligence, New Materials, Platform Economy, and Predictive Maintenance. Other dna themes include Printed Electronics, Remote Services, New Business Models and Process Design. Overall, the emphasis will be on showcasing what is new, upcoming, and transformative.
There is still time for interested companies to register for participation at the dna forum – and there are several ways to get involved as an exhibitor, sponsor or speaker. Company representatives interested in learning how their companies can take part in drupa dna as sponsors or exhibitors should contact Benedikt Salmen from the drupa team (SalmenB@messe-duesseldorf.de). Anyone interested in speaking should contact Deborah Corn (deborah@printmediacentr.com) or Frank Tueckmantel (tuecki@mac.com) as soon as possible.
