Confessions of an In-Print Awards Judge

Ben Fowler (left) joined three other in-plant managers to judge In-Print 2020.

Ben Fowler, Document Services supervisor at Shelter Insurance in Columbia, Mo., was first asked to help judge the In-Print contest in 2017.

“What I always tell people what I get out of the experience the most is the chance to see so many impressive pieces,” he writes in a new blog on the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association site. “There are small, medium, large, or even huge operations, and it is amazing to see what they all create and produce.”

He has since served as a judge in 2018 and again this year, when things were a bit different; judges wore masks and practiced social distancing all day.

“This year we judged 351 pieces, and 64 received recognition,” he recounts. “So how do you judge all of them? One category at a time. Every judge looks at every single piece. Some you see for a mere second, while others you agonize over for what seems like hours.”

In his blog, Ben reflects on his judging experiences, past and present, and details what actually happens on judging day. Read it here.