From the Editor: An August Issue
So you have your August issue in your hands. Notice anything odd about it? I'm guessing you don't.
I could just leave you in suspense, telling you only that there's something very different about this mid-summer issue—something not seen for at least 20 years—and then let you puzzle over it for a while. But I'd hate to add more stress to anyone's day, so I'll just go ahead and tell you. For the first time in decades, our August issue has…articles!
Since 1997 we have been publishing our Buyers' & Specifiers' Guide in August, a catalog of graphic arts software and equipment. (Before that, we published a networking guide in August.) But late last year we decided to move away from the catalog concept and bring you an additional "regular" issue in its place.
Though our advertisers appreciated the opportunity to show off their products, and I'm sure some of you enjoyed flipping through the Buyers' Guide to check out the latest gear, we had to acknowledge that the Internet has changed the way people research new equipment. Paging through a catalog to pick your next press is not exactly the modern way.
I'm sure the passing of our Buyers' Guide would have gone unnoticed by most of you had I not mentioned it here. But that's OK. I'm shedding no tears on this end, either.
Besides, it opened up the opportunity for us to profile a top-notch in-plant like Lehigh University Printing and Mailing Services. I visited the Bethlehem, Pa., shop a year and a half ago and was impressed with Director Glenn Strause's efforts to add services and bring in new business. The in-plant just installed a four-color Ryobi press, specifically to stem the flow of four-color work being outsourced and keep it in the in-plant. Strause's efforts to open a new full-service post office on campus this month are detailed in our cover story.
August is not typically a big news month, and I haven't been doing much lately that I can write about. With my vacation over and my trips to the Far East and the IPMA conference just memories now, this summer just seems to be dragging on for me.
I guess I should enjoy the down time. The activity will start up soon enough, first with the National Government Publishing Association conference next month, and then even more spectacularly in October, when Graph Expo takes over Chicago.
Graph Expo is really rolling out the red carpet for in-plants this year, with multiple sessions and events targeted at in-house printers. I expect to see many, many in-plants as I walk the show floor and take in some of the sessions. Hopefully you'll be among them.
Related story: Thinking Outside the Mailbox
- People:
- Glenn Strause
- Places:
- Bethlehem, Pa.
Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 170 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.