In-print 2017 contest winners include several first-time winners

By Bob Neubauer

Christopher Donlon and Ben Fowler look over the calendars.

On Monday, five current and former in-plant managers met at IPMA headquarters in Kearney, Mo., to pick the winners of the In-Print 2017 contest. The results held more than a few surprises, with in-plants that have traditionally dominated the contest making way for a new leader. Also, a number of first-time winners received awards.

Nathan Thole examines entries.

Of the 415 entries, 65 were singled out for Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. They hailed from 33 different in-plants. The top overall winner for the first time was the University of Texas at Austin, which won an impressive seven awards. Close behind was the University of Oklahoma with six awards. And new to the top three was Bloomberg LP, with five awards. Yale University came in fourth with four awards.

Entries set up and awaiting judgement.

Earning three awards were the Church of Scientology, the World Bank Group, the University of California-Davis and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield.

Judging went a bit long this year, wrapping up at close to 6 p.m. with the selection of the Best of Show winners, one for offset and one for non-offset pieces. (And those results brought their own surprises.)

This year's crew of judges included three new ones:

Ben Fowler, Shelter Insurance
Nathan Thole, Iowa State University
Marcia Doll, University of Missouri-Columbia (Retired)

In-Print 2017 judges stand outside IPMA's new headquarters in Kearney, Mo.

They were joined by IPMA contest chair Christopher Donlon, of Kohler Corp., and Paul Ackerman, of Blue Valley Schools, who was a 2016 judge. As usual, Larry Clements, of Redlands Community College, photographed the winners and served as a judge when needed. IPG Editor Bob Neubauer and IPMA Executive Director Mike Loyd officiated the judging (but mostly just got in the way).

Though the list of winners is still being double checked, both IPG and IPMA will publish it soon. Winners will be honored in a ceremony at the IPMA conference in Pittsburgh in June, at which point the Best of Show winners will be revealed.

Paul Ackerman and Larry Clements.

1 Comment

View Comments

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.

In-Print Contest Surprise: New Winners Rise to the Top