In-plants Celebrate Awareness Month

In-plant Awareness Month gave many in-plants a chance to promote themselves in February. All around the country, in-plants held open houses, set up tables in public areas to promote their services, held employee luncheons and more. The In-plant Printing and Mailing Association (IPMA) created the event to recognize and celebrate the special contributions of in-plants.

Messiah College Press promoted its services at a campus "office involvement fair."

At the beginning of the month, Messiah College Press took part in an "office involvement fair" in which various campus resources set up information tables promoting how they support students. The in-plant printed displays and materials for other participants and also staffed its own booth to market its capabilities.

The University of Texas, Austin, held a showcase event in a university ballroom.

The University of Texas, Austin, held a similar event, setting up tables in a ballroom to tell customers about its services, such as promotional items, shredding, wide-format, courier services, and of course printing. Visitors got to eat and took away calendars, cozies, pens, menus, wide-format samples, letter openers and more.

The World Bank Group's in-plant used the opportunity to promote its virtual reality program. It held VR demos in the cafeterias, a high-level VR panel event in which managers talked passionately about VR projects the in-plant has produced for them, a 360 camera training course and a virtual session aimed at World Bank country office staff. More than 400 people registered.

The World Bank Group's in-plant produced a huge banner to promote its virtual reality services.

"The whole campaign was a fantastic experience, and it was great seeing so many of our division’s staff involved in organizing these events and engaging with our clients, putting our In-plant’s name very high as one of the most innovative groups in our institution," says Senior  Project Manager Jimmy Vainstein.

The launch of a vendor-produced video about Print/Mail/Sign services at Frisco Independent School District (FISD) gave Manager Sherri Broderick the opportunity to further promote her in-plant during In-plant Awareness Month. Everyone who was prominently in the video received a floor walk of fame star graphic with their name on it, a bag of popcorn, a movie-themed decoration and a box of Valentine’s Day conversation hearts with their name on it. Broderick alerted the district communications team about the video so that it would be included in FISD’s enewsletter, which is sent to parents, students and community members.

J.R. Villarreal, Colorado IDS material handler, explains the warehouse barcoding process to visitors. Colorado State Printer Mike Lincoln (left) listens in.

In Colorado, the state's Integrated Document Solutions division hosted weekly tours and open houses in its Denver facility throughout the month of February, as well as a one-day open house at IDS Pueblo. Customers got the chance to network with staff while they toured the facilities and watched the machines in action.

“Many of the visitors did not realize everything that goes on behind the scenes or the variety of services IDS actually offers," notes Monique Moynihan, DCS Communications Support.

To wrap up In-plant Awareness month, both Denver and Pueblo management provided a lunch to all their employees to say thank you for  their hard work and efforts throughout the past year.

Excited visitors to a Bloomberg Ink open house show off their takeaway gifts.

Bloomberg Ink held two open houses to promote its services, and plans to hold them quarterly due to the high interest. In-plant staff gave visitors an overview of their services and their mission to support the company, then took them on a six-stop tour of the shop. Visitors loved their takeaway gifts.

Sherri Isbell welcomes visitors to the IPMA Road Show event hosted by the University of Oklahoma's in-plant.

The University of Oklahoma hosted a two-day IPMA Road Show event during In-plant Awareness week that drew in-plant managers from around the region. It included an educational program with several speakers — including OU's Associate VP for Administration & Finance — and a tour of the in-plant. Topics covered included augmented reality, color management, branding, and mail piece design. In the printing facility,  vendors had set up display tables and attendees chatted with them while taking a self-guided shop tour.

"We had an amazing event with almost 20 vendors and over 50 attendees," remarks Sherri Isbell, assistant director of Printing, Mailing & Document Services.