So, I was in Frankfurt, Germany around two weeks back. The purpose of it is no secret, I guess. I was there to attend the most prestigious and biggest book fair of the world i.e. The Frankfurt Book Fair. More details about the fair here.
(Prints Publications Pvt. Ltd. Stall at Frankfurt Book Fair 2013)
Anyway the significance of this book fair for a person like me lies in the fact that this fair gives you an insight and provides you the glimpse of how the publishing industry is going to evolve in the coming years. Also, not to forget the ample opportunities it can provide to a person who is always looking for an opportunity to expand his publication business.
Talking about the FBF 2013, this year was different from the previous ones in many respects. Be it the number of attendees or the kind of attendees or the variety in stalls that you get to see.
As far as India is concerned, it put up quite a show. National Book Trust presented a great stall. It was inaugurated by NBT chairman. Also not to forget the presence of Indian Pavilion that got inaugurated by CAPEXIL chairman. You can say that India didn’t miss the chance to make its presence felt in this greatest book fair.
(Stall of National Book Trust)
(With my wife and Mr. Ramesh Mittal, Chairman, Books Publications and Printing Panel, Capexil, Ministry of Commerce, India)
On a personal note as I recollect, it was one hell of a day. Busy… yes, it was; but more than that it was a fruitful day. Meeting all the new people and grabbing the new opportunities as they knock at your door. So, true to its essence for the major part of my time at the fair, I was busy meeting the industry bigwigs. And I think it paid me off big time.
(With our client from Bosnia)
The most fruitful of all was the conference of Association of Subscription Agents in Restaurant Italia in Hall 4.2. ASA members have been active participants in the Frankfurt Book Fair since its very beginning. And given its international presence, it was an honour for me to attend it on behalf of Prints Publication.
Also the networking dinner organised by Federation of Indian Publishers at Hotel Inter Continental was something to look forward to. Around 50 important people from our industry and 20-30 foreign delegates were available there. That means great talks, big opportunities and plenty of potential business!
Other than that the meeting with UK publishers was as amazing as ever. I got to meet one of our major customers from UK, Mr. Julian Hardinge too.
I was there just for first four days; first three days were dedicated to trade visitors only and the last two days were meant for all. It was as I hoped an amazing experience and I hope the coming years turn out to be even better.
