Editor's Note Rich Rewards

If you could have been there during the judging of In-Print 2002, you would have seen a lot of agony on the faces of our five judges. Picking winners out of so many excellent entries was no picnic.

Many times the judges narrowed a category down to 10 or so finalists, but then had a terrible time selecting just five of those for prizes. Everything looked terrific. In those cases, the complexity of the jobs helped them pick the winners. (See the full list starting on page 12.)

In-Print 2002 saw a big jump in entries—from 562 last year to 653 this year. What's more, the number of submissions in our non-offset categories doubled this year from last year, comprising almost 20 percent of all entries.

I was quite pleased with this increase in participation. It helped make In-Print 2002 one of the most exciting contests to date, with the tension continuing right up until the Best of Show winner was picked.

Long Time

This was the eighth In-Print contest I have coordinated, a realization that surprised me a little. The fact is, though, I've now been editor of In-Plant Graphics for seven years and nine months.

Why is this significant? Because it means I have now served as editor of this magazine for longer than any of my 21 predecessors.

Until last month, the reigning champ was Thomas Grady Nanney Jr., who was editor from January 1960 to August 1967, back when the magazine was called Reproductions Review. Two years ago, I tracked him down and spoke with him for an article, and he seemed like a real nice guy. (Sorry to snatch your record from you, Thomas.)

I've learned a lot about in-plants in my years on the job, and made quite a few friends at conferences and other in-plant events. Consequently, I feel like I know most of you personally.

Still, despite the in-plant knowledge I've picked up over the years, I'm no know-it-all. Each one of you is more of an expert than I am when it comes to running an in-plant. (You probably know more than the consultants, too, despite the flattery some of them heap upon themselves.)

Rather than telling you how to run your operation, what I've tried to do is keep close tabs on the in-plant industry and track down folks like you who have demonstrated some expertise—and then convince you to share that knowledge in our articles. Hopefully I've been successful and you've found some value in the past 93 issues.

As a final note I want to welcome two new members to IPG's editorial advisory board: Charles Tonoff, of Highmark, and Gary Judd, State Printer of Missouri. With their help, and that of our other six board members, we'll be able to focus future articles even more strongly on the topics of most importance to in-plant managers.

Our full advisory board is now:

Jean-Luc Devis

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

Jerry Grouzard

Allstate Print Communications Center

Gary Judd

State of Missouri

Mike Loyd

Louisiana State University

Mike Renn

Mellon Bank

Charles Tonoff