Pronounced success for SWUG NZ in Wellington

Aug 17, 2016 at 03:33 am by Staff


However you pronounce "Printfinity", New Zealand's 16th annual Single Width Users' Group conference was "a huge hit".

The theme comes from a play on words from the Toy Story children's movie, and the aim at the Copthorne Hotel on Wellington's picturesque Oriental Bay, was to send the message that print is alive and vibrant.

Chairman Dan Blackbourn says the conference matched benchmark events in Rotorua and Dunedin, with 115 delegates, including visitors from Australia and the Pacific Islands and speakers from Europe: "We had two days of top-class presentations across all technical sectors of the industry, from press installations and blanket technologies to inks and rollers.

"The site tour to the Fairfax plant in Petone was excellent."

A fantastic opportunity to network with suppliers and other delegates, it enjoyed a "perfect venue" with the awards evening held at the Te Papa Museum, in walking distance from the Copthorne. The awards dinner - which included the apprentice of the year presentation and SWUG quality awards presented by guest speaker and broadcaster Miles Davis, also provided a highlight for not one but two charities.

"SWUG was able to donate a cheque for $1000 to the Billy Graham Naenae Youth Charitable Trust as well as another cheque for $1000 to the Prostate Cancer Foundation New Zealand, who also presented at the conference," says Blackbourn.

Billy Graham had been a guest speaker some years before, ago and formed a bond with SWUG: "It was a pleasure to present him and his wife with a cheque which will go to help him bring worthwhile sporting opportunities to at-risk youths."

A further charity opportunity came when guest performer, Australian artist Brad Blaze produced a quick-fire painting of former All Black captain Richie McCaw, which was raffled among delegates raising about $600 which will go to a charity at SWUG 2017.

Another unexpected beneficiary of the raffle was the Fairfax Media's Petone printing plant, which had hosted the SWUG site visit, when winner Steve Packham from DIC Australia decided it was too big to fit on the plane home, and donated it to the Petone site. He also thanked sponsors for their support in making SWUG - which "comes close to costing $100,000" - possible.

A decision on the date and venue for SWUG 2017 will be made late this year.

• NZME, PMP Ltd, Fairfax Media Christchurch, and Allied Press took the top honours in the SWUG NZ 2016 quality awards, with PMP taking two of the five categories including every place-getter in retail catalogues.

Winners were:

Tabloid (42gsm)- 1, The New Zealand Herald (NZME); 2, The Wairoa Star (The Gisborne Herald); 3, Waitaki Herald (Fairfax Media Christchurch).

Retail catalogues- 1, JB Hi-Fi (PMP Limited); 2, Carpet Court (PMP Limited); 3, Repco (PMP Limited).

Tabloid (enhanced)- 1, Your Weekend - Waikato Times, May 21 (Fairfax Media Christchurch); 2, The National Business Review (Horton Media); 3, Celebrating 25 Years (Fairfax Media Christchurch).

Tabloid (heatset)- 1, Pride In Print (PMP Limited); 2, Grey Power (PMP Limited); 3, Blueprint (Webstar Masterton).

Broadsheet- 1, The Southland Times, June 3 (Allied Press); 2, The Timaru Herald (Fairfax Media Christchurch); 3, The Dominion Post (Fairfax Media Wellington).

Pictured (from top): Delegates pay attention at the conference; environmental speaker Phil Lawrence; chairman Dan Blackbourn; Billy Graham receives a $1000 cheque

On our home page: Phil Lawrence

Sections: Print business

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