November/December 2005
5-minute interview: Regis Delmontagne

Regis Delmontagne started in the exhibition business in the mid-1960s. In 1976, he became President of NPES, The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies. In 1982, the association formed a not-for-profit corporation with the Printing Industries of America and the National Association for Printing Leadership to organize shows. Today, the shows include such well-known names as PRINT® and GRAPH EXPO® and CONVERTING EXPO®. Delmontagne recently announced his retirement. He tells EXPO what he's learned about organizing shows in an industry that's undergone fundamental change during the last 20 years.

EXPO: The industry your shows serve has experienced major change over the years. What advice do you have about staying on top of industry trends?
Delmontagne: Twenty years ago, there were about 55,000 U.S. commercial printers, and now there are about 27,000. The same thing happened on the supplier side. There’s been a lot of consolidation so where there were five or six companies, now there’s one. One of the advantages we have working with associations is that we have a lot of research on our audience and on the industry. That’s key to being able to survive in a changing industry. It allows us to understand where the industry is going so we can move with it, instead of responding after a major shift has hurt us. We like to think we move ahead of the industry, spotting new technologies and trends. It also allows us to design better promotions. That’s helped us keep our shows at about the same levels, even with so many fewer potential exhibitors and attendees.

EXPO: What tips can you offer about keeping your show fresh?   
Delmontagne: Knowing what’s on the horizon for the industry also helps us to add things to the show and bring in new vendors with new technologies that matter to our industry. For example, we’ve recently introduced a pavilion for wide format printing equipment. It used to be a customer would have to go to a sign maker for something large, but now that’s not the case. Another area we’ve been able to add to our shows is a pavilion dealing with mailing and fulfillment. It used to be you’d print your mailing, and then have to go to a mailing house to mail it. Now printers can keep all the customer’s money by providing both services. When desktop publishing came on the scene in the 1980s, there were many who said it was the end of commercial printers, but that wasn’t the case. In fact, printers are major customers for desktop publishing equipment, and so we were able to incorporate desktop publishing into our shows.

EXPO: What’s one memory about organizing shows that really stands out for you?
Delmontagne: Our Print 01 show opened on Sept. 9, 2001. Of course, two days later the entire world was turned upside down by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. I had to decide whether to close the show or keep it going. I went onto the show floor and talked to about 30 companies. The consensus was that everyone was there; no one could fly out because none of the airlines were flying, so why not go on with the show. We decided to keep the show open. We allowed any exhibitors that wanted to leave to do so. We only had two companies decide to leave. There were a lot of factors, logistical and otherwise, and I don’t ever want to have to do that again.

EXPO: What are you doing after you retire?  
Delmontagne: I’ll remain as a consultant for NPES for two years. We’re kicking off a new show called PackPrint in 2007, and I’ll still help with that project. I’m also a visiting professor at the University of Moscow and Beijing University. I’ll be lecturing overseas several times a year.