ALLIANCE DAYS: BY SIGHT THROUGH 2020 INTO A DIGITAL FUTURE

The Postpress Alliance renounces at Drupa and Open House and invites visitors to the first virtual "Alliance Days"
The Postpress Alliance announces united its withdrawal from Drupa participation in 2021. Responsible thinking and a lack of planning security were at the heart of this difficult decision by Baumann Maschinenbau Solms, Bograma, H+H, Hohner, MBO Postpress Solutions, Perfecta and Wohlenberg. The machine builders with complementary activities in the postpress sector had joined forces in the run-up to Drupa 2020 in order to offer their customers an extensive and diverse range of postpress equipment. Concentrated know-how, paired with a medium-sized, fast and customer-oriented approach is what was put into the planning for our customers.

COVID-19 makes fair participation from the view of the seven partners impossible. The situation is too uncertain of the daily changing travel restrictions worldwide, which denies an international audience and the possibility of a fair visit in Düsseldorf. The sense of participating in Drupa – according to the Postpress Alliance – has unfortunately been lost due to the pandemic. A sober consideration of the expected cost-benefit ratio shows that the economic business basis for such an event would be missing without intercontinental visitors. The partners of the Postpress Alliance very much regret this step. The alliance still believes in Drupa as the world's established leading trade show for the printing industry as soon as the right conditions are once again in place.

Risk-minimization
The first Open House of the Postpress Alliance, which had already been scheduled, also falls victim to the uncertainties of the Corona crisis in its originally planned form. The same reasons mentioned above are forcing the partner companies to rethink. The responsibility for employees as well as guests is simply too big, so the Alliance has decided to distance itself from the analogous event in Tuttlingen. It's time to rethink, drive by sight and look for alternative possibilities.

The birth of the "Alliance Days"
The Postpress Alliance has decided to embark on a new path together. Digitalization is the central topic this year. It is therefore not surprising that the first "Alliance Days", a virtual Open House, will be held from November 24-27, 2020 and will serve as a platform for the companies to present the planned innovations to the public in a timely manner.

"We need and seek contact to our business partners", says the marketing team of the partner companies, "and are happy to be able to launch something so new in such a short time. It is uncharted territory for everyone involved. Neither we nor our dealers and end customers have much experience in this encounter on a virtual level. This concept means a lot to our management. They are firmly convinced that, even after Corona, targeted marketing concepts will require this duality of virtual appearances in combination with analog physical events."

The resulting virtual showroom of BaumannPerfecta, Bograma, H+H, Hohner, MBO and Wohlenberg will offer visitors, after prior registration, a virtual visit with a tour of the machines and a lot of detailed information for four days. On the other hand, interested parties will have the direct opportunity to make an appointment for individual live demonstrations from the showrooms at the respective locations of the four companies.

Those who would like to go even deeper – as far as the travel options allow – can of course also make an individual appointment for a visit at any time at the locations without the character of an event. Approaching the market in an informative, exciting, emotional and personal way is the declared goal.