SGIA 2018 Marks an End of Industry Segmentation

A bustling crowd of roughly 24,000 attendees packed the Las Vegas Convention Center from October 18 to October 20, 2018. The reason? The SGIA Expo – to be clear, the last SGIA Expo. Those who came to the event got the chance to learn tips to improve their businesses, catch a glimpse of new and upcoming technologies, and share insights among their fellow industry peers. With 600 exhibitors in attendance, there was no shortage of activity, conversation, and presentations.

A Converging, Competing Marketspace

The main theme of SGIA 2018 could be summed up in one word: convergence. Those in printing are seeing their business landscape undergo radical changes. The industry labels used to distinguish one type of print shop from another are now largely obsolete. Sign shops produce customized products like water bottles, commercial printers create canvases and posters, screen printers work on digitally printed textiles like t-shirts and fabrics.