Franklin Event Draws 500

NEW YORK--Los Angeles may have its festive Academy Awards gala, but the Big Apple can lay claim to the annual Franklin Event, hosted by the Printing Industries Alliance (PIA). More than 500 people packed Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers on September 10 to pay tribute to this year's printing, publishing and advertising luminaries. Following opening remarks from HudsonYards' Diane Romano and Stephen Zenger of The Zenger Group--and a surprise opera performance that delighted the crowd--PIA/GATF President and CEO Michael Makin presented the new Industry Recognition Award to U.S. Public Printer Robert Tapella (which was accepted by the Deputy Public Printer on behalf of Tapella, who was unable to attend).

The 2008 Power of Communication Awards were bestowed upon James Hammer, fourth-generation owner of Hammer Packaging (printing); Ken Lantz, senior vice president, director of print creative services, at DRAFTFCB (advertising); and Tom Fox, former vice president, manufacturing and technology, American Express Publishing/Time Inc. (publishing).

Now in its second year, the John Peter Zenger Medal winner was Frederick Moss, vice president and a 50-year veteran at Galvanic Printing & Plate Co. and president of Flexi Printing Plate Co. This special award, named after the colonial printer whose arrest, imprisonment, trial and acquittal in 1735 set the foundation for freedom of the press, is given to an industry individual who has demonstrated exemplary character in the form of courage, charity, activism, or community or military service.

PIA President Tim Freeman and Vice President Vicki Keenan also credited this year's 43 sponsors in helping to make the long-standing awards gala possible. PIA, a regional PIA/GATF affiliate chapter, serves the $20 billion graphic communications industry of New York and northern New Jersey.