Central Pennsylvania IPMA Chapter Still Meets Regularly, Letting In-plant Managers Network

By Bob Neubauer

Though many local chapters of the In-Plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) stopped holding monthly meetings years ago, one group that still gets together regularly is the Central Pennsylvania Chapter.

“I try to schedule activities on the first Wednesday of the month,” says Chapter President George Kaufman, of The Hershey Co. These activities include “Technology Days,” when members tour the facilities of local vendors, as well as casual lunch meetings, where members share notes on equipment they have installed, problems they’re facing or their plans for attending the next IPMA conference.

Last month in-plant managers from Hershey, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and Wellspan attended a Technology Day meeting at the ACS/Xerox facility in Middletown, Pa. The tour included a demo of the Xerox XC 800 digital color press. Kaufman says managers from Messiah College and Phillips Office Group are also frequent meeting attendees.

How is the Central Pennsylvania Chapter able to continue attracting members to meetings, when other chapters gave up years ago?

“It seems if I keep them centralized in the Harrisburg area, most of the members that are within the local region are able to make it,” Kaufman comments. He also notes that members are very dedicated to the chapter and enjoy each others’ company.

To other IPMA chapters interested in rekindling their meeting schedules, Kaufman suggests organizing a Technology Day meeting. He’s found that vendors are happy to host these gatherings in their facilities, and even provide lunch.

“That kind of stuff goes over pretty well,” he remarks.

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Bob Neubauer Author's page

Bob has served as editor of In-plant Impressions since October of 1994. Prior to that he served for three years as managing editor of Printing Impressions, a commercial printing publication. Mr. Neubauer is very active in the U.S. in-plant industry. He attends all the major in-plant conferences and has visited more than 180 in-plant operations around the world. He has given presentations to numerous in-plant groups in the U.S., Canada and Australia, including the Association of College and University Printers and the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association. He also coordinates the annual In-Print contest, co-sponsored by IPMA and In-plant Impressions.

Chapter Meetings Still Popular in PA

Chapter Meetings  Still Popular in PA