In-plant Events

The University Print Managers’ Group, a UK-based association of in-plant managers, gathered an international audience for its conference in June, including attendees from U.S. and Australian in-plant associations. Jennifer Bowers, president of the U.S.-based Association of College and University Printers (ACUP), along with David Harrison and Martin Booth from the Network of In-house Print Professionals Australasia (NIPPA, www.nippa.com.au), joined 65 attendees from in-plants all over the UK for the three-day affair, which took place in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. Speakers offered ideas to help in-plants become both indispensable and respected at their institutions. To combat increasing competition, one speaker urged

If you have an employee who is habitually late or absent from work, resist the urge to globally address the problem. In other words, don’t gather the whole department and say, “It is important for everyone to get here on time.” According to Rick Wise, director of Printing Services at the University of Missouri-Columbia, this tactic will work against you. “It hurts the morale of the majority of employees who are, in fact, getting to work on time,” he says. “Their thinking is why should they have to listen to discussion on this issue? And they are right.” It also erodes the supervisor’s credibility,

As if awards for printing weren’t enough, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association ventured into a whole new media category this year: video. Its new Vision Awards highlighted self-promotional videos made by in-plants to publicize their shops’ capabilities. Fellow managers screened and judged the entries, and gold statues, reminiscent of the Oscars, were handed out during the awards banquet. The winners: • Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators - Funniest Video (Who knew coffee could launch an entire staff into overdrive?) - Best Actor (Chris Anderson has proven himself master of the bulging eyes look.) • Colorado Springs School District - Best Self Promotion (What

BY MOST accounts, the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) conference in Tunica, Miss., last month was one of the best ever. Attendance was up, enthusiasm was high and the presentations were engaging, informative and well attended. True, it was a virtual oven outside, with daily temps in the mid-90s, but the action was all indoors, from the big vendor fair on the first day, to the excitement of the awards banquet on the last. “The participants seemed more serious about finding out new information this year,” observed Glenda Miley, manager of Auburn University’s CopyCat operation. “I noticed that most of the

Wow. It’s hard to believe I’m just sitting here, with no plans to travel anywhere. And having just completed a whirlwind, world-wide journey (capped with a stormy finish), I’m more than happy to stay put for a while. As you know, I was at Drupa, racing around that massive German trade show to see what the manufacturers have in store for you. I was back barely two days when I was on a plane again, headed for the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference in Tunica, Miss. (Germany and Mississippi; there’s a combination you don’t see too often.) I rented a car in

In the midst of Drupa, the spotlight shifted briefly to the U.S. printing industry during a press luncheon in which Public Printer Bob Tapella and NPES President Ralph Nappi addressed journalists. Quoting NPES survey data, Nappi revealed that the key issues concerning U.S. printers are the economy (by far), followed by profitability and rising energy/paper prices. He noted that the U.S. print market will dominate the global print market over the next three years but will continue to lose share to Asia. U.S. printers will continue expanding into value-added services, he noted. Tapella, who led a delegation of 17 GPO staffers to Drupa to

An impressive crowd of in-plant managers gathered in Tunica, Miss., two weeks ago to attend the annual In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference. Among the nearly 120 managers in attendance were large contingents from the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The Hershey Co., American Electric Power, BYU and Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators. In addition to a vendor fair featuring 32 exhibitors, attendees got to hear from industry experts like Barb Pellow, of InfoTrends, whose keynote session detailed trends impacting in-plants. Also, IPG Editor Bob Neubauer, just back from Drupa, entertained attendees with a presentation and video from the

Though the expense of flying to Germany makes Drupa a little out of reach for most in-plants, a handful of managers made the trek to Düsseldorf for the mega trade show. Craig Sedgwick, director of the LDS Church Printing Division, traveled there with Operations Manager John Bernstein, to get ideas for future purchases. “Since Drupa is the event where most major manufacturers introduce new products, we feel it is very important to attend to see what is on the horizon for equipment, software and supplies,” he says. “We have no specific items that we are buying, but we will look at everything in general to

Watch as the In-Print contest judges examine every Gold Award-winning piece and select the Best of Show winner.

Last month’s ACUP conference in Clearwater, Fla., was a great opportunity for in-plant managers to share their stories. Most of them have been very busy back home and had a lot to talk about. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer spoke with as many attendees as he could corner, to find out what’s been happening in their in-plants. Here’s what a few of them have been up to: • The University of Tennessee is replacing its four-color Heidelberg with a new four-color, 40˝ Heidelberg XL-105 with in-line coating and an image control system. The shop also purchased a pile turner for press stock preparation. • California