Package Design - November 2013 - 8

FRONT PANEL

PMMI Wins Big in Vegas
Educational-and-exhibition format delivers standing-room-only crowds
at the largest Pack Expo Las Vegas ever.

his year's Pack Expo Las Vegas set event
records, with show owner and producer
PMMI, the Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, reporting that attendance was
up 7.4%, with more than 25,000 visitors, 15.5% more
exhibiting companies and a 14.7% more net square

27,759
visitors

4,721

international visitors

42,887

total attendees,
including exhibitor personnel

Pack Expo Las Vegas 2013 opens with crowds waiting
at the hall's entrance.

footage over the 2011 show, which also set event
records. The 27,759 attendees came from more than
40 vertical markets.
At this year's event, PMMI introduced a new
education-integrated approach. "The idea to move
educational sessions from conference rooms to the
exhibit hall came from a post-show attendee survey we
conducted in 2012," Charles D. Yuska, president and
CEO, PMMI, says. "Attendees said they value education, and want to maximize their time on the show
floor as well."
The strategy played out well. The three stages of
Innovation Stage presented exhibitor-led education to
standing-room only crowds hourly in the Central Hall.

NOVember 2013

Research was also prominent, with PMMI conducting its seventh Vision 2020 at the show. "Vision
2020 is one of several avenues we use to keep abreast
of what's impacting packaging and processing from the
end-user perspective," Jorge Izquierdo, vice president,
market development, PMMI says. "The insights they
provide are invaluable."
This year's groups involved 89 individuals from 84
consumer packaged goods companies (CPGs). And
the "future realities" they identified, Izquierdo says,
are already impacting the way equipment producers
and end users do business together.
The group agreed CPGs will find it harder to make
a profit in the coming years, with factors such as commodity pricing, and expenses for energy, labor and regulatory compliance all feeding into an increase in the
cost of doing business. The market for green packaging and products will expand, as sustainability considerations are further established in the mainstream of
consumer acceptance, positioning strategies and government regulation.
Addressing the design community specifically,
Package Design magazine again held on-site voting for
its annual Makeover Challenge, sponsored by Hazen
Paper Company, at Pack Expo. Attendees voted for the
best redesign of NOW Foods' existing supplement
packaging. To see which competing agency won, turn
to page 16.

Package Design - November 2013

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