Summer 2003                    return to newsletter contents page

FPPA Hits Full Stride in 2003

Jack Fulton

FPPA President

I hope the summer weather is to your liking! It has finally reached us here in Wisconsin and it is very welcome. Unfortunately some of us haven’t been home long enough to enjoy it!

This is the first installment of On-Target coming to you electronically. Since we all live in an electronic world it made sense to give this a try. It also saves a substantial amount of money that can be used in other areas. If you have others in your organization that would like to receive On-Target, send their email addresses to fppa@ksgroup.org. Please let us know your thoughts on this change.

Our committees are all off to a great start. The Technology Committee has identified several topics for Tips & Trends articles for the upcoming year. Each topic is something that will be of interest to almost all of our membership. I am looking forward to reading the first one titled, Full Digital Workflows by Michael Daum from Inland Paperboard & Packaging.

The Membership Committee has been active on several fronts and has a verbal commitment from at least two new members. They are soliciting help from our supplier members in suggesting possible candidates and also tracking down possible members in the Canadian market. Incentives for new members will be announced shortly!

The FPPA will be conducting a 2003 Industry Survey. Please take the time to complete the survey as it will help our entire organization. Our Statistics Committee has approved the content and will be contacting members in an effort to increase participation. The results will be discussed briefly with everyone at the Fall Management Workshop. Members that participate in the survey will get the complete results at that time.

Speaking of the Fall Management Workshop, plans are moving forward for another terrific meeting! The Management Development Committee plans and conducts this meeting. The venue is the Renaissance Charleston Hotel in Charleston, S.C. The dates are November 5-6, 2003. Last year’s meeting in Toronto was very well attended and this meeting will include some of the most popular segments from last year including the industry panel, where you will hear your peers talk about pertinent topics within our industry. There will be a discussion about mergers and acquisitions. On Thursday, an excellent speaker will come in and conduct a sales/marketing workshop that will be both entertaining and educational for everyone. Please mark your calendars for the next big event!

Earlier this year, we decided to hold our spring board meeting at the site of next year’s annual meeting. We would invite the Program Committee to attend, view the resort layout and plan the program. The board members and program committee members that were able to attend, recently spent two days at the Westin Regina Resort in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. What a magnificent venue for our annual meeting! They promised us it would not be quite as warm and muggy as it is the end of June!

The committee has put together a terrific program loaded with topics of interest to all. In addition to meeting sessions, outside activities such as deep sea fishing, whale watching, snorkeling and even horseback riding are being planned. Oh, and there are some great golf courses as well! Watch for upcoming news releases with all the details. Make your plans early as there seem to be significant discounts in airfare if you do. Come early and stay late!

Last but certainly not least, don’t forget the Annual Excellence in Flexo Prepress Awards. The judging will be done at the Fall Management Workshop so entries have to be in by August 31. Let’s make this year’s award contest the biggest ever. You can enter three items in each category so start collecting now!

I hope you all have a great and prosperous summer. See you at the Fall Management Workshop in Charleston!