Top Ten Takeaways from Print 17

A successful Print 17 is in the history books, and all the activity surrounding the event has now been assigned the status of “memory.” To help keep those memories alive, here are my Top 10 takeaways, reflections, and observations of Print 17, which ran from September 10-14, 2017 in the south hall of Chicago’s McCormick Place. #1: The show’s footprint is much smaller. One of my very first experiences as an exhibitor was “way back when” at Print 01. That show filled up both sides of McCormick Place. Of course, that show was overshadowed by the events of the original 9/11, so there’s no way at all to make a fair “then” and “now” comparison. However, excluding the events of 9/11, it’s easy to see that the current version of the show is much different than it was back in 2001. The footprint of today’s show doesn’t fill both halls, it fills just two-thirds of one of the halls. Things change. For the Print show, that’s not necessarily better or worse, it’s just different. Don’t ever count on today being the same as yesterday. Be prepared to adapt to a changing environment and an unknown future. #2: Chicago-style pizza tastes best

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