Not for fine art printers, no way. That's a framing show, and the buyers at the floor show are mostly looking for moulding, supplies, equipment, stuff like that. Most of the attendees are storefront framers who will not buy prints in any significant quantity. Some will buy a few cheapish, jazzy prints to help them sell frames. Although there are a few folks who do hotel and institutional jobs and such, buy they are increasingly print makers themselves.
For perspective one of the biggest categories is dirtball original oils from China stacked up in huge piles of unstretched canvas, it's legendary. The guy with sports stadium panos is always there and says he does really well, but I remember now that most of the print oriented booths seemed kinda lonely. Of course at a trade show all you need is one good contact!
Once in a while a photographer shows up with some framed fine art pieces with decorator appeal, but then he's not back the next year. I talked to one of those guys last year, he was exasperated because people kept wanting to buy his hand-built frames, but not his prints! Inkjet printing is starting to find its way into framing businesses, so Epson and Fredrix and a few others are there trying to get framers to buy into the printing service thing.
I've gone to most of the recent ones to see moulding and make contacts with suppliers and such. Will probably be there next week to pick up some new framing equipment, and I'm interested in exploring a bulk deal with one of the Asian moulding manufacturers who are there in droves. At a personal level I really like seeing the incredible, high craft picture frame makers who are there like Rhonda Feinman and Marty Horowitz, very inspiring and a stunning contrast to the kind of schlock frames I actually have to use. And this year there will be 4 Peter Lik galleries within a short walking distance, so I'm gonna see what mischief he's been up to.
Even though it's the biggest framing related show in the country, it's hardly a big show in absolute terms. A major part of it is the framing tech and business classes that go one simultaneously.
