By Rashmi Sharma, Dscoop's Community Success Manager, South Asia
The rise of HP Indigo users in India is part of the reason Dscoop has grown to reach the 20,000-member mark. Dscoop India has become a vibrant and successful community, sparked by print entrepreneurs who crave advancement and connection to new ideas and technologies.
India is one of the biggest producers of wedding photo albums, with a market that demands high quality and colorful pink and green inks that capture the essence of eventful Indian weddings. Today, more than 80% of HP Indigo owners in India produce photo albums, along with other products.
Inspired by the amazing work of Dscoop members in India, I wanted to document all the Dscoop India activities through a photo yearbook that showcased highlights of each event. In 2022, we hosted three events in India and had more than 400 photographs from each one. I wanted to choose the photos that could best visually narrate the story of Dscoop India.
I shared my thoughts with our Western Region committee member Kalpesh Mehta, owner of one of the biggest photo labs in Mumbai. He gave me a thumbs-up to begin work on the project as soon as I could. My challenge began on a day in January 2023, when I sat down in the designing cabin of SRK Creative in Mumbai with a young designer.
Although I had imagined the overall look of the photobook, I was clueless how to choose the photographs from such a big pool. I was living the predicament each wedding photographer goes through while selecting for each wedding album. So, we went event by event, shortlisting photos while organizing each event's keynote speeches, attending PSPs and supportive Dscoop Partners. It took about eight hours to create a 20-page photo album for our activities in 2022. It included a special page for our ever-listening and ever-active Dscoop India board.
Some images from 2022 Dscoop India yearbook:
Once published, I took copies of the 2022 yearbook to every print exhibition in India where HP Indigo had a booth, including Photo Fair, PAMEX and LabelExpo. Doing so gave tremendous visibility to Dscoop and its Partners, and I also found it to be a great conversation starter to share what Dscoop does locally in India to help members connect and grow. Members were happy to see themselves documented, which inspired participation from non-attendees.
Keeping with the high standards and expectations set in 2022, the Dscoop India yearbook for 2023 showcases the journey of our country's community through seven events -- four international ones and three community-led regional meetups.
The 2023 version has slightly more photos and pages, capturing not only all seven events but also the launch and importance of the newly designed Dscoop community platform, articles contributed by print experts in India, screenshots of the quarterly Scoop India newsletters and more.
The 2023 yearbook captures highlights and high points from a wonderful year in our community. It gives the reader a good idea of what Dscoop stands for – bringing print mavericks together to learn, network and collaborate.
Both yearbooks are a testament to the amazing gatherings we have enjoyed together in India and beyond.
Some images from 2023 Dscoop India yearbook: