North Dakota

Attendees at SUPDMC enjoyed great weather and even better companionship. by Jean-Luc Devis About 40 attendees from 27 various educational institutions got together in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., recently for the 27th annual Southeastern University Printing and Duplicating Managers Conference (SUPDMC). Colleagues from North Dakota and Minnesota escaped the snowfall in their respective states to enjoy 90-degree weather in southern Florida. This year's SUPDMC was organized and hosted by Bill Buckler, director of Printing and Graphic Arts at Broward Community College. Conferences are an excellent opportunity to meet with old and new colleagues, discuss common challenges and explore ways of

NSPA members were warmly welcomed to the prairies of North Dakota for an enlightening and unforgettable gathering. Though Bismarck, N.D., may have seemed like an unlikely site for a national conference, members of the National State Publishing Association left their recent 23rd annual conference full of praise for the state capital. Forty-two government attendees from 39 states gathered in Bismarck to discuss common in-plant issues and attend educational sessions. The conference got underway after an emotional welcome from Linda Kapp, wife of the late Jim Kapp, director of North Dakota's Central Services Division until he passed away last year. Mr. Kapp, a long-time NSPA

In the first of our in-plant manager profiles, we talk to Jim Puppe, supervisor of the prize-winning Minnkota Power Cooperative print shop. In Jim Puppe's mind, the beaches and sunshine of Los Angeles pale against the crisp country air of North Dakota. So after spending seven years perfecting his press skills in the City of Angels, Puppe and his wife packed up and headed back home. That was more than 20 years ago, and he hasn't looked back. Today Jim Puppe is print shop supervisor at Minnkota Power Cooperative, in Grand Forks, right on the Minnesota border. In recent years this small