University In-plants Meet in Scotland

The University Print Managers’ Group, a UK-based association of in-plant managers, gathered an international audience for its conference in June, including attendees from U.S. and New Zealand in-plant associations. The theme of the UPMG conference was “Dealing with the Money Squeeze” as the economic situation has had an impact on in-plants around the world.

Richard Griffin, president of the U.S.-based Association of College and University Printers (ACUP), along with Lisa Hoover from Bucknell University and Karen Birch, President of the Network of In-house Print Professionals Australasia (NIPPA) and Copy Center Manager at Unitech in New Zealand, joined 68 attendees from in-plants all over the UK for the three-day conference. It took place at the Troon Marine Hotel in Ayrshire, located on the southwest coast of Scotland (just off the 18th hole of Royal Troon Golf Course, venue for the 2008 World Senior Golf Masters).

Speakers offered ideas to help in-plants deal with the recession and secure their positions by offering new services and becoming involved in new initiatives on campus. There was a discussion on campus-wide smart cards, technical sessions on Adobe Acrobat, and sessions on Emotional Intelligence and how to communicate more effectively with staff.

Richard Griffin led a session on justifying equipment and software acquisitions. Do your homework upfront, he said, and get support from other areas of the university to ensure you get the equipment you need.

Lisa Hoover talked about securing your in-plant’s position in the universit. She discussed some ways that Bucknell University’s in-plant has become integrated into the core mission of the university since a reorganization at Bucknell positioned the in-plant as part of the Communications Division.

Roundtable discussions featured four members comparing and contrasting how they manage their print units. They covered best practices, financial arrangements, volume, staffing and future plans.

Next year’s UPMG Conference will take place June 6-9 at the Torquay Imperial Hotel, in southern England. For more information, visit www.upmg.ac.uk.