FESPA recently supported a fantastic event in Piestany, Slovakia where we obtained some great video footage of what was going on. Here is a brief overview, more to follow next year.

FESPA’s Slovakian (Sietotlacovy zvaz SR) and Czech (Sitotiskovy svaz CR) member associations will join together from 14th – 15th October 2011 in Piešťany, Slovakia, to deliver their 7th FESPA supported seminar, ‘Bill 7’. This annual seminar attracts screen and digital printers from across Eastern Europe to discover the latest industry trends and insights applicable to their business.  Supported by FESPA as part of its Reinvestment Programme, Bill 7 is also open to students from the region by invitation.

The projects committee met in Budapest in March and over a long day considered 24 projects submitted by our Associations. Of these we agreed to support a wide range of projects including: a conference and networking event in the Netherlands on 13th October (for more details contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )as well as support for a seminar in Slovakia, also in October on 7th and 8th in Piestany. The Slovak Association is also receiving support for the organisation of screen and digital printing workshops  focusing on special effects. These workshops will take place in April, June and November.

In Belgium we are supporting Febelgra with a "Print 2 day" in June, a number of interactive e-marketing workshops as well as some interactive innovation workshops. For more infor4mation please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .Over in Finland we will be supporting SERPA in having a presence at Finn Visual in September, undertaking a member recruitment campaign as well as a Finnish market survey and  Finnish economy survey. We also supported the translation of the FESPA Economy survey into Finnish. For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  Support was also given to the Czech Association to help with costs enabling them to exhibit at the Brno trade fair in May, for details contact the new secretary, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Finally, a UK think tank event was also supported, a special small event aimed at top printers to consider and discuss lean manufacturing and working together to share resources.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it   A number of tthe other proposals require more information to be provided before a decision can be made.  If you want more information on any of these projects please contact the relevant FESPA secretary or of course contact me, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Glorious weather welcomed the 68 people who gathered in the spa town of Piestany in Slovakia on 8th and 9th October to attend the 6th International seminar organised by Slovak Screen and Digital printing association.
 

Time for an update from me and time for some dialogue with members of the FESPA community.

Last week I was involved in the 6th International FESPA supported seminar organised by the Slovak Association in Piestany Slovakia. It was fantastic weather and we also had some brillian contributions from a range of great speakers. You will be able to find a detailed report on the FESPA website soon.

On Wednesday this week the Projects committee considered a number or new projects and agreed the following:

In Slovenia we shall be supporting an environmental seminar in November which will focus on environmental issues for the SEE (South East Europe) region. This high profile event will be held in Ljubljana wth live streaming to audiences elsewhere using webinar technology. Part of the programme includes translation of the Planet Friendly Guide into Slovenian language for distribution to members of Slovenian Association. For more information please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

At our last meeting support was given to a number of new projects as follows:

An environmental conference in Denmark aimed at Nordic countries, a digital seminar in Belgrade in May, in Slovakia the 6th International seminar to be held in Piestany in October, assistance towards the cost of translating the Planet Friendly Guide into Spanish, as well as a textile conference in China in November.

FESPA continues to support a wide range of projects submitted by its Associations and in the last six months a varied number of projects have received approval. Some of these are described in more detail below. At our last meeting held in December we approved projects for Germany, Finland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Sweden, France and India.

Slovak Screen Printing Association/Sieťotlačový zväz SR
5th International Seminar for Screen and Digital Printers, 2-3 October 2009
Supported by FESPA, the Seminar took place in Dudince, Slovakia, this year, focusing on textile printing, and was attended by over 100 delegates.

Read the full report here >>

Below is an example of the co-operation between Slovak and French Associations in Paris last year. Following the success of this meeting, a reciprocal visit was made by French representatives to Slovakia. Now, because of the success of this relationship, a further meeting will be taking place in Marseille in October (21st to 23rd) where both Associations will meet, discuss ways in which they can develop their working relationships,  make some factory visits, network  and relax with a little sightseeing and a couple of meals.