Plain English print-buying course at Kiwi conference

What to look for in a printer and how to specify the print you want will be the basis of a one-day workshop at this year’s Taupo talk fest in October.

Scheduled for the first day of the Print NZ 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.

“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.”

For further information, please contact PrintNZ chief executive Joan Grace (04) 569-2110 or Conference Manager Sue Archibald (04) 237-0482.