Your opinion of Sign UK 2007?

[Harry Cleary]

as a newbie to SignUk I found the range of equipment on show amazing, its a minefield of info overload for someone new to printing like me…..I wonder will it calm down as the big boys dominate the market?
Definitely worth the trip!

[Robert Lambie]

I think everyones sign business should benefit in many ways from attending Sign UK. it doesn’t necessarily need to be a buying trip…

the show is FREE to enter… anything spent on it like petrol, parking etc is tax deductible.

the show can be educational, inspirational and by using what we get from it, profitable.

meeting everyone from here just puts the cherry on the cake for me.

anyone here think it is a waste of time? please give reply and give reason?

[Joe McNamara]

It was worth it just to see "the Normster" – "doin the Normingtom" :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

Seriously though, I wish I had more of a chance to have a look around but was busy on the stand. Seemed well worth the trip for me – if even just for the inspiration value.

That reminds me Rob, I’ll have to do you a bill for those prints I ezytaped for you on wednesday morning….. 😮

Cheers
Joe

[Lynn Normington]

for me personally it was well worth the trip, to see the huge machines that I can only aspire to and don’t really want but it is surely fascinating , as a small fry in the market at least you get to talk to suppliers and they then get a feel for the market. and I’m sure lot’s of suppliers deal with small company’s as well as the large multinationals other wise they wouldn’t be there ??? and I also got lot’s of ideas about things I hadn’t really thought about before, I also got to meet some good old Friends and some new good Friends. so all in all can’t wait till next year to see where the technology has taken us in so short a time 🙄

Lynn

[Harry Cleary]

quote Joe McNamara:

It was worth it just to see “the Normster” – “doin the Normingtom” :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:

me too Joe, another G&T and I’d have joined him…….phew! 😳

[Marcella Ross]

Of course it’s worth it!
There’s some many things we can all aspire to owning for a start, huge digital printers, 3d engraving machines, laser engravers, Ezy Tapers that can flatten body parts, making contacts with suppliers…………. but enough of the show …………
the company was brilliant!!!!!!!!
I’d never miss it for the world! 😀

[Nicola McIntosh]

i loved it too…..especially the printers on view in the bar area, they were amazing :lol1:

nik

[Phill Fenton]

I don’t go every year – but learn something new every time I do attend.

This year I discovered a flexible material that could be applied to any board (just like applying vinyl) that then allowed magnets to stick! Exactly the sort of thing I was looking for some time ago when I was asked to make up some dri wipe boards that you could attach magnetic strips to.

Another stand that I found interesting was demonstrating lenticular software for producing 3d images and flip/moving images.

I also discovered a new board cutter that is coming out in the next few months or so. This was on the "excalibur" stand. The new cutter will use a router head to cut the board material. The good news is it will cut lengthways as well as width ways (thus a 10ft x 5ft sheet can be cut along its length – something not possible with the current excalibur cutter).

I also discovered a quick and efficient way of cleaning the grit rollers on my 11 year old summagraphics cutter – something I had never known about before.

These are just some of the gems I stumbled across – I’m sure I missed out on loads of other things.

The best bit though was meeting all my sign boards pals.

Two days away from work – two days lost turnover. But important contacts made that will undoubtedly benefit my business long term.

I’m fond of saying "you don’t know what it is you don’t know" – this is surely a very good reason for attending these types of shows. Only a fool would claim to know it all and deem a visit of this sort to be a waste of time 🙄

[Harry Cleary]

Nice one Phil! Im needing to do that, I assume it will work on any plotter.
The excalibur ia well overdue.

[Mike Grant]

I decided at the last moment not to go this year. I have not missed one in the last 10 years but decided that I didn’t really need anything and I doubt there would be any life changing things there that I just had to have. Plus my filing cupboards are stuffed to the gun-whales with brochures and other junk so best not to go this year. 😕

[Ian Bingham]

been to the ls 7 of them, not quite what they were, or am i just getting use to seeing big printers, missed a few good suppliers, no real new and exciting ones there, still worth a flight down and a day off work

[Richard Barraclough]

Hi all, couldnt get there this year, has anyone got the tel No for those bendy , springy a-boards (magic wand-Magic stand????) couldnt quite catch the name on robs video! they look interesting.
thanks 😀

[James Martin]

I could only manage for a few hours on the tuesday

I set off just after 2 am drove as far as Penrith before I had to crash out on a service station for a few hours, (or was it 5?), so I never got there till about 1 in the afternoon.

It was my first sign uk and it was smaller than I expected but still too. overwhelming to take hardly anything in.

Just gave me a better idea what it was all about and those printers are something else; they dominate the show.

One thing that suprised me was the way no one bothered about stomping over the glossy prints that were lying around.

I think it was worth it though and next time I will get even more out of it.

Jimmy.

[John Singh]

For me its keeping myself up to date with what’s new on the market not about buying
I believe its important to keep yourself informed

I must admit that the greatest pull to the Sign Show this year was meeting up with everyone 😀

[John Childs]

I didn’t need anything. All I went for was the opportunity to meet, speak and get drunk, with some of my friends and colleagues. Therefore the show was a total success.

Picking up a copy of the Price-it guide was a bonus.

[Hugh Potter]

I, like some of you have mentioned, found it rather overwhelming, the sheer amount of products and equipment is amazing, i reckon i learned more about producs etc on thursday, than from my previous 18 months, so very much worth my while, inspirational ? definitely!

i had to make an extra trip back to the car (thanks Nick for the nice and close parking lot tip !) with all my bags around 2pm, my arms were dead, and my head was just buzzing, though that coulda been attributed to the solvent inks or the beers from the night before !

the amount of info to take in as you spoke to different suppliers was just boggling, on more than one occasion i felt myself glazing over vwhile listening intently to the information :oops:, just taking it all in was difficult to say the least,

i put all the brochures etc in a box, right here next to me, but it’ll take a whole day just to go through them.

some of the printers are astonishing, speed, quality, etc, i just know i’d’ve walked out with a versacamm if my bank account would have allowed ! not to mention a hundred other gadgets. i do think my next move will be in the subli dept, just not sure of the best way to go yet, but i can see lot’s of potential in my area,

digital print isn’t really on the cards at the mo as i have a couple of well priced suppliers i can use for that, so it’s not worth that step yet (nor, as you know, do i have the space for a digi printer).

all in all though, it was well worth going, not least to just meet everyone from here, had a great time, and wil definitely be marking it on next years calendar !

[Stepen Wood]

I always find Sign UK useful and always come away with a solution to problems that I might have had, either with a new product or just simple advise.

It is always a good chance to see which direction the industry is moving toward. Last year there was five stands demonstrating Car wraps, this year only two.

UV printers seemed to be the focus this year, as they come down in price the more accessible to the signmaker, Spandex are now selling their UV for £27k. Still a bit pricey for the small signmaker, but getting closer. This time next year who knows.

This year there was a Digital Signage area. I didn’t think much of that. Just looked like a load of over head projectors and plasma screens.
That lenticular software looked incredible, especially if it is as easy as shown on his demo. Traditional Lenticulars are a nightmare.

All in all. I have benefited from going to this years show and am about have further demos on products I was interested in at Sign UK.

Cheers Stephen

[Jill Marie Welsh]

It was the biggest trade show I’ve ever attended…
but I only went to meet the UKSB folks.
(talking last year of course)
I rarely attend these things, as I have absolutely no interest in printers or other big machines.
I do love to get the freebies tho, like squeegees and stuff.
The bar was fun, I wish we had one at out little supplier’s trade show here.
For fellowship purposes it is definitely worth it.
I prefer the relaxed carefree atmosphere of a Letterhead meet to any trade show.
Love….Jill

[Warren Beard]

Hi all

Well as a new comer it was very interesting for me and found many more suppliers that I could potentially use. It was also great to see all the other sign technology out there and to see which direction the industry is going.

I have lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots & lots of Brochures now to look through as well as samples and many more on the way (I hope)

I also made some time to sit in on the Adobe training stand to find out more about Illustrator and Apple Mac, picked up many tips and tricks in about an hour.

Found out a few new tricks on my Summa cutter as well that I had no idea it could do 😳

There were also many things that were just far too much for the small guy and of course don’t forget the stand that were looked after by Asian who could barely speak English 😮 😕 , I noticed on the flag stand (near the entrance) on one of the flags it had text reading in reverse (all the other text on the flag was right reading) I asked the Asian guy why and he had no idea what I was talking about :lol1: On the other stand where they had the big electronic displays that can be built up as a wall (looked like 100’s of LED’s) I tried asking them a few questions but again they were very confused.

Maybe it was my SA accent :lol1:

all in all I really enjoyed enjoyed the show.

[John Wilson]

Yeah I enjoyed the show but next year I’m staying 2 nights because once we got there I was ready for bed. Didn’t get a great chance to take everything in on time but still took enough in for now.

Was good to meet up with alot of the usual bunch and some others that I would normally have ignored 😉 hehe

oh and Richard Barraclough the number for 3G is 0116 251 0352

[Karl Williams]

I thought it was great!!
It was good to meet all the guys n gals from the boards.
I was also impressed how much work Mr.Lambie put into it for our benefit.

Warren, did you try out your freebie squeedgies?

[Warren Beard]

quote KARL WILLIAMS:

Warren, did you try out your freebie squeedgies?

No not yet, I also got 8 clear/white squeegies from VKF, feel nice but yet to try them out :lol1: I think they were trying to get rid of them on the last day 😮

Oh how I love freebies :lol1:

[John Harding]

Like John I picked up a copy of the price it guide which I feel is a brilliant idea. Glad to say a lot of my prices were spot on already 😀

John

[Peter Mindham]

Worth it to meet everyone again. Must admit I was a bit subdued this year to last so my apologies 🙄

Was disappointed that some of the smaller suppliers stayed away. Mind you, there were a few big ones too who didn’t make it either. I would go just to meet everyone each year. Lets do it every six months! 😮

Peter

[Martin Pearson]

I would have thought it was worth going for just about everyone who is in the industry just so they can keep up with changes that are taking place all the time and there are always new products being brought out that even the smallest of sign companies can make use of or sell to their customers. I know Phill likes to keep up to date with what is going on in the industry and he said he found a few products that would be good for his business as did some other experienced signmakers.
I would have gone if I had been able to, I would have loved to be able to meet some of the other members, the fact that I may have been able to find a few new suppliers and some new products would really just have been a bonus :lol1:

[Ade Brown]

I went down and found the show to be very useful — met a few of the suppliers that you only normally speak to on the phone also found some new ones too!!
Came home with loads of literature still reading noooooooooooooow!!

Ade

[Craig Bond]

Went there to look into digital printing thinking I knew all there was to know. Left confused and unsure with many other questions I had not thought about. Every Rep was contradicting each other, but I suppose thats how it goes. A bit more research needed I think. On the whole though, well worth the trip