NAPL

Around here there’s not much to make us Philadelphians proud. The Eagles break our hearts. The Sixers never quite make it. Our Phillies ebb and flow, mostly ebb. We do have Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell—old stuff that makes us proud. Speaking of old historic stuff, we are most proud of Benjamin Franklin, who was a local Philadelphia-based PRINTER! A printer! He celebrated his 300th birthday on January 17, 2006. Ben was honored in all of our local newspapers and was featured in some great television documentaries. The printing industry, however, failed to honor this great American hero who was first a printer, but also

I was ill from October 1, 2005, until January 31, 2006. It's been difficult because several doctors have not been able to identify what caused the illness. It was frustrating; when people called to wish me a speedy recovery, I couldn't tell them precisely what was wrong. It wasn't a widely understood malady like the flu. It wasn't something easy like gout. Everybody has an Uncle Herb who had the gout. I'm sure that some people, remembering that I'm 63 years of age and pleasingly plump, said, "Old Mañana Man musta had the big one. All that cheesecake and those hot fudge sundaes led to

Vertis Receives Industry Honor BALTIMORE—The Association for Graphic Arts Training (AGAT) recognized Vertis' contributions to graphic arts education and training with an AGAT Industry Award. AGAT Industry Awards are bestowed to companies that have given extraordinary support to the organization, the industry and the training field. Printers' Gift Helps Fill Santa's Sleigh BALTIMORE—More than $17,000 was raised by members of the Printing and Graphics Association MidAtlantic (PGAMA) for charity at the Santa Claus Anonymous Benefit Auction held at Sparrows Point Country Club in December. Milwaukee-based Visual Systems Inc. (VSI), a manufacturer of overhead transparencies and ancillary products for textbook publishers, has hired Michelle Roloff as human

Open House Offers Look at New Gear ROLLING MEADOWS, IL—Spartanics held its fourth annual open house in suburban Chicago recently, featuring the North American debut of the new Spartanics Klemm laser cut diecutting system. Two participatory forums were offered to attendees on the subjects of "Introduction to Digital Diecutting" and "Feed Users Forum." Finishing Safety Standards Adopted The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) has approved ANSI B65.2-2005, Graphic technology-Safety requirements for binding and finishing systems and equipment. This standard revises and replaces the 1999 edition, and is currently available from NPES. The standard addresses mechanical safety issues such as motion controls, guarding against hazards, and warning

Everything I know that is really worth knowing, I learned from someone else. That's it! I'm out. I'm outin' myself. You thought I was a great thinker and now you find out that I'm just a great listener. Oh, I suppose I had a few original thoughts in the old days—after a few fingers of Jack Daniels. The really great thinking, however, always came from someone else. It coulda been from Peter Drucker on marketing or management. It mighta been from Socrates or Plato on human behavior. Sometimes it was the shoeshine guy at the airport on the subjects of politics or the economy. Plentitimes

BY MARK SMITH Technology Editor Printing industry sales may no longer track exactly with GDP, but the two remain inextricably linked. Unfortunately, recent events have greatly increased the difficulty in trying to forecast the economy's track in 2006 with any degree of confidence. In the fall, the National Association for Printing Leadership's (NAPL) economic team revised downward both its printing industry forecast for 2005 and projection for 2006, reports Andrew D. Paparozzi, chief economist. Growing concern about the economy and ongoing resistance to price increases in the marketplace were the main reasons. "In an industry as competitive as ours, it doesn't take a

Printer's Program Hits Big Apple For First Time NEW YORK CITY—Pictorial Offset, of Carlstadt, NJ, recently held its Pictorial University in New York for the first time at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium. Nearly 200 people from advertising agencies, design firms, corporations, and local and regional educational institutions heard presentations and case studies about branding initiatives. Featured speakers included Steve Sadove, Saks Inc.; Jennifer Bergin, Eastman Kodak; Cecilia Fabrizio, AmeriCares; Scott Deming, Scott Deming ESP; and Donald Samuels, Pictorial Offset. Infinite Graphics Technology, an Indianapolis-based provider of large-format digital printing, announced a new 3D product offering for the out of home/indoor advertising market. The firm

Oh great! This is just what we needed. More competition! New competition! The news item was all over the trade press during PRINT 05. This time it's our federal government. They bought a new five-unit sheetfed press. They paid cash. A few million for a new press is nothing to our officials in Washington, DC. After all, Congress just passed a Hurricane Katrina relief bill that is paying some cruise lines $2,500 per person per week to house Katrina victims. I don't mind that so much, but the weekly rate is about three times the regular price when the ships are actually cruising. Then there was

I've been in sales and marketing most of my career and was delighted to be invited to contribute to Printing Impressions on the subject of marketing in the printing industry. This column will appear every other month, and in it I will be offering advice, guidance and suggestions about how you can use marketing strategies to grow your business and make your sales- force more effective. Peter Drucker, an expert in strategy and policy, once made the comment that the purpose of marketing is to eliminate the need for sales. While I'm certainly not as smart, experienced or well-known as the esteemed Mr. Drucker, I

Printer Lauded For Energy Conservation VERONA, WI—By changing all of its work-area lighting from metal halide lights to fluorescent fixtures made by Orion Energy Systems, Park Printing House saved 45 percent (45,290 kilowatt hours per year) on its lighting bill and collected an award for its efforts. Dickinson Press, in Grand Rapids, MI, has bolstered its management team with the addition of Michael Linder as vice president of sales and chief marketing officer and Paul Heroman as vice president of operations. Long-time New England printing executive Duncan Todd has been named president of Daniels, a Merrill Communications Co. In a move to reinforce the company's position,