FRIEDRICHSHAFEN, GERMANY — Organizers of the Fakuma plastics trade fair are gearing up for the 2014 edition. And this year — for the first time — Plastics News will be part of a team that will produce daily newspapers at the show.
Plastics News will partner with its European-based sister titles European Plastics News and Plastics & Rubber Weekly to produce three English-language daily newspapers — both in print and digital formats — at the show, which is set for Oct. 14-18 at the Messe Friedrichshafen complex.
The last Fakuma, in 2012, drew more than 44,000 attendees and roughly 1,700 exhibitors to Friedrichshafen, in southern Germany. Schall, the company that organizes Fakuma, expects record-breaking exhibitor numbers this year.
“We are excited to partner with the Schall family at Fakuma,” said Brennan Lafferty, publisher of Plastics News. “Fakuma exhibitors now have great way to direct attendees to their respective booths by advertising in our show dailies.”
Fakuma started as a regional trade show, but has grown into an international event. Currently 1,288 companies from 32 countries have signed up to exhibit. The largest group, 675 exhibitors, is from Germany, followed by Italy with 72, Switzerland with 66, Austria with 27, China with 24 and the Netherlands with 22.
“Producing show daily newspapers play to our strengths,” said Plastics News Editor Don Loepp. “Our team excels at reporting breaking news and creating attractive newspapers for a global audience on tight deadlines.”
At Fakuma, Plastics News will do three show dailies, on Oct. 14, 15 and 17.
According to Schall, Fakuma is benefiting from an influx of suppliers that cover the entire process sequence, from product development through rapid prototyping and tool making, right on up to series production.
This year's show is the 23rd Fakuma. The fair is held annually, except in years when the K show is held in Düsseldorf, Germany. K is held every three years — the next K show is scheduled for 2016.
Plastics News has been doing show dailies since 1991, and has won numerous national Azbee awards from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for its efforts. Most recently, Plastics News, European Plastics News and PRW teamed up to produce dailies at the 2013 K show in Germany.
Plastics News also will produce daily newspapers at the 2015 NPE show, set for March 23-27 in Orlando, Fla.