On the first day of virtual.drupa, about 17,000 registered visitors from 155 nations benefitted from 660 minutes of education in the Conference Area and 930 minutes of Live Web Sessions and networked with 212 exhibitors from 45 countries in the Exhibition Space and Matchmaking Plaza. The international printing and  packaging sector will meet at virtual.drupa until April 23, 2021 to get valuable insights, and learn about industry trends and technological innovations for the development of business potential.

The international participation of exhibitors and visitors underlines the importance of the virtual event. The first day of the show already recorded 222,000 page impressions from all over the world; 7,500 visitors took part in the conference program alone. The success is also verified by the participation of major global players as exhibitors and virtual.drupa event partners – including Bobst, DuPont de Nemours, Electronics For Imaging, Esko, Fujifilm, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, HP, IST Metz, Koenig & Bauer, Kodak, Komori, Konica Minolta, Kurz, Kyocera, Landa, Siemens, Stora Enso, Windmöller & Hölscher and Xeikon.

“We are pleased that the interaction within the community has started so positively. The impressive range of valuable knowledge transfer in the Conference Area and the Exhibition Space, as well as the exchange with business partners via matchmaking in the Networking Plaza, are very well received”, stated Sabine Geldermann, Director Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf.

Then first day of virtual.drupa was opened by a welcome speech by drupa President Claus Bolza-Schüneman, followed by a keynote speech by Wallstreet Journal Bestselling Author and Innovation Partner Michael Gale. Afterwards, presentations, best cases and talks by top speakers, partners, associations and exhibitors provided impulses on the topics of “Artificial Intelligence” and “Circular Economy” as well as the latest innovations on the market. Until Friday, the focus will additionally be on “Connected Consumer” and “Platform Economy,”

The upcoming virtual.drupa days will be opened by the top-class keynote speakers James Sommerville, Gabrielle Walker and Michael Gale, who will share their expertise in the areas of design thinking, sustainability and digitalization, respectively.

Visitors from other time zones who were unable to follow the presentations live will have the opportunity to access the sessions 24/7 on demand via the Video Library and then network with exhibitors for a personal exchange via Matchmaking in the Networking Plaza. It is still possible to register for virtual.drupa at  https://virtual.drupa.com/en/Registration