IPMA Report: Cultivating Tomorrow’s Print Pros

The 2026 In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference brought nearly 130 managers to Greenville, South Carolina, for four jam-packed days of insights, networking, and awards. Attendees returned home inspired and armed with fresh strategies to improve their operations.

Two interesting sessions centered on the experience of up-and-coming print professionals.

Michelle Fox, senior lecturer in Clemson University’s Department of Graphic Communications, emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between today’s print students and their potential future employers.

In the first, Michelle Fox, senior lecturer in Clemson University’s Department of Graphic Communications, emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between today’s print students and their potential future employers — which includes in-plants.

According to Fox, this has become particularly challenging because some print education programs have been eliminated or otherwise condensed and lumped in with other curricula due to misconceptions about print among institutional decision-makers.

“I remember the time where it was like, ‘Oh, print is dying, print is dying. Why do we even have your program anymore?’” Fox recalled. “Print wasn’t dying, it was changing. It was going a lot more digital. So, that offset [press] that was sitting there as a print powerhouse was steering a little bit more digital.”

This transformation has enabled a diverse range of equipment to come into play. That means the scope of print curriculum today has also grown. As an example, Fox pointed to advances in web design, photography, and marketing as they relate to print.

“[Students] are tying the web, the photo, the social media, the marketing, the print — all of it — into a bubble,” she said. “So we’re creating this student who is so much more diverse in skill set than we’ve ever seen in the past.”

These two factors combined mean that industry collaboration and mentorship is critical for recruiting and retaining young people. Central to that is offering opportunities for hands-on learning and teaching practical skills. Fox said this comes in many forms, from student competitions such as the Phoenix Challenge to opening up internship opportunities.

The Student Perspective: Hands-On Learning is Key

A second session focused on student perspectives on the printing industry, with three Clemson graphic communications students answering a series of questions to help in-plants better understand the next generation of employees.

Their experiences largely echoed how Fox said print education is evolving. The students — a recent grad with a master’s degree and two rising seniors — stressed that hands-on learning and engagement with print professionals has been key to their success and continued passion for the industry. Internships have been particularly helpful on that front.

“I think those internships really steered me into a direction that I feel very confident about what I want to do and what my interests really are,” said Nathaniel Poole, a recent Clemson graduate.

All three students agreed that having more opportunities to get a feel for the industry (e.g., being mentored by industry professionals, attending conferences, working on examples of real creative briefs with constraints) is important for not only their own development as print professionals, but for the future of the industry.

The IPMA 2026 conference was filled with excellent sessions like this. We’ll bring you more highlights in the days ahead.