What a productive November! Hopefully you had an opportunity to step out to enjoy Graphics Canada. The atmosphere at the show was very positive. I had an opportunity to chair a session about Social Media. A big thank you to Slava Apel, Lee Eldridge and Anita Windisman (whose article you can read in this very issue) for participating in an exceptionally informative panel. We celebrated the session by having a bit of fun at the Xerox booth taking silly photos. There were also many evening events, including a successful Ryerson reunion event hosted by the OPIA.
I very much enjoyed the Apple certified training provided by Witz. Charismatic and knowledgeable teachers certainly make it easier to learn all about the software technology available today. The exhibitors brought their A-game and it is a good thing because it certainly seemed like attendees were not there to have the typical “save us money” conversations. Innovation and diversification were the buzzwords for this show. As an example, it was great to see the Esko exhibit, along with other interesting packaging solutions. It is important for us to be open to a variety of future opportunities. Simply, this show felt broader in scope.
I have the opportunity to supervise a group of students called RyePack who have a specific interest in the packaging industry. This month also marked the first time this group held a speaker event. With the assistance of the PAC, we were able to connect with Terence Tse, Account Director at Bridgemark. He spoke to a lecture hall full of future leaders about designing for packaging. His message, I thought, carried well for all business people. From an aesthetic perspective, but also when considering innovation in your business, successes are often seen to achieve what Terence called “dramatic simplicity”. Life is full of those, “oh-that-is-so-obvious” and “I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that” moments. Hopefully, participating in all of these great industry events this past month will have you brimming with ideas for the start of 2012! Wishing you happy and healthy holidays and an idea-filled new year!
