Charlotte In-plant Regional Meeting a Success

"Lots of positive energy," was how Alvin Griffin described the IPMA regional meeting he hosted at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools' Graphic Production Center last week, which drew 17 in-plant managers to his facility. It was the last of six networking workshops organized by the In-plant Printing and Mailing Association in locations all over the country.

The Charlotte gathering, the only IPMA meeting on the East Coast, was keynoted by Eric Holdo, Senior Vice President, Production Print Solutions, at Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, whose culinary expertise delighted attendees of June's IPMA conference. Though he cooked no shrimp and grits in Charlotte, he did offer some great ideas on how in-plants can expand services and add value. He talked about using social media to bridge the gap between clients and print providers, and gave an augmented reality demo, which was well received.

Griffin also spoke at the meeting, describing how to take an in-plant from good to excellent thru cultural changes and by applying best practices. After lunch, Leah Cody, Creative Services Project Manager at Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, led a lively roundtable discussion on how to price graphic design and other services. This was followed by a tour of the Graphic Production Center, the highlight of which was a wide-format printing demonstration on the shop's KIP C7800 production print system. Attendees also got a look at the in-plant's impressive new Fuji Acuity Advance flatbed printer.

The Charlotte meeting last week followed similar IPMA meetings in Corvallis, Ore., Moorpark, Calif., Davis, Calif., Ft. Worth, Texas, and St. Louis. The free regional meetings were designed to bring in-plants together with others in their areas while spreading the word about the benefits IPMA can bring to them.

"Many in-plant managers are not able to attend the annual conference or participate with one of IPMA’s chapters," explains IPMA President Rob Lingard, "so IPMA’s sponsorship of regional meetings is an effort to provide a venue where this interaction and discussion can take place without the expense of travel or time away from busy schedules."

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