#chilidrupa – the strategic gut path

Harder, better, faster, stronger – that pretty much sums up #drupa2016 for us. Whereas the previous edition was a milestone for us to position ourselves in the market, we wanted this edition to prove that we’re not a one-trick pony. We want to be an Arabian horse in the graphics market. As I mentioned earlier, it takes guts to jump, but this drupa we upped our strategy in order to make it the #chilidrupa.

And as they say: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance.
We started well ahead. Over 2 years of development went into CHILI rendro – ready for launch at the #POTF16 press conference we participated in 2 months before drupa, with Enfocus as first OEM partner showcase in point. We got raving reviews from our partners, the Ghent Workgroup and the press. We could not have hoped for a more perfect kick-off.

We also announced CHILI publisher 5.0, fully HTML5 compatible and fueled with the new updates the market needed. Just in time, because at drupa we noticed many newcomers with a growing need for online document editing for whom we’d make the perfect OEM partner (hint, hint).

In between we also moved house. You know, to keep busy. The company was growing, so were the plans and so was the team. Without extra wiggle room, there was just no way we could accommodate the great new ideas we are brooding on. (if you want to help us hatch those eggs, check our job section on the website)

And the d-day happened. Drupa: bigger booth, bigger crew to (wo)man the stand, extended communication before/during/after the show. Great expectations in terms of demo goals. And no lost illusions: we even exceeded the demo target! We met over 1100 people and shared about 536 beers with them. Hosted a party for 140 attendees in the Altstadt and spread about 500 CHILLax chairs all over the Messe grounds. Landed quite a few deals and new customers. What a rollercoaster. What a #chilidrupa success. What a team.

And now what you ask? drupa is a milestone indeed, but we’ll pursue the yellow brick road until we make it to Oz. Next stop Korea Print, CHILI publisher 5.0 enables us to service China, Korea and Indonesia, we have to be there if we want to make our Asia Pacific move happen.

We’ll also keep on working on further fine tuning our solutions offering. Our technology is top-notch, that’s because we work with the best. We want to keep it that way.

On a final note, a massive thank you to everyone who made this happen with us: customers, partners, associates. And above all: the wonderful CHILI publish team.

Keep shooting for the stars, that’s how magic happens.

P.S. Our ultimate drupa high? Hard to pick one – this video says it all

Company

Bram Verniest

Jul 26, 2016

Sign up for blog updates

Related articles

Brandwidth,

Marketing

Is Autonomous Brand Production the Next Step in IT Integration? Consumer expectations are rapidly evolving in today's competitive brandscape. Shoppers want more of everything: more choices, more personalization, more relevance. For major brand . . .

Kees Henniphof

Jan 28, 2025

Marketing

How CHILI GraFx Can Make Adobe’s Content Supply Chain Work Let’s talk about content supply chains. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it? Like something you’d dream about on a particularly wild Tuesday night. But here’s the thing: while “content su . . .

Kees Henniphof

Dec 18, 2024

Marketing,

Product

How CHILI GraFx Outperforms Traditional Direct Mail SoftwareIn a marketing landscape where digital content has dominated, direct mail is resurgent. Both large brands and direct mail providers now recognize the unique power of print to conne . . .

Kees Henniphof

Dec 16, 2024