The Golden Ink Knife Award...Don’t Get Yours Caught in the Rollers!

By Carl Gerhardt

Once upon a time, I actually tried to print a job on an offset press. It resulted in me being presented with The Golden Ink Knife Award. This was a plaque made with an ink knife mounted to it, rolled in ink and gold thermography powder, and then run through a thermographer. The short story is that I got that ink knife caught in the rollers of the press and was never able to finish the job. I had to call one of our two press operators who were both home sick with the “Monday flu” to come and bail me out. Later, our production staff presented me with that plaque and made me promise to never again touch one of our presses. It was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

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Carl Gerhardt Author's page Carl Gerhardt is the chairman of Alliance Franchise Brands LLC, the parent company of Allegra Network LLC and Sign & Graphics Operations LCC, and a world leader in marketing, visual and graphics communications, linking more than 600 locations in the United States, Canada and United Kingdom. The company’s Marketing & Print Division, headquartered in Plymouth, MI, is comprised of Allegra, American Speedy Printing, Insty-Prints, Speedy Printing and Zippy Print brands of marketing, printing, mailing and Web services providers. Its Sign & Graphics Division, headquartered in Columbia, MD, is comprised of Image360, Signs By Tomorrow and Signs Now brands of sign and graphics communications providers.

Carl and his wife, Judy, owned and operated their own successful Allegra franchise for nearly 20 years before selling the $2.3 million operation in 2003. He is a PrintImage International/NAQP Honorary Lifetime Member and was inducted into NAPL’s prestigious Soderstrom Society in 2010 in recognition of his contribution to the industry.