Decision Time for In-plants

This is it. Today's the day. You have to decide right now whether you respect your employees enough to get them recognized for their hard work.

In just 13 days the In-Print 2013 deadline will be here, and if you haven't taken the time to enter any of the quality print jobs your staff has produced, you'll be sending them a message—one you may not want to be sending. Gathering samples of your employees' work and entering them won't take long, especially considering the payoff in improved morale.

In-Print 2013, the only printing contest exclusively for in-plants, boasts nearly 35 categories for both offset and digital printing, so your shop's best work will have plenty of opportunities to win. There are categories specifically for users of non-production digital printers/copiers, so smaller in-plants will no longer be competing against the big guys with iGen3s and NexPresses. Other special categories include combined offset/non-offset and VDP/cross-media projects.

IPMA members pay nothing for the first three entries; non-members pay just $30 per entry—a much better bargain than other print contests offer. The January 31 deadline is less than two weeks away, so get out there or appoint a staff member to gather samples now—four copies of each entry. Make sure those samples have great registration, crisp folds and no hickeys so they make it through the first round of judging. Entries must have been produced by your in-plant in 2012.

Read the rules, see the categories and find a link to the online entry form here: www.InPlantGraphics.com/docs/contest.