Given the amount of excitement that's already emerged in the run-up to Drupa, with the latest announcements from Landa being a case in point, I wonder what else the show will have in store for us in the way of mega-news?

Apart from all the new kit and new technology news from the manufacturers, an essential component of any big expo is The Landmark Order.

Thinking about this caused me to reflect on exhibitions past. One only needs to glance at the archives to see that it simply wouldn't be Ipex or Drupa without news of a big order from Anton Group. Let's see if the Laindon chaps will be going to Germany with chequebook at the ready once again.

Elsewhere some orders that might have fitted the bill are already known knowns - Communisis and its big digital spend with HP, St Ives and its digital book printing investment with Kodak and Timsons, and Precision Printing set to be the first with a HP 10000 B2 device.

What about at the big ticket end of print? For obvious reasons large newspaper re-equipping orders appear likely to be thin on the ground, at least here in the UK.

In web offset, though, there's a potential candidate for The Landmark Order. I speak of Polestar, of course. Older readers may wish to cast their minds back to Drupa 1995 and - oh yes - The Landmark Order BPC's John Holloran signed with Manroland for seven web presses. It was a ?47m deal.

Three years later Polestar was formed and the rest, along with some of those web presses, is ancient history.

Could this be the year that dreams of a big web offset shed next to the big gravure shed starting coming to fruition? And might such a thing involve a new press vendor?

Shall certainly be keeping eyes peeled for sightings of Messrs Hibbert, Andreou et al in the halls. Do let me know if you see them.