The CEO of Mediabistro,
which brought its Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo series to Melbourne
last week, has called the event’s first visit to Australia an “unqualified
success”.
Inside
3D Printing was held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on July
9 and 10. According to Alan Meckler, Mediabistro’s CEO, the attendance
number was between 1,200 and 1,300.
“It was about the same
size as Brazil but smaller than Korea; about the same size as Singapore,
and smaller than the US,” he told Manufacturers’
Monthly.
“In terms of the population, proportionately, it did very
well.
“You had a lot of people here who were trying to learn about
it, thinking it might be a field they want to move into and you have
manufacturers saying that this is the wave of the future.”
The turnout for the two-day event showed 3D printing had an “immense
future” in Australia, according to Meckler, who is also a founder of the
first mutual fund concerned exclusively with the technology, 3D Printing and Technology Fund.
The maiden Australian
event in the series was announced in December. It followed the 3D Printing Expo
– now in its second year – as
the second major trade show held this year in the country devoted to the burgeoning
additive manufacturing industry.
According
to Wohlers Associates, whose founder and president Terry Wohlers was the first
day’s keynote speaker at the event, the global
market for additive manufacturing/3D printing grew at 34.9 per cent last year
to be worth $US 3.07 billion.
Meckler
said that of the 1,300 at the Australian event, about 200 registered and paid, with
tickets priced at $249.
“I think the exhibit, which was not huge, was very
representative of 3D printing, so I would say [were] the exhibitors and the
quality of the seminar topics,” explained Meckler.
High-profile Australian presenters included RMIT
Professor Milan Brandt (day two’s keynote speaker) and the CSIRO
Titanium Theme Leader John Barnes.
In comparison to the number of attendees in Melbourne, the
Seoul leg
of the series attracted roughly 5,000.
According to Meckler, between 15,000 and 20,000 are expected
for the Hong Kong instalment
of Inside 3D Printing on August 26 and 27, and a greater number later in
the year when the event makes its way to mainland China.
“We obviously have high expectations,” he said.
“We think our biggest one will be in Shanghai in November.”
Image: ABC