Press release - Everyone likes Image for Sale

November 3, 2009: Press release for immediate publication

Summary

Visitors and exhibitors alike were extremely satisfied with "Image for Sale", the first Scandinavian trade fair for picture buyers. Four out of five of those who attended the fair made contact with a new picture supplier. The Board of BLF has now started making plans for next year's "Image for Sale".

Full version

Visitors and exhibitors alike were extremely satisfied with "Image for Sale", the first Scandinavian trade fair for picture buyers. Four out of five of those who attended the fair made contact with a new picture supplier. BLF is now looking at ways of developing "Image for Sale" ready for its 2010 launch.

Two separate questionnaires were sent out after the close of this year's trade fair. One was an online questionnaire sent to all registered visitors and the other was an email questionnaire sent to the exhibitors. The response was good with lots of interesting feedback. Many people had also taken the time to write longer comments about what developments they would like to see at the trade fair. The common opinion among the respondents was that everyone liked the fair and is looking forward to attending next year's event.

Growth and expansion

There was a strong wish from both visitors and exhibitors for next year's fair to be bigger. The visitors would like to meet more picture agencies, especially those that specialise in a certain field. They usually already have reliable suppliers that satisfy their daily requirements but are interested in establishing a wider network of contacts to cover their more specific needs. Many visitors also expressed a wish to meet photographers, video companies and illustrators. The picture agencies at this year's event said they would be interested in bringing along more of their colleagues next time. Another suggestion was to invite complementary sectors such as technology companies and other content providers to the fair. One of the questions was Did you find a new picture supplier that you are likely to do business with in the future? In response to this question, 78% of visitors that purchase pictures and photos today said Yes. The answer clearly indicates that there is a demand for this type of event.

The visitors would like to see a full-day event that offers several seminars. There seems to be a huge interest in listening to presentations on copyright issues and techniques for working effectively with images. Other topics that are in demand are visual communications and pictorial language.

Although the majority of the visitors to Image for Sale were from Stockholm, this first-time event still had an international touch. One of the first companies to book a stand was Top Foto from the UK and a French visitor had travelled to Stockholm with the sole purpose of visiting Image for Sale.

The Board of BLF has now started making plans for next year's Image for Sale. A larger, more extensive and even better Image for Sale.

About BLF

The Swedish Picture Suppliers Association (BLF) is a trade association for professional photographers and picture suppliers, image agencies, image archives, news illustrators and film and video companies. BLF is the largest and oldest image agency organisation in Sweden and the second largest in Europe (BAPLA in the UK being the largest). The Association was established in 1950 and today organises 340 active member companies which comprise over 500 photographers, film makers and producers. BLF is a member of CEPIC, www.cepic.org , which is a European organisation with more than 1000 picture agencies as members in 19 European countries. Each year, BLF issues a series of publications providing the latest information on legal issues and price rates in the industry.