Hall of Fame Inductees, Gold Ink Winners Feted at Banquet

CHICAGO—More than 200 attendees turned out Monday night for the annual Gold Ink Awards & Printing Industry Hall of Fame Gala, held in the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Regency Ballroom during GRAPH EXPO 14 and CPP EXPO. The 2014 event was co-sponsored by Konica Minolta, Canon USA, Fujifilm and Domtar, and hosted by Printing Impressions magazine.

The Gala stood as the crowning jewel for the nearly 350 Gold, Silver, Bronze and Pewter Gold Ink Award winners that were selected from more than 1,000 entries. A total of 49 Gold Award winners were highlighted in a video presentation during the banquet, and the People’s Choice Award—which was voted on by the banquet attendees who perused through the 49 Gold Award-winning entries displayed at the event—was presented to Graphic Visual Solutions of Greensboro, NC, for its LIVE on Cougar entry in the softcover books category.

The Gala was also an opportunity to honor the 2014 Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame induction class. This year’s inductees included John Budington, CEO of Global Printing, Alexandria, VA; David DeLana, president of Heritage—The Integrated Resource, El Reno, OK; Martin “Marty” Liebert, founder, president and CEO of Freedom Graphic Systems, Milton, WI; and Christopher Pierce, chairman of The Dingley Press, Lisbon, ME. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony was performed by Mark Subers, group president/media director of The Printing Impressions Group, and Mark Michelson, editor-in-chief of Printing Impressions. This year marked the 30th induction class for the Printing Impressions/RIT Printing Industry Hall of Fame.

Also recognized was Ken Field, president and CEO of Continental Web Press of Itasca, IL, who was given an award of special thanks for his many years of support for the banquet.

New this year was the inclusion of the Rochester Institute of Technology’s alumni reception. RIT has partnered with Printing Impressions on the Printing Industry Hall of Fame for 30 years, where plaques inscribed with all of the past inductees’ names reside in RIT’s School of Media Sciences to inspire future generation of graphic arts industry professionals.