Working for a company that hosts conferences has given me a unique perspective on the attendee experience at industry events such as the Inside 3D Printing Conference. The show, put on by advertising and PR firm MediaBistro, is a two day event held several times a year at various locations, and seeks to explore and educate on the rapidly expanding 3D printing industry. It’s most recent iteration was held at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago, Illinois on July 10th and 11th.
Photizo Group hosts a somewhat similar conference, which I have the pleasure of attending, coordinating, and speaking at, which focuses on the hardcopy imaging industry. Being that Photizo has been providing research, consulting services, and publications to the imaging industry for years, we share a special connection with our conferences and those who attend them. That’s why it’s always interesting for me to attend conferences where the hosts really have nothing to do with the subject matter of the conference itself.
Yes, being in my position may make me a little biased. But I think there is definitely something to be said for the attendee experience when the hosts of the show share a certain like-mindedness and professional connection with their attendees. Is this to say that I didn’t have a great time at Inside 3D Printing? Absolutely not!
This summer’s Inside 3D Printing Conference featured a variety of industry speakers, specialists and 3D experts. While the level of experience and knowledge of some of the show’s attractions didn’t always translate into meaningful education, Inside 3D Printing embraces the less-experienced and those interested outsiders who want a more detailed look into the industry’s latest technology and its future.
Day one of the conference featured a keynote presentation tag-team from newly partnered CEO’s of MakerBot and Stratasys. While Bre Pettis has the charisma and down-to-earth demeanor to make his bit enjoyable, the presentation ended up feeling more like a sales pitch than a keynote. No doubt, it was interesting to look at some of the awesome things MakerBot and Stratasys’ technology are capable of, but I was left thinking “So what?” Details and strategic vision of the recent merger between the two companies were also noticeably scarce.
Avi Reichental’s keynote presentation at the start of day two, however, was much more meaningful. Reichental shared his visions of the future, citing that innovation in materials will speed adoption of 3D printing. He also elaborated on how convergence of technologies such as cloud computing power, artificial intelligence and robotics have all exponentially increased the potential of 3D printing over the last decade.
Outside of the keynotes, I frequently found myself struggling to choose between which parallel sessions to attend –a testament to the breadth of interesting content. Everything from 3D fashion to firearms, investing to future outlooks, there truly was something for everyone.
But while the breadth of the content was fantastic, its depth was a little bit lacking. I sat down with several attendees during a lunch break and we all ended up discussing how most of the content didn’t go beyond anything you couldn’t learn in an hour or two on the Internet.
Despite some holes in the educational sessions, and being a seasoned industry conference attendee and host, I understand that the real value in attending these types of shows is in the interaction and networking opportunities. In this regard, I found the Inside 3D Printing Conference delivers a much more fulfilling experience than its educational content provides. Plenty of big names were in attendance, as well as a wide variety of 3D enthusiasts, business people, inventors, and industry participants.
The Expo hall was small, but packed for the duration of the show. Exhibitors didn’t pull any punches, with booths from 3D Systems, Stratasys, and Mcor drawing the biggest crowds. Afinia, a conference sponsor, had a nice setup featuring their H-series personal 3D printer (pictured on the right). The H-series features a refined yet simple appearance and prides itself on being easy to set up.
It was also nice to see booths from the guys at the recently started online 3D directory, Thre3D. EnvisionTEC’s display, while much less flashy than the other manufacturers, offered what I thought was the most technically impressive display of sample prints from a variety of their products. And I would be remiss in not mentioning the beautiful full color prints from Mcor’s IRIS system.
Overall, the Inside 3D Printing conference was an enjoyable experience, and will most likely grow into one of the industry’s better events to attend each year. While there are still some kinks to work out, I have to commend Mediabistro on their choice of venue and their ability to bring in the biggest names in the business.
If you’re considering attending this show in the future, try to register as early as possible. The content is worth the early bird pricing, but right now I’m not sure I can recommend paying premium pricing based on educational content alone. However, to dismiss this show altogether would be foolish, as it provides a great chance to network, grow your business, and see some of the best new technology on the market.
