Almost 30,000 attendees expected at this year's PMA show in Orlando
This year PMA returns to the impressive Orange County Convention Center in Orlando
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Apart from the biennial Photokina show in Cologne, Germany, PMA is the most important photo industry trade show and the launch pad for a plethora of new products every year. In the next few days dpnow.com will be reporting live from the show, starting off with an interview with one of Canon's senior R&D managers.
The show is the annual showcase for the Photo Marketing Association International (PMAI). Last year, when the event was held in Las Vegas, just over 28,000 attendees were recorded, with 5,311 from abroad, representing 103 countries. This year the prediction is that 29,500 people will tread the show floor here in Orlando, Florida over the next four days.
Booth builders race to complete their work at 8PM the night before the show opens
Although PMA is primarily a show catering for the huge domestic US market, there is a very large international presence. PMAI is also active abroad – just last month a PMA event was held for the third year running in the UK at the Manchester Conference Centre. The PMA Digital Task Force Minilab Makeover and Kiosk event provided attendee retailers the opportunity to learn more about how to face the challenge of maintaining a competitive photofinishing business in the new digital era. A PMA Europe conference will be held in the UK at the Royal Court Hotel, Coventry, during October.
The PMAI is also a good source of market research. A recent report from the organisation has revealed, for example, that 7.7 billion digital photo prints will be made in the US alone during 2005, up by 39% from last year. Even more noteworthy is that 52 percent of these photos will be printed at home. That's great news for photo printer, ink and photo paper manufacturers, but a continuing concern for conventional lab and retail photofinishers.
For more information about PMA, visit their home page at www.pmai.org.
