Canadian In-plants Hold Lakeside Retreat

From college and university in-plants all over Canada, managers traveled to a resort in Ontario for the 38th annual CUPMAC conference.

By Bob Neubauer

For 37 years members of the College and University Print Management Association of Canada (CUPMAC) have been getting together at locations around Canada to discuss their mutual concerns. Last month, for the first time, IPG joined them.

Twenty-five members of the group met for four days at a lakeside resort in Ontario, about two hours northeast of Toronto. Despite some uncharacteristically hot and humid weather—especially jarring for those coming down from chilly Newfoundland—the group managed to have a good time while comparing notes about their operations. Evening activities included the "CUPMAC Olympics," featuring a variety of friendly competitions, and a scenic dinner boat cruise among the many islands of Stony Lake.

CUPMAC was organized this year by Warren Craft of Sir Sandford Fleming College and Bill Bowers of Trent University. Attendees came from a range of backgrounds. Many were department managers, though some doubled as equipment operators. Others worked in design or managed copyright programs.

Some operations had offset equipment; others were all digital. The University of Ottawa, which sent a five-person contingent to the conference, outsourced its offset operation years ago, and is currently working with IT to move its printing into the in-plant.

A lot of the talk centered on copier capabilities and contracts, and on print management systems, such as those of Avanti and Rochester Software Associates, both of which had displays at the CUPMAC mini-trade show. Other vendors there included Xerox, Konica Minolta, Cascades Resources and Preo Software.

Business and Pleasure

The three days of educational sessions at CUPMAC covered topics ranging from copyright law to humor in the workplace.

The first speaker, Jennifer Lamantia, of Access Copyright, explained Canadian copyright law, which protects works for the life of the author plus 50 years. She also talked about licensing solutions provided by her organization, which is the Canadian copyright licensing agency. A comprehensive license, she warned, gives a school permission to photocopy a specific piece, but not to scan it and post it online; for that, a transactional license would be required. Faculty, she said, must be instructed on what they can do with the license their school has.

Her presentation generated audience discussion on the high fees charged by Access Copyright. Terry Oakes, of the University of New Brunswick, suggested that the organization consult with CUPMAC before making future changes to regulations and fees.

I gave a pair of presentations covering in-plant promotional ideas and suggestions for generating new business. Insourcing as a way to fill idle press time, bring in revenue and make the in-plant more valuable was another big part of this session. About half of those in the room said they already do some insourcing.

A Canadian company named Preo Software gave a presentation on its Printelligence software, designed to promote awareness among students and faculty of the costs of printing on a desktop printer vs. sending work to the in-plant. It allows real-time print tracking, chargeback to students and overall cost reductions.

Susan Heximer of George Brown College gave an interactive tutorial on mission statements, dividing attendees into groups to create a CUPMAC coat of arms and then a mission statement. The separate statements were combined into a single working statement that expressed the group's uniqueness, its principles and its benefits.

The importance of having fun at work was demonstrated with zeal by Ian Armitage, in between a succession of jokes and humorous observations. Stress makes people ill, he said. Humor in the workplace can relieve that stress. For a good hour Armitage's wit kept the stress level in the room at an all-time low.

Joe Furman of Xerox delved into the growth of digital color and introduced the group to some new Xerox technologies. By the end of the year, he said, Xerox would be bringing out a new design software that will redraw a page if an element, such as an image, is removed. This, he said, lets users quickly repurpose pages.

Furman also talked about Xerox's E-paper, which contains particles that change from white to black depending on the digital signal they receive. The content on signs and documents can thus be quickly changed.

By the time the conference wrapped up and attendees left Viamede Resort for their home provinces, they had traded numerous ideas and gathered plenty of information to bring back to their in-plants. For most of them, next year's conference was high on their list of priorities.

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CUPMAC 2006 is scheduled to take place in scenic Newfoundland from July 9-12. Industry analyst Frank Romano has already been confirmed as a speaker. CUPMAC will be hosted by Memorial University of Newfoundland, in St. Johns. For more information, contact conference chair Boyd Cranford at boydc@mun.ca.