SWUG draws the crowds again

A record number of delegates attended this year's Single Width Users Group (SWUG) held at the Twin Waters Resort at Maroochydore in Queensland.

More than 300 delegates and partners drawn from 48 print sites enjoyed three days of presentations, discussions and entertainment at the resort. The site visit this year was to the nearby APN Yandina site, home to the Sunshine Coast Daily. Overseas speakers included Hassan Mohammed, production manager at Star Publications in Malaysia, and Ragy Isaac, director of quality for Goss, based in the US.

As usual, the annual awards night dinner proved to be very popular with delegates, particularly for those from WA. The Rural Press Printing site at Mandurah took the lion's share of the major awards for a second year in a row, winning both the Art Roller Shield for best overall print quality and the Coates Shield for best four colour newspaper. The remaining award, the Flint Ink Shield for best coldset commercial publication, went to the Gold Coast Bulletin. The inaugural $20,000 SWUG leadership scholarship was awarded to Dave Davies for Fairfax Regional Printers in Newcastle who will now undertake an extensive overseas tour.

Pictured: The double-winning team from Mandurah, WA.