Paul Stephenson gives his account of Printwear & Promotion 2008<\/p>\n
6.15a.m., and I\u2019m woken by a loud purring \u2014 it\u2019s my faithful Persian cat, Fifi La Flange, and she\u2019s hungry. Just as well she\u2019s given me the nudge, it\u2019s Monday morning and I\u2019m off to the Printwear & Promotion Exhibition, so better haul my silky PJ\u2019s out of bed and make a start. Staring out the window and starting to focus, I wonder about this year\u2019s industry offering\u2026will there be a decent turnout, what will all the old faces have to say, and will the M42 resemble Morrison\u2019s car park? Plumped up, tautened and with a dewy glow I bid Fifi farewell, and doing that which seems so unnatural, I head for Birmingham.<\/p>\n
On arrival I was reminded of how proud I am of the garment decorating posse \u2014 you can spot our jeans and T-shirts a mile off, unlike the attendants of the Door Knob Show and U Bend Expo who were also boarding the shuttle bus. I\u2019m not sure which would go first in Stephenson\u2019s Britain, the matching tie and handkerchief combo or those bloody suitcases on wheels \u2014 how I watched and prayed that the smart Apprentice contestant lookalikes would lose a wheel on their bag and career into an NEC flower bed, but obviously there is no God, and they made it safely in. In my defence I had a Dalai Lama moment and tried to talk to the man next to me on the bus about sofits, fascias and extrusions\u2026. that\u2019s got to mean I come back as a higher being.<\/p>\n
The usual re-enactment of Holiday on the Buses then ensued as we passed Hall 4 for the third time \u2014 saying \u2018I hate you Butler\u2019 as I alighted proved to be a mistake however as I got the same driver on the return journey, who threatened to \u2018drop me off\u2019 in no uncertain terms. Off to a good start then, in we go and time to register. Obviously I\u2019d employed about as much forward planning as Hitler when he decided it was a good idea to send boot-less men into a Russian winter \u2014 hadn\u2019t pre-registered, hadn\u2019t got a pen and couldn\u2019t find my glasses. Having probably ticked all the wrong boxes, in I went. Now I don\u2019t know about you, but I then usually spend 10 minutes wondering about how best to cruise the show, and attempt some aisle by aisle plan that will guarantee I don\u2019t miss a thing. And as usual by the time I\u2019ve figured out what I\u2019m doing I\u2019ve bumped into a customer from Cornwall and wandered off, being reminded by him that I\u2019m still the worst surfer they\u2019ve seen in the south west since an overweight sailor was washed up on a log.<\/p>\n
Plan out the window then, a random wander, and who should we see first but Mr Roper, authorised dealer of M&R. In a re-run of Crouching Tiger Hidden T-shirt his folding contraption suddenly came to life, and in a blur of karate chops produced a well folded garment. Impressive, and I almost wished we still did large volume printing so I could have one \u2014 imagine how neat your wardrobe would be with kit like that. I soon realised that things are going well for Dave as he passed me a bottle of his own brand of mineral water, fresh from the Roper Springs just outside Wolverhampton…We chatted about forums, I met his European counterpart, and in the combined company of 60 years in the garment trade I was immediately reminded of why I come to this show; I was learning things already, that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.<\/p>\n
On my way then, and a trip to the NEC wouldn\u2019t be complete without a cardboard cup of cappuccino \u2014 the usual method is to suck the stuff through a pin hole in the plastic lid. You are then led into a false sense of security by the cool froth before being hit with brown molten lava and sustaining third degree trap burns. I try to put the fire out with some polystyrene packing material masquerading as fruit cake and, unable to see properly, decide I\u2019d better find some friendly faces. Clutching my face I career onto the Continental stand. And that\u2019s another reason to come to the show \u2014 to put faces to names. I speak to these chaps every day, sometimes even about their T-shirts, which we all know are most lovely and changing the moral and ethical direction of the industry. But a few hours here can somehow humanise the rest of the year\u2019s work, as you\u2019re not just calling an invisible person to order some stock. You now know what Rob Shirley and Mark Zegan actually look like, and dammit they\u2019re handsome (that\u2019ll be a tenner chaps, each, the keys to the TVR and a free box of NO3\u2019s).<\/p>\n
Having regained the ability to speak we\u2019re off again, a hand shake from a man who seems to think my name\u2019s Paul Clapham, and I\u2019m in the company of industry legend John Potter, and the machinery guru known only to the chosen few, Professor Kevin Alcock. Now I would tell you about the conversation we had, I really would, and if this was Private Eye it might just get printed, but what I can say is that as I steadied myself against John\u2019s rather spanking new dryer to contain my laughter, I was reminded of a third reason why I come to this show: we\u2019ve got some great characters in this game and I\u2019m always glad to see them, which is more than I expect can be said of the Euro Tool Fest in Hall 2. I chuckled off, had a quick look at the industry awards (nice work everyone), and in need of a hug and a big smile thought I\u2019d better drop in on Glen and Sue from BTC \u2014 Sue does the hug by the way. As usual we don\u2019t look at any product, it\u2019s an easy chat, BUT, in that 10 minutes as a result of a few apparently unremarkable comments, I entirely changed my view of workwear and acquired a new long-term objective for my business. Can a few hours out of the office and a chance meeting change your direction and possible success? In the company of people who know what they\u2019re talking about, yes it can.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ve meandered around the show, and you\u2019ll be forgiven for thinking I\u2019ve meandered about this article but there is a point. When disgruntled of Chipping Sudbury talks about the Printwear show they say things like: \u201cThe parking was \u00a38.00 you know, and there were fewer exhibitors than last year; there were hardly any new products and the lanyard for the name badge has aggravated my eczema\u201d.Well maybe that\u2019s not the point \u2014 look beneath the surface, and there are a few hundred years worth of combined knowledge in that hall, poised and waiting to share it all with you. As important as the shiny new equipment and the new bobble hat with three ear flaps, in fact more important, are the relationships \u2014 creating new ones and cementing old. And that\u2019s why I\u2019ve been out too long, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m happy to pay \u00a38.00 for parking, and that\u2019s why Fifi has made fluffy love with two cushions, a chair leg and a sock.
\nCheers,
\nPaul<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paul Stephenson gives his account of Printwear & Promotion 2008 6.15a.m., and I\u2019m woken by a loud purring \u2014 it\u2019s my faithful Persian cat, Fifi La Flange, and she\u2019s hungry. Just as well she\u2019s given me the nudge, it\u2019s Monday morning and I\u2019m off to the Printwear & Promotion Exhibition, so better haul my silky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-misc"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n