“So, good morning. Day 2 from SGIA Expo. I’m talking to Tom Wittenberg from HP Ink, wide-format. You’re the wide-format guy, right?” Yes. Wide-format, large-format, Marketing Manager for sign and display. 

“And, we are actually standing in front of something quite remarkable because, in my world of HP, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby HP printer.” Correct. This is actually the Latex 110 printer, and it’s our start-up level printer or it could be used for, say, a commercial printer that actually wants to get into large-format and requires some fill-in jobs. So, there’s many advantages to it. It’s get-to-know it, get-to-play with it and understand how it works. It gives you all the advantages of Generation 3 Latex Inks. So, all the scratch resistance, the durability, the indoor use, the outdoor use, etc., and it’s very reasonably priced. So, great way to enter the market. When it comes to workflow, it does have its specific set of workflow that, you know, that need to have depending on which market you’re going to go into. So, if you’re doing the banners, a way to seam the banner so you could have bullet packs. It’s things like that. So, it’s always work looking at what market do I want to go into and what other potential pieces of equipment that I need. 

“Right. And speaking of that, I’m interested in offering wide-format services or a sum to my customers and to find new ones, what can this machine produce?” Okay. Where the strength lies, banners, vinyls, papers, especially uncoated papers, because of the way the ink works, you still get that tremendous color pop that you may or may not get with other technology. So, really advantage there. But, absolutely excellent on all those materials. Films, if you’re running films, same type of thing. 

“And, you’re introducing this printer at this show, correct?” We introduced it earlier, but this is its actually, first show debut in the United States. 

“And, did HP feel like there was a void in the market or in regards to your offerings? Because I’ve never seen a small machine in the HP people.” When we look at the demand that we’ve had for the Latex, which has been significant over the last year, we wanted to give the people and a portion of the market an opportunity also. So, there’s a real opportunity here for people who are really wanting to get into the Latex, but may not have the resources to buy some of the bigger equipment. So, this is it. 

“It’s fantastic. And, if you don’t mind, let’s just talk about the show pretty quickly. HP was always at SGIA Expo. How do you think Atlanta is going? Do you like it here?” Yes. It’s actually – Well, I like it here because it’s a hometown for me. 

“That’s right. I forgot. You lucky bastard.” So, it’s great for us. From the standpoint of the show itself, it’s been tremendous. We’ve seen, I’d say, more qualified and interested buyers than we’ve seen in past SGIAs. So, yesterday, if that’s an indication of the show, it’s going to be a great show for us. ‘It’s funny because I was filming as everybody walked in and my commentary was, ‘Okay. A hundred people just made a bee line to the HP booth.’ And, there’s a line there already. And, I was like, ‘There are buyers at this show.’ This is not, ‘Let me just peruse around the HP booth.’ They went to specific machines, which is a testament to your brand, to the marketing that you do before the show and to the education you provide. So, thank you so much from everybody. One last question. Give a value proposition, a little pitch to the commercial printers out there in regards to entering the wide-format market.” Okay. Wide-format, I’ll say, specifically sign and display, growth opportunities are tremendous. In terms of color, and I’ll say, in terms of pages or square footage, however you want to look at it, the growth rate through 2018 is estimated to be 24 percent per year. So, tremendous growth opportunity in sign and display. We also have other markets where you can participate to. So, things like decoration, wall coverings, window blinds. Another absolutely fantastic market for people who are interested in getting into different areas of the market. And, that too is growing very rapidly. 

“And, how could people get in touch to get more information?” Best way to do it is to call, if you’re interested in Latex printers. I hope you are. You can call our marketing department. You can call our 800 toll-free line and we will get somebody to get in touch with you. And, the website, www.hp.com backslash?”  www.hp.com/go/latex 

“Latex. Perfect. Thank you so much Tom. It’s always a pleasure speaking with you.” Right. Thank you.