SWUG Conference Success a Big Success

Media Release from SWUG

SWUG Conference Success a Big Success

New Zealand’s SWUG Conference—representing the newspaper sector of the printing industry—enjoyed a record-breaking event at Taupo’s Wairakei Resort over two days on October 13-14.

            Coming immediately after the PrintNZ conference, the SWUG conference attracted 110 delegates and sponsors to a programme jam-packed with presentations especially tailored to the newspaper sector.

            NZ SWUG chairman Dan Blackbourn described the attendance as a “fantastic response” from member companies, which was the catalyst for New Zealand’s best-ever conference.

            “This was an endorsement of the decision to resurrect SWUG and ensure the industry had a showpiece gathering every year,” he said.

            “It was timely we kick-started this again. We started planning this back in November last year and our goal was to give SWUG members an event where they could come and hear a terrific cast of speakers, with representatives coming here from the US, the UK, Fiji, Tonga and Australia as well as from sites all over NZ.

            “It was also great to have the Australian SWUG president, Bob Lockley, come and visit and see what we in NZ could do, and that we are taking the lead from the highly-successful conferences he has led over in Australia.

            “It is not just an opportunity to hear from manufacturers and suppliers, it is an opportunity to mix with fellow printers from elsewhere in the industries, and learn from their experiences and their knowledge. Plus, it is a forum to debate industry issues, problems and opportunities.

            “I am delighted that we have had such a fantastic response and we will soon be turning our attention to organising the SWUG conference for 2011,” he said.

            Dan gave special mention to the main sponsors DIC, Flint Group, Fujifilm, Goss International, Norske Skog, Oceanic Multitrading Pty Ltd, Rockwell Automation and Spicers Paper, without whom the conference could not have gone ahead.

            He also paid tribute to the support received from bronze sponsors Ferag Australia, Agfa Graphics, BJ Ball Group, Green Graphics, ManRoland Australasia Pty Ltd, Muller Martini, Lithotech International, Ferrostaal NZ Ltd and Compass Print Technologies

            Presentations at the conference were given by major suppliers such as the Flint Group, Norske Skog, Rockwell, Fujifilm, DIC, Oceanic Multitrading and Goss, and by prominent industry companies such as APN Print and Fairfax.

            Industry organisations such as PrintNZ and Pride In Print also spoke, while the “human face” of the industry was brought to the fore by special “Who Am I” sessions in which individuals from the industry spoke about their life and career in print.

            Nostalgia was introduced by a presentation from the NZ Print Museum.

            Next year’s NZ SWUG Conference will be held in Christchurch.

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