Buchmesse 2019 | You were amazing!

General surprise

October, autumn, rain, leaves are falling, but of course also the Frankfurt Book Fair. Every year in mid-October, the sales department buzzes with activity. You feel the tension as everyone prepares to present the best of Crius Group to the rest of the world for four days. 302,267 visitors and 7,450 exhibitors from 104 countries, spread over 6 gigantic halls, that was the Buchmesse 2019. And I was allowed to discover it with my own eyes, together with my colleague Jens.

The first impression you get when you step in is one of general surprise. The size, the crowds, the colorful settings are more than amazing. Every seasoned bookworm would feel like a kid in a candy store here. But we first went to our own stand of course! Crius Group is always in the midst of the Flemish publishers, in the joint stand of FIT (Flanders Investment & Trade). Every year, this organization ensures that Flemish companies are given the opportunity to profile themselves abroad. They also celebrated their 25th anniversary this year at the fair ... with tasty cake.

Flandriens on the road

Armed with a GoPro, Jens and I set off on a voyage of discovery. As true Flandriens, we first started to squeak at our Flemish neighbors. De Eenhoorn, Felinova, Boek.be, Standaard publishing house, Pelckmans publishers and many others represented Flanders. Further on we found our northern neighbors with A.W. Bruna, Anne Frank House, Meulenhoff Boekerij and Overamstel publishers.

While I was hammering gadgets, Jens filmed the various exhibitors in Hall 5. From Belarus to Afghanistan, from Iceland to Serbia and even Vatican City ... So many countries are represented at the Buchmesse, but also some prestigious universities 🎓 such as Yale, Harvard and MIT are present.

In the late afternoon we went to hall 4, where Crius Group presented Core to the international public for the first time. Core is the way to automate your books, without compromising on quality and at a very competitive page price. We provide you with a clear overview of all your book productions and status. You can also easily reprint your manuscripts and as icing on the cake we will provide you with a free ePub file. 😉

Time to party then 🥳! We went to the drink of Centraal Boekhuis, at our northern neighbors. The place-to-be for chatting with other exhibitors enjoying a snack and a tap. It was very nice for us as typesetters to meet the people on the other side of the telephone face-to-face this time.

No expense is spared

Day 2 brought us to hall 3, the most commercial hall and that shows. Some stands had spared no effort and looked great. At Phaidon and Taschen there were even gloves with the books if you wanted to browse through them. Unbelievable!

Slowly slipping between the tasty food stalls outside, we quickly proceeded to the ARD forum pavilion. While there were several live broadcasts in progress, you could also try out Virtual Reality glasses or get a digital representation of the weather. A floor higher, we ended up in a religious department. Need a new bible? Or would you prefer the Koran? They stood side by side brotherly.

Further on, via a few corridors, we discovered a very nice floor. One part contained antique books, but there was also a Porsche stand, for example. My personal favorite was the 15 (!) Meter long LED wall that told the story of the origin of China. Very nicely done, with illustrated figures that moved across the screen, really magnificent! 🤩

But, unfortunately, all beautiful songs come to an end and despite our protests, we had to go back home.
Another sincere thank you to the entire sales team and to our wonderful bosses, for giving us the opportunity to experience this Buchmesse adventure. And last but not least, thank you Jens for being such a great companion!

Buchmesse, we'll be back !!
Zita & Jens