PB 1

A P M E

N E W S L E T T E R

IN THIS ISSUE:Message from the Chair

Executive MembersMeeting at Watkiss Automation Ltd

Conference 2014New members

Executive member profileCross Media 2013

Cranfield PressNews from overseas friends

Letter from the editor

Special thanks and acknowledgements

for this edition of the newsletter go to

the following: Simon Hampton Matthews,

Martin Parker, Janine Barraclough,

Christopher Ward, Darren Lewis, Stan

Leech, Roy Stares, Paul Bishop, Lisa

Hoover and John Wesseling.

E D I T I O N 9

W I N T E R 2 0 1 4

2 3

Message from the Chair . . . .

I am writing this, my first Newsletter introduction, with the news full of floods, high winds, rail lines washed away and people’s lives devastated by the impact of this exceptional weather. I hope that you and your family are unaffected by the storms and if you are, that you will quickly be able to put things back in order.

Thank you for putting your trust in me to be chairman of the Association of Print Managers in Education. Rebecca has passed over the helm of a ship that is in excellent form – financially secure an excellent reputation with suppliers and a strong membership who go out of their way to support each other. I am not planning on changing the direction of the APME during my term, just plotting a course to avoid the rocks and build on our successes. I am proud to be supported by a talented Executive coming from across the UK who have a huge breadth of knowledge of print in the HE community.

But the Executive by themselves cannot do it all. The power of APME is when we network and help each other. The more you contribute to the group the more you’ll benefit. If someone asks a question on the forum please do your bit and provide the information requested – sometimes you might need to investigate the answer but that will mean you know a little bit more about YOUR operation – it’s a Win-Win!

We are always keen to recruit members from other institutions so if you are in touch with the neighbours and they aren’t members, ask them to get involved.

I’d encourage you to organise a Regional Meeting at your institution. You don’t have to have a big operation to host an event. Small is beautiful and we can learn from seeing different-sized operations. Don’t worry about the cost as the APME will cover the expenses (within reason!). If you would like to know more please contact me or anyone else who has hosted a meeting: Alison Freer, Andrew Scott, Steve Marlow to name but 3.

We’re planning an exciting conference in Cheltenham next year. Every session at the conference is now planned and we’re just finalising the details and confirming the bookings. Our theme in 2014 is “Prepared for the Challenge, Inspired to Evolve”.

The Keynote address will be a real laugh as we have a stand-up comedian teaching us how to use humour and laughter to encourage positive communication between people and address challenges effectively. Other sessions planned:

• Simon Giles, President of NIPPA who works for Australia’s Defence Publishing Service

• Stephen Amitrano from Burlington County College in America

• 3D Printing

• A return of the Question Time panel

• Writing Business Plans

• Cross Media

• Brian’s Swansong – shared print services in Bradford

• The Fiery Suite

So there’s something for everyone! If you haven’t already booked a space fill out a form and send it off to Roy.

Enjoy the rest of the Newsletter and have a very Prosperous New Year.

Simon Hampton-Matthews Chairman t: 0117 328 4673 m: 07720 399750 e: Simon.Hampton-Matthews@uwe.ac.uk Twitter : @SimonHMUK

2 3

Chair: Simon Hampton-Matthews – UWE (University of the West of England) – Simon is Chair of APME effective from 2013. Simon served as Secretary from 2008 onwards.

Deputy Chair: Janine Barraclough – Sheffield –Janine has been an executive member since 2005.

Secretary: Alison Freer — Loughborough — Alison joined the executive in June 2013.

Treasurer: Steven Thomas — Lancaster University, Steven was elected as a new executive member in May 2012 and became Treasurer in 2013.

Trustee: Paul Bishop – Sheffield Hallam – Paul was re-elected for a further 3 years, and has served as an executive member since 2007.

Scottish APME Chair: Andrew Scott – Glasgow Caledonian – Has served in this position for 14 years.

Executive Members:

Rebecca Bloyce – Cardiff Metropolitan – Rebecca has been an executive member since 2004 and held the positions of Secretary, Deputy Chair and was Chair from 2009 – 2013.

Chris Ward – Cranfield – Executive member since 2010.

Martin Parker – Robert Gordon University since 2010. Martin is our conference photographer.

Darren Lewis — Reading, became a new member of the executive in June 2013.

Nigel Phillips – Exeter – Executive member since 2011. Nigel has previously served on the executive, and has been serving as newsletter editor since the first edition of December 2010.

Our administrator and conference organiser is Roy Stares.

The executive meet several times during the year to plan and implement activities within the group. If you would like to know more about being on the executive please ask any executive member.

New APME Executive

WelcomeAPME Executive would like to give a very warm welcome to our new members as listed below.

Justin Gough, Birmingham City University

Kate Davies, Exeter

Arthur Lewis, University of Kent

James Lloyd, University of Reading

Tom Green, University of Worcester

L-R Darren Lewis, Alison Freer, Martin Parker, Andrew Scott, Francis Reis, Rebecca Bloyce, Simon Hampton-Matthews, Steve Redding, Nigel Phillips

4 5

Executive meeting at Watkiss Automation Ltd

From Left to right: Steve Thomas, Simon Hampton-Matthews, Rebecca Bloyce, Chris Ward, Janine Barra-clough, Darren Lewis, Nigel Phillips, Alison Freer, Paul Bishop, Steve Redding and Roy Stares

The executive met at Watkiss Automation Ltd for Tuesday and Wednesday 29th – 30th November. Stan Leech, Sales Executive at Watkiss, treated us to excellent hospitality and Watkiss made their boardroom available to us for both days. The executive would like to express grateful thanks and appreciation to Watkiss for their warm hospitality over the two days spent there.

About WatkissWatkiss Automation Ltd are a print fin-ishing manufacturing company based in Sandy, Bedfordshire and began trading in 1974. Being one of the few manu-facturing companies whose design and operation are still based in the UK. The company employs 75 staff over three sites, within close proximity to each other. To date Watkiss have installed 15,000 print finishing systems in 80 countries worldwide. With a turnover in excess of £7 million they are going from strength to strength priding them-selves on delivering a first class service to their customers, competitively priced machinery alongside an ongoing communication and partnership with the people they sell to.

However, apart from manufacturing print finishing machinery for stand alone systems, Watkiss Automation are also involved with several top named digital print manufacturers and the developing of their finishing delivery systems.

The MeetingsThe CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) Constitution Working Group met on the Tuesday in order to discuss and amend the new Constitution which will be submitted for charity registration in order for APME to be considered for charitable status. It was a full on meeting as we went through 30 items in the constitution item by item. Most importantly identifying the need to present our aims and objectives as a group in the first few outlining paragraphs of the document. As an observer I can state that it was anything but tedious and am looking forward the viewing the new APME consituion which will ultimately need to be circulated for approval by members.

Much of the agenda discussion centred around conference planning which is coming along nicely and a major decision being made upon our confer-ence keynote speaker who this year will be: Stephanie Davies, Comedian and Director of Laughology: http://www.laughology.co.uk/index.php/book-launch-laughology-improve-your-life-with-the-science-of-laughter

So come along to the Cheltenham Conference, June 1 – 4, 2014 at the Cheltenham Park Hotel, Cheltenham and have a good laugh (sorry) plus there will be much to learn as well.

On Wednesday there was a full agenda, interspersed by a visit to see the Watkiss operation. The Agenda was set by Secretary Alison Freer and Items for discussion included the following: • Finance• 2014 Conference Planning ~ “Prepared for the Challenge – Inspired to Evolve”• Review of Actions:• Newsletter• CIO Progress• Web Site• Future Conferences (2015 & 2016) • Training opportunities• Regional meetings• Marketing APME membership• Consultancy and benchmarking proposal• Any Other Business

4 5

The Tour of Watkiss Automation Ltd

The Company was started by Chris, Barbara and Michael Watkiss – In the 1970’s they saw the need for a colla-tor with a small footprint that would be efficient and effective at collating bond and NCR paper (at that time the vast majority of jobbing printers were producing work on these mediums). Having an engineering background he roughed out a design for the Watkiss Rotary Collator to prove the “theory” and then commissioned several models to be made in wood; this of course was far from a production product but enabled the theory to be developed into a practical design for manufacture – Along with the original framed sketch an example of the wooden prototype can be seen today in the entrance to one of the three Watkiss factories in Sandy, and additional pictures in this area show production machines. This unique design proved very successful and a small number are still working in small commercial printers today supported and serviced by Watkiss engineers.

Since then, Watkiss has remained a leading innovator, and offers a range of print finishing machines to meet the needs of today’s print applications.

Aldo Lanni puts the finishing touches to a Watkiss Spine Master and demonstrates how the Spine Master will ultimately create

block spine booklets.

We tour the three factory sites

All Watkiss print finishing machinery and components are manufactured in the UK at

Sandy, Bedfordshire

6 7

New executive member profile

Darren Lewis, University of Reading

9. 5ft 9” in trainers.

Dodgy SOH.

NS.

Some brown hair.

Own teeth.

Still contemplating a dog.

Work mobile: 07872 417028.

Jammie to be married to a beltin’ Northern girl that I met at our cracking University half a lifetime ago. Dad to an arty boy who’s gonna be taller than me by summer, faster soon, and a teenager in February. Looking forward to racing Vets cyclocross next season and currently enjoying battling with 20-somethings. Holder of about 20 local KOMs on Strava.com. A midlander (born in Cov), still enjoys faggot and pea batches, enjoying the tropical idyll of Royal Berkshire. 1st-class graduate of a world-renown design course. Former commercial graphic designer. Excited ticket-holder for Glasgow 2014. Middle-manager at a fine university. Responsible for a team of 15 design and print staff. Hands-on teaching and learning supporter. Workshop full of equipment that generally end in 4 numbers. Owner of an APME t-shirt, Photoshop and a cheesy grin.

Oh. And ‘under review’. And ‘mid print-audit’. Working alongside external consultants. Waiting to hear about structural changes to Marketing & Communication (the reshaped Directorate where we now sit), including forthcoming appointment of faculty-level marketers.

And for good reasons too. The HE environment is undergoing massive changes. Our prospective students, customers and colleagues each have new and exciting demands. Technology is transforming the way we communicate and the ways we live our lives. We can’t stand still. Universities are having to reinvent themselves. Our design and print studio will do the same.

I’m certain in-house design & print will only prosper if we’re confident in what we can offer now. Rather than whinging about what’s been lost ‘It’s not like litho’…, we need to focus on what’s great about the current situation ‘Our digital’s really high quality and you can have variable data’. ‘It’s ready to finish straight off-the-press’, ‘Short-runs offer flexibility and save you storing boxes of brochures you don’t need with information that’ll go out of date’, ‘We can always find a way to squeeze your job in’, ‘Having design next to print we can experiment and offer machine samples at the drop of a hat’… And ready to anticipate and embrace the next changes that are certain to arrive.

Darren Lewis

Head of Design & Print Studio

6 7

CONFERENCE 2014

1 - 4 June

Cheltenham Park Hotel, Cheltenham

The Cheltenham Park Hotel is

set in outstanding gardens with a

small lake and pergola. It has152

en-suite bedrooms, carefully

designed to reflect the Georgian

heritage of the hotel. Meals

will be taken in the Lakeside

Restaurant with its views onto

the rear gardens.

The hotel is a Georgian Manor

House Hotel, in the heart

of the Cotswolds, yet only 2

miles from the beautiful spa

town of Cheltenham and all its

attractions.

8 9

Janine Barraclough, Head of Business Activities, University of Sheffield

Cross Media 2013 was it worth the trip to London? - Yes we all agree it was a day well spent!

As arranged Janine Barraclough and Paul Tetley met on the 6.27 from Sheffield to St Pancras, calling at Loughborough for Lynne Atkin to board the train. So the plan was to visit the Seminar Theatres to listen and engage with the industry experts and then use the afternoon: to visit the Suppliers stands to see what’s new and to get their views on how we should adopt a cross media strategy.

On arrival at The Design Centre in Islington we got there just in time to get front row seats in the Print Innovation Theatre only to be pleasantly surprised by a friendly ‘well hello’ in an unmistakable Scottish twang. Yes our very own Duncan Hurst from Heriot Watt had come to join us. After the customary handshake and hugs we settled down to enjoy the presentations.

So let’s hear in their own words what these print managers thought of Cross Media 2013…..

Cross Media 2013

Cross Media Live was a very thought provoking event. The seminars were ex-tremely interesting ranging from “Putting Print Back on the Map by keeping it Creative, Engaging and Relevant” by Ogilvy One to “Integrated Marketing – Bring-ing Online and Offline together to create a powerful marketing mix” by Julia Cole, the Marketing Manager from HP. Julia explained that research had recently been undertaken which proves that Physical material involves more emotional processing, which is important for memory and brand associations, basically print gets your attention and keeps it. Online campaigns needs to have relevant, good con-tent whilst being engaging and be easy to respond to. Julia gave us live demos using explaining that Debenhams have recently used Aurasma to make their adverts come to life. “No longer will traditional advertisements be static and limited in scope. Aurasma is enlivening them for the first time. It’s incredibly exciting to see these ads burst into life and offer customers the opportunity to shop immediately, in the moment, wherever they are.”

I would recommend Cross Media Live to anyone involved in design and print but also to marketing colleagues.

Lynne Atkin, Account Manager, Loughborough University

8 9

My first visit to Cross Media started by attending a presentation in the Print & Innovation Theatre by Info-trends on ‘The Importance of Including Print in your Content Marketing Strategy’. They described how marketing is changing and how the customer is now in control, which often starts online and leads onto the customer pulling information they require. They confirmed the importance of both the printed piece v electronic communications and the value they both add; and by combining channels you can expect to get a higher response rate eg - email, print, web, mobile. They also said it takes 6-8 touches for a customer to get to know you and your business!

Now this is not news to many of you and you may think that this is or is not representative of the HE environment, but how can our Print Services manage customers information in this way and are we the right vehicle for this?

From chatting with suppliers in the afternoon they all said we are and we need to buy their print based cross media solutions like - direct smile, Xmpie and Digital Storefront (to name a few). Many of our print rooms already manage web to print solutions, as do we at Sheffield but are we ready to support Cross Media solutions?

Cross Media Live was worth the visit, I arrived with lots of questions but left with many more. My experience has been that web to print was not ready for our market, it was resource intensive and the supplier(s) could not support the product in the way that we required. However through these challenges we do offer a web to print service. The next challenge for us is to talk to our customers and get them to use the service; we then need to think about the future of our web to print solution and decide if we have a viable, sustainable solution? Maybe a discussion for conference? Hope to see you all in June 2014.

Janine Barraclough, Head of Business Activities, University of Sheffield

10 11

With communication channels evolving and increasing at an astonishing rate it appears that it has never been more important to keep abreast of the latest technologies and solutions driving the communications industry and, with over 80 exhibitors and what appeared to be an extensive and impressive seminar programme, Cross Media 2013 seemed to provide an excellent opportunity to learn how to enhance both content and how it is delivered. Underpinned by its educational content Cross Media 2013 run over 50 different seminars across its five specialised theatres: Cross Media; Digital and Direct Marketing; Content Management and Publishing Strategies; Print and Innovation; and Mobile Marketing. Last year I had been unable to free up the time to attend the inaugural event and so this was my first visit. I admit to having been somewhat apprehensive about the value that it would deliver but the seminar programme looked good throughout and so I arranged to attend on both days. I don’t regret doing this.

I attended numerous seminars over both days. They were invariably packed but more importantly they were extremely interesting. Many involved the importance of creative and innovative print within marketing campaign strategies and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that marketers are paying much greater respect to print than has previously been the case. Numerous speakers referred to recently compiled data that demonstrates much greater customer loyalty is exhibited by print drawn customers compared to those drawn from email drip or the internet. Speakers talked at length about the impact of personalised content and demonstrated why this must be considered as a strategy and not just as a series of one-off trials, and I found out a great deal more about augmented reality and how it is being implemented into campaigns (or not if there is poor network coverage!) Google terrified me with their up-selling marketing strategies!

The event helped me to understand and appreciate the extent to which cross media tools are changing the market and I did get answers to lots of questions but each answer seemed to raise even more questions! I am really glad I made the time to attend and would heartily recommend next year’s Cross Media event to everyone involved in these areas of activity.

Duncan Hurst, Director, Media Services, Heriot-Watt University

10 11

I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the exhibitors and programme of presentations. First stop was a presentation given by Kaspar Roos, Associate Director of Infotrends. He talked about and displayed graphics on how the trends are developing across the whole spectrum of media. Two items that were interesting were that QR codes need to be developed to be more specific; digital and digital print still pays a big part in getting your message across.

My next visit was to listen to Alexander Sandor, Head of Digital and Ecommerce UK and Ireland for Twining and Company. Alexandra spoke about how Twinings advertised in the marketplace explaining they used all forms of media , print, email ,facebook, twitter, Html and QR codes . However they still receive a large percentage of requests for printed material in particular their product catalogue. He went on to say how they are constantly researching new avenues to get their products into the marketplace.

After lunch I spent time visiting the many supplier stands. Premier Paper is where I met Mike Aspall Digital Paper Specialist, we discussed the new range of digital papers launched by Premier and I agreed to a trial as the pricing, technical specification and range looks interesting.

Next visit was Alpha media where I met up with Ian Whitfield who spoke about the z card range of products and how it could be adopted to some of our current publications. On to British Loose Leaf Company where I came across an interesting concept, a mini version of a hard case book, personalised and inside a memory stick which can be written with your data; we agreed to send two lots of artwork for free samples to be produced.

Next I visited the ROI stand where Janine, Lynne and myself had a 10 minute demonstration on their web to print solution. This was not dissimilar to what we are using now and the software comes from pageflex.

All in all an excellent show and well worth the visit; the main thing for me was electronic media being developed at an alarming rate and we need to encompass this in our future business planning.

Paul Tetley, Print & Design Solutions Manager, University of Sheffield

12 13

Cranfield Press

Investing in equipment

As we all know the economy has had an impact on the print and finishing industry. Here in the Milton Keynes and Bedford area we have had several companies (printing and finishing) close their doors. Some of the services we procured went overnight and this left us stranded.

After much begging and pleading to our finance director we were loaned funds (all payable back over a three year period) to go and buy some equipment.

Firstly, we needed a system to laminate our digitally printed covers.

We looked at several machines and ended up purchasing the most expensive the Foliant C400 Laminator. This machine won us over by its ease of use and the ‘soft touch matt’ film as well as its speed in operation and adhesive quality.

Then there was a new folder, the Horizon PF-40L ticked all boxes, quick set-up, nice clean fold and fast. Job done. We bundled this in with a new 10 station tower for our stitch line and IFS had a good month from us!

Next on the list was a new wide format printer and after a long debate the opted for the Rolland VS540 with cut and a take up spool. This has been a revolution and we have increase our work on the wide format by 40% since in came in January 2013.

Would we change anything we purchased now we have run them for the last eight months?

No. For the price we paid and the service we have received from IFS and Grafitec we can’t complain.

So what’s next? Our mono machines need changing in January 2014 so let’s hope our finance director has a little more cash for us!

Christopher WardBusiness and Marketing Manager

12 13

Front row from left to right: Sheryl Mather, Natalie Willetts, Richard Williams and Mark Hammerton Back row: Rick Cooper, Paul Mather and Lee Johnstone

Let me introduce you to the realigned Graphic Design team at the University of Sheffield, they are a team of seven which is lead by Sheryl Mather, Graphic Design Manager and is supported by four Graphic Designers and two Wide Format Technicians. Together they provide the Print & Design Solutions graphic design service.

Like most studios the designers provide a host of services to support the university in its corporate identity, marketing, communications and delivery of information to all its stakeholders. The design service (and wide format printing section) has experienced year on year growth in terms of demand for creating artwork both digital and traditional for a variety of outputs. Due to increase in workload and customers the team were stretched to capacity and finding it increasingly more difficult to meet demands.

This led the Management Team to analyse the processes and operations of the studio and consider the productivity of the service against the needs of our customers. There was clearly an imbalance in responsibilities which was leading to inefficiencies and resulting in an environment where the skills of the staff were not being utilised efficiently. This led to further discussions in the Management Team about how we could improve the output and structure of the team.

After much discussion in the team and negotiations with HR, recommendations were made and supported to realign the Graphic Design Studio and to increase support in the wide format section. This presented an opportunity for an existing Graphic Designer to apply for a more senior role and also created a new position that would support the Wide Format Technician.

The realignment took effect from August 2013 and has been successful in its objectives to improve the output and structure of the team.This resulted in:

● A Graphic Design Manager with a strategic focus to develop the service and support the University through collaboration with Faculties, marketeers and departments.

● A Senior Graphic Designer with responsibility for line managing staff, deputising for the Manager, scheduling work in the studio and responsibility for external agencies.

● An increase in graphic design support for our customers and the Print & Design Solutions team.

● Support for Wide Format print production and development of the service.

The promotion of Lee to Senior Graphic Designer has also been beneficial. Lee now manages the Graphic Designers and the workflow on a daily basis and takes responsibility for briefing freelance designers. This has allowed me to invest more of my time in meeting clients and to examine our training needs. With the popularity of social media and mobile devices it is becoming more important for graphic designers to learn new skills; to understand how to present their design elements on screen, not just in print. We receive many requests for our design jobs to be converted into digital formats, as our clients want to interact more with their audience.

My focus is to invest in the very latest software and online training facilities to increase the proficiency of the designers within the emerging creative digital technologies and to investigate new opportunities for the service”.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE

Janine Barraclough, Head of Business Activities

University of Sheffield

Here’s what Sheryl Mather, Design Manager had to say…..

“The large format and exhibition service has seen yet another increase in demand this year particularly in the production of roll-up banners and signage, this has led to an annual turnover of £162k, an increase of 42%. Due to the increase in work it was becoming more difficult to meet deadlines without outsourcing or doing considerable amounts of overtime. Employing a new Wide Format Technician has allowed us to keep all our work in-house, reduce overtime and investigate new technology to expand our product range. The Senior Technician now has more time to go out and meet clients to give advice on products best suited for their needs.

14 15

We value our relationship with the APME and hope to continue that tradition long into the future. The APME continues to be a great role model for ACUP.

Best Regards,

Lisa Hoover, ACUP President

www.acup-edu.org

Greetings from America! The Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) has had a busy and exciting year. We are in the midst of planning our 49th annual conference in Phoenix Arizona, April 6-10, 2014. The conference theme is “The Future Looks Bright” and it will be held at The Hilton Phoenix Mesa, which is a dramatic, atrium-style hotel with resort flair. Phoenix is the gateway to the Grand Canyon, and its history is a testament to the spirit of ranchers, miners and visionaries. Phoenix is Arizona’s urban heart and America’s sunniest metropolis, averaging about 211 days of sunshine per year.

Some other interesting news from ACUP:

• We had a fantastic conference last spring in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a record number of new attendees.

• ACUP membership continues to increase, with ACUP members hailing from 39 states and representing 108 institutions.

• We began work on a certification program to help members achieve new levels of professional development.

• We had a record number of sponsors participate in our vendor exhibit at this year’s conference.

• We streamlined our Constitution and Bylaws to make the organization more resilient and sustainable.

• We expanded our website to make it more comprehensive. The valuable content in our members-only section continues to grow and includes information like benchmarking surveys, job descriptions and more.

• We presented our first-ever ACUP awards at our annual conference, recognizing many ACUP members for their hard work and contributions to our industry.

• More members than ever are involved in committees and working on initiatives which are important to our organization.

• We expanded our membership opportunity to include educational entities outside of higher education, mainly in-plants in primary and secondary schools.

News from Overseas friends

ACUP Update

14 15

The CoM (committee of management) within NIPPA has undergone some major changes in the last few months. Unfortunately our president and treasurer decided to leave their place of employment and find out if the grass is in fact greener on the other side of the fence! This left us to have a “reshuffle” of the existing CoM and we now find ourselves with a CoM of 4 as opposed to 6 which is challenging to say the least. The current CoM now consists of Simon Giles president, Craig Gibbs vice president, Nadia Hollins Secretary/treasurer, and Kim Herod membership co-ordinator. The “new” CoM have continued to serve the NIPPA community and are taking on this challenge with gusto!

One of the key components the new CoM is working on vigorously is the 2014 conference which will be held in Sept in far North tropical Queensland. Whilst this conference is still in its infancy we have already set a theme of working with the “cloud” and the impact this is having on in-house print shops within Australasia. I have no doubt that this is a theme that will have an enormous impact on print shops worldwide and once again we look forward to representative/s from our international friends to attend and participate. More on this to come…………

On a local note, each branch within NIPPA, (there are 5 covering Australia and New Zealand) continue to attend quarterly educational workshops hosted by our sponsors. A general meeting will consist of a closed meeting for NIPPA members only, followed by workshops of various topics led by a specialist from the field. For example Canon may host a day of colour management, Konica Minolta will host a day on sustainability, whilst Ricoh will focus on web to print. These are all hands on and relative workshops which not only allows

for our members to further enhance their knowledge but also gives our sponsors the opportunity to have 10-15 membersof various organisations on the site to promote their latest hardware/software. These educational workshops are a win win scenario for both parties and thus far have proven to be a great success.

NIPPA continues to thrive and strives to continue to strengthen our relationship with our international counterparts as we believe that this is important. It’s no surprise that in-house print shops worldwide have the same issues and concerns and if we can continue to learn from each other, then the in-house print shop will continue to grow regardless of where in the world you are….

Happy Printing,

NIPPA CoM!

John Wesseling is Director of the University of Cincinnati’s Communications Services unit in Cincinnati Ohio, USA and joined us for the APME Conference in Harrogate, June 2013.

I want to thank APME for what was a wonderful experience of a lifetime! I have never been “across the pond” as they say over here. I’ve been told that England is always cold and rainy. Instead what I found was blue skies, sunshine and people and as warm and inviting as the weather. As I told someone, I almost felt like I was at home. Being at APME was just like being at ACUP (but the accents were more interesting!).

It was very gratify to see that our counterparts at AMPE face the same challenges, problems and opportunities (and even vendors) that we face in the US. It was interesting to be introduced to England not through London or on of the bigger sites, but through Leeds to Harrogate and the Majestic Hotel. I enjoyed the rides through the English country sides and the trip to the Fountains Abbey was incredible!

But most of all, I enjoyed meeting all the wonderful people of APME and the exchanging of ideas. It was as I said - an experience of a lifetime! Thank you so much!

What’s happening in NIPPA?

John Wesseling

16 PB

Letter from the editor

Nigel Phillips

Welcome to this ninth edition of the APME Newsletter. It’s exactly three years ago since we put together the first one and I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say that much would have happened in our lives and our establishments during that time. Thanks to all who have spared their time to contribute to the newsletters.

There have been several highlights for me throughout this year but of course and dare I say it again the Conference in Harrogate does stand as one of the finest yet. Our keynote speaker Damian Hughes was brilliant! As was the whole format; well done again to all those who planned the conference. Am now looking forward to 2014 where I shall see again my friends old and new and return to my university with new ideas, enthusiasm and innovation. That is what conference is all about.

Sad to say goodbye to our good friend Brian Pickles and the email comments to Brian demonstrated how valued a member he was but as I said in my personal comment to him it is not farewell and we shall all look forward to meeting Brian again at the Cheltenham Conference 2014.

Also sad to see Rebecca stand down from Chair as I’m sure all will agree that she has done a superb job over her tenure. However, we remain in safe hands as Simon Hampton-Matthews has now taken up the post, with Janine Barraclough working as Deputy Chair. Both Simon and Janine will take the group forward particularly as we intend to officially become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

I would like to welcome Alison Freer as APME Secretary and Darren Lewis onto the executive and very much look forward to having their input. Welcome to new members: Justin Gough,

Kate Davies, Arthur Lewis, James Lloyd and Tom Green.

Apart from that what else can I say to members but wish you all:

An Extremely Properous New Year, 2014!

Kind regards,Nigel PhillipsPrint & Copy Services ManagerUniversity of Exeter

goodbye to our good friend Brian Pickles