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July 1997, Vol. 8, No. 7
Show me the money
Publishers fork over cash at NEXPO for the first time in seven years
NEW ORLEANS -- The muggy, hot air of the Big Easy had an unexpected, distinctive odor June 21-24 -- the days the Newspaper Association of America staged its annual newspaper technology conference and exposition, NEXPO.
"The smell of money is in the air," said one conference-goer.
Like farmers dancing in the fields after a downpour ended a seven-year drought, suppliers seemed to be dancing in the aisles at NEXPO ’97. The cause: Newspaper executives had brought with them, if not checkbooks, at least capital equipment request forms for 1998.
The lackluster years from the beginning of the decade until now have been difficult for the supplier industry. Because of recessions and newsprint price fluctuations, publishers have been reluctant to buy new products.
Many suppliers have hung on by their fingernails, waiting for this NEXPO. They all -- we all -- thought it would come in ’96, but it took another year for the money to trickle down to the operations, advertising and editorial departments.
It is, of course, against NAA policy for any sales to transpire on the show floor, so we assume that none happened there. Nonetheless, a lot of happy salespeople were visible everywhere, and we believe it safe to say that a lot of contracts were signed in the days immediately following NEXPO.
But the buying frenzy had a disquieting counterpoint: Suppliers didn't really have anything new to show.
This was simple economics -- if publishers don't buy anything (relatively) for almost seven years, where do suppliers get the money necessary for research and development?
That’s not to say that there weren't any new products (Tribune Solutions' iBill system for web site billing and reader tracking comes immediately to mind), it’s just that they were few and far between.
Being the good little journalists that we are, we have decided to focus on the Big Trends we saw in the pre-press arena at NEXPO ’97 for the July and August issues of The Cole Papers. In this issue’s installment of Trend Watch:
The influx of suppliers from overseas is quickening. Correspondent L. Carol Christopher talks to the swelling legions of companies from across the oceans who made a big impression at NEXPO ’97. She found that many of these companies have had great success in their native markets and now yearn to make it big in America.
Some told Christopher that they find NEXPO a good place to reach non-American newspaper publishers as well. In addition, Christopher quotes a number of these companies about what they think they have to offer American publishers -- and what American publishers offer them.
The computer-to-plate trend has slowed. Senior Editor Pete Wetmore finds that while computer-to-plate (CTP) has gone gangbusters in Europe, it hasn't done that well on this side of the pond. The reason: Few U.S. newspapers are fully paginated, which is the only way to take advantage of CTP.
Nonetheless, suppliers are placing equipment around the country, upgrading their solutions and anticipating that the trend will gain momentum.
Enterprise-wide databases aren't catching on, either. Correspondent Christopher J. Feola talks with suppliers about why the notion of a database that handles all of a newspaper’s information doesn't seem compelling to a lot of publishers.
New products were sparse, but many suppliers pointed to enhancements in existing offerings. The Cole Papers staff canvassed the floor and found almost 30 entries with significant enhancements.
Freebies are better than ever. Correspondent John Bryan surveys the promotional trinkets handed out at NEXPO ’97 the way an archaeologist would pour over ancient relics, attempting to determine the best stuff given away.
Bryan finds that this year’s freebies were the best in memory, which confirms our suspicions:
Publishers did show suppliers the money.
-- David M. Cole
Also see: Hellbox
More NEXPO coverage: Six sessions of the NEXPO conference are covered on our web site. Point your browser at http://colegroup.com/NEXPO97-conf/ to get these stories.
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