New Zealand printers pumped over Ink In Our Veins conference

Attendees at this year's Ink In Our Veins centenary printing industry conference have told PrintNZ membership services manager Ruth Cobb it was the "best" they have yet attended.

A total of 170 full-time delegates and 200 people attended the PrintNZ-hosted event, which this year was held at the North Island's Wairakei Resort Taupo.

Cobb said attendees particularly appreciated the quality of domestic and international speakers on hand.

"Because the economy is tight, everybody is keen to have the opportunity to learn more and take advantage of having all of these people in one place at one time," Cobb told Print21.

"These guys are experts in their field, so it is about gleaning as much information as they can to take back to their businesses.

"The keynote speakers made excellent presentations about what companies have to do to move forward in the industry. That's around competitive advantage and looking for specialisation in markets, staying on top of things -- you can't continue to be the same printing company that you have been if you want to move forward."

Furthermore, Cobb said delegates lapped up the opportunity to network.

"People are remembered from the last time and the time before that, so it allows people to talk to a much broader range of the industry than they would normally be exposed to -- a guy in Gisborne can talk to a guy in Dunedin, which normally they wouldn't get the opportunity to do."

Pictured (L-R): Phillip Lawrence, Joan Grace and Greg Grace.

In her keynote conference address, PrintNZ chief executive Joan Grace said while the printing industry has a number of challenges to overcome, it also has achieved a number of successes this year of which it can be proud.

Grace said the latest industry survey had underlined the things about which industry owners were concerned -- principally overcapacity, price-cutting, rationalisation, economic problems, the level of the dollar and the shrinking market, as more companies look to move print work inhouse.

However, there were also things that showed the industry was posting successes and exploiting opportunities. In the last year apprentice numbers rose 5% and moves were being made to merge with the journalists' organisation to create a new, bigger industry training organisation.

Printing had been successful in attracting more money from Government than ever before to assist with training. Another plus had been the creation of a new marketing strategy that will help plot the future for the industry as a whole.

In one of the more startling presentations, Ecological Strategies' Philip Lawrence announced the printing industry had already evolved to the point where it was carbon-neutral and as such was a better role model for other industries than highly-acclaimed Toyota.

Lawrence said printing was now 97% less damaging to the environment than it was in 1990. The biggest improvement had been the switch to computer-to-plate technology which had removed several processes from the printing process, along with auto-washing of machinery and usage of vegetable inks and more energy-efficient presses.

His message that the printing industry needed to maximise its environmental competitive advantage was also reinforced by other speakers at the conference.

You had to be there ... crowds are tickled pink by this year's speakers.

Other events at the conference included meetings of the New Zealand Paperboard Packaging Association and New Zealand Business Forms Association, a partners' programme, and both golfing and fishing excursions.

There was also an official conference dinner which featured marketing consultant John Lees as guest speaker and saw an artwork crafted from old wooden type by GEON Napier's Neville Smith raise $5000 via auction for visually-impaired children.

Covering a range of business, environment, sales and technology topics, the full list of conference speeches and workshops entailed:
* Gareth Kiernan – keynote, the New Zealand economy
* Phillip Lawrence – keynote, environmental sustainability
* Robert McClements – keynote, how successful printing companies find profitability
* Frank Romano – keynote, globalisation of the printing industry/drupa
* Phillip Lawrence – going green with printing
* Greg Grace (Print Academy, Melbourne) – print awareness
* Joan Grace (PrintNZ) – skills for print buyers
* Jens Knoebl – printability
* Peter Sewell – setting business strategies
* Nigel Smith – top tax tips made exciting
* Gus Balbontin – Generation Y
* Rodney Wade – demystifying green printing
* Charlie Bartlett – Enviro-Mark
* Nick Baylis – the environmentally-aware print buyer
* Sonya Crosby – print opportunities with post
* John Lees – from order-taker to sales manager
* Robert McClements – negotiating techniques
* David Nottage – presentation skills
* Mitch Mulligan – creating a sustainable future
* Jens Knoebl – advanced printing techniques
* Linda Holman – colour management
* Rafi Albo – variable data printing