With the February 16 deadline for submitting entries to the 24th National Print Awards fast approaching, Awards chairman Scott Telfer has urged printers to move decisively to submit their work. He advises printers to leave themselves time to make a comprehensive decision about which jobs to enter. "Don’t leave it until the last moment," says Telfer.
Gold-medal winners will have a unique opportunity to expose their company’s prowess to a large cross-section of the print-buying market, as the 24th National Print Awards will be held in conjunction with PrintEx07 in Sydney in May.
PrintEx, which alternates every two years with Melbourne’s PacPrint, is organised by the Printing Industries Association of Australia (PIAA) and the Graphic Arts Merchants Association of Australia (GAMAA).
PrintEx07 will be the third exhibition since PrintEx began in 1999 and is expected to draw more than 10,000 visitors, the cream of Australian and New Zealand print professionals.
These are specialists in print, prepress, packaging, publishing, design, finishing and logistics, and they will be at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre at Darling Harbour, from May 24 to 26, to see what’s hot in their particular field of expertise.
A major highlight of PrintEx07 will be the 24th National Print Awards gala presentation dinner, to be held on Friday evening, May 25, in the heart of the PrintEx07 venue.
PrintEx07 chairman, Grant Churchill, says the exhibition represents a broad cross-section of the printing and graphic industries and has proved a welcome addition to the industry calendar.
"Since its first staging in ’99, PrintEx has created strong interest, with many suppliers recognising the significant exposure and branding opportunities the exhibition offers."
Recalling the success of the 22nd National Print Awards, which were held in conjunction with PacPrint ’04 in Melbourne, Telfer believes the 24th Awards will be a perfect compliment to PrintEx07 – and, whoever snares the gold, silver and bronze, the winners will be the visitors to PrintEx07 and the Awards presentation.
"Visitors to the National Print Awards presentation and to PrintEx07 will have the unique opportunity to see the latest technologies in action, and also to attend a series of topical educational seminars. All the way from today’s logistics software to the newest models of litho and digital press technology, PrintEx will present the gamut of the print fulfilment experience.
"Gold medallists will have their award-winning work exhibited for the duration of PrintEx. These displays and the awards presentation itself will provide a showcase of what the cutting-edge technologies and marketing tools exhibited on the stands at PrintEx can do in your business," concludes Telfer.
Judging for the 24th National Print Awards will begin in February, with the judging panel headed by Rodney Urquhart, CEO of CRC SmartPrint at Monash University and Australian Printer/i-grafix.com expert columnist.
There will be a new category for Art Reproductions at the 24th Awards. In addition, the Limited Editions category has been modified. There will only be one category for book printing this year. The judges have expanded some of the wording in each category to explain requirements more clearly.
Gold medallists in the 24th National Print Awards will also be considered for the Heidelberg Award for Excellence in Craft.
All medal winners will be featured in the prestigious National Print Awards record book and on the National Print Awards website.
