Sappi Honors Excellence, Texas Style

DALLAS—The physical setting may have been the Lone Star State, but the gala awards ceremony for Sappi Fine Paper’s 12th annual North American Printers of the Year competition held at the Dallas Museum of Art incorporated Hollywood pizzazz with a touch of Texas flair.

With master of ceremonies Janine Turner (an actress best known for her role on CBS’ “Northern Exposure” television series) assisted on the stage by Mark Gardner, Sappi Fine Paper North America president and CEO, eight gold winners were announced at the black-tie event. Culled from a field of almost 2,000 entries printed on Sappi coated fine papers, gold winners were named in eight categories from the 48 silver and judges’ winners.

Gold winners included: annual reports, Classic Color for The Private Bank annual report 2006; books, O’Neil Printing for “Kenworthy;” brochures, Continental Colorcraft for POM Wonderful press kit; calendars, Meridian Printing for 2008 Off the Line calendar; catalogs, The Hennegan Co., a Consolidated Graphics Co., for Saks Fifth Avenue holiday gift book; general printing, Color West for Minutes to Midnight; magazines, Transcontinental Yorkville-O’Keefe for Harry, Spring/Summer 2007; and printer’s own promotion, Johns- Byrne Co. for its Komori Reality UV brochure.

These eight companies will now compete for the Sappi International Printers of the Year title to be held October 2-4 in Cape Town, South Africa. The global competition includes winners from the regional events in North America, Central and South America, Europe, Australia, Asia and Africa.

From this prestigious field, judges will select nine individual recipients of the Sappi International Printers of the Year awards—the only global honor of its kind to recognize excellence in printing craftsmanship.

All attendees at the weekend-long North American Printers of the Year event were also treated to a welcome dinner at the Hall of State, Fair Park. Optional activities the following day included guided tours of historic Dallas, a visit to Fort Worth, including its old stockyards, or a journey to some local museums and the original Neiman Marcus store.