PrintNZ media release (September 2008)
Workshop Promises “Plain English” Overview For Print Buyers
A crash course targeted at people who purchase print -- particularly newcomers to the industry -- will be provided by
the one-day workshop at PrintNZ's upcoming centenary conference.
Scheduled for the first day of the conference -- to be held at the Wairakei Resort in Taupo from October 13-15 -- the
workshop will give customers and clients of print companies, print buyers and newcomers to the industry an overview of
what they should look at and expect from a printer.
PrintNZ chief executive Joan Grace says the workshop will also provide a valuable conduit to the business sessions on
the following two days and is a “not to be missed” event for the target audience.
“This is really targeted at non-professionals -- ordinary people who order work from print companies -- be it from
stationery to business cards and leaflets to brochures,” says Ms Grace.
“Whereas big companies may have professional print buyers, most firms do not have that background in the industry.
“It is a great way to get people up to speed who perhaps haven’t been in the industry that long. For example somebody
who has come into a sales role and while they have very well-developed sales skills, they may not know that much about
printing specifically.
“The print-buyer focus on the first day will provide a really good platform for the rest of the speakers who will go
into things in a lot more detail. Print buyers and industry newcomers should definitely attend the workshop and then
stay on for this wonderful conference.”
Ms Grace says the workshop programme will be presented by a panel of industry experts who will “help put printing in
plain English”.
“Jens Knoebl is a leading innovator in the industry -- somebody who is looking at ways print can change and deliver
messages in new ways. To have someone of that calibre is great and he will take quite a practical session where he
brings with him print samples that people can look at and touch and say how do you do this?
“Greg Grace has a huge amount of experience helping people outside the industry understand the issues a print buyer
needs to master. He has fantastic technical knowledge of how the industry works and is used to breaking it down for a
whole lot of different audiences.
“Phil Lawrence is somebody who knows about environmental issues in this industry. His focus for this session will be
about buying green print and what that means.
“And I’m talking about specifics for print buyers -- what things they should look at and expect from a printer.”
Ms Grace says a wide range of business, environmental, sales and technology themes will then be covered in the
subsequent days’ business sessions.
“On those two days we also have a strong line up of national and international speakers who will provoke debate and
conversation. There is no other opportunity to see such a focused cross-section of speakers in New Zealand.
“We’ve taken care to target things those in the print game want to know about. We are fully aware it is a tough time in
the industry right now, but when it is tough that is the time to really look clearly at the business you are in.”
ends