About our group

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Education Summit Report Out

During GRAPH EXPO® 2007 held in Chicago, over 120 people from throughout the graphic arts

industry gathered together to discuss how the various constituencies that make up the field could

be brought together to develop a cohesive effort and message to the youth, the public and the

educational system about the needs of our industry. Several speakers gave their viewpoints on the

subject, many very good ideas were presented, and several thought-provoking comments were

made.

Subsequent to that meeting, a task force has met in a monthly teleconference to further develop

plans and actions that arose from the Chicago meeting. Currently this task force consists of:

John Berthelsen (Suttle-Straus) Eileen Cassidy (GAERF)

Ben Cooper (Print Council) Bernie Eckert (PIA/GATF – PGSF)

Bill Esler (Graphic Arts Monthly) Tim Fischer (NAPL)

Dean Flowers (Waukesha County Tech College) Katie Gekker (Virginia Printing Foundation)

Stephen Johnson (RRD – State Printing) Brenda Kai (EDSF)

Patrick Klarecki (Ferris State University) Larry Kroll (Heidelberg)

Kathy Lauerman (Printing & Imaging Association Mountain States)

Michael Makin (PIA/GATF) Jeanne Mowlds (EDSF)

Ralph Nappi (NPES) Mark Nuzzaco (NPES)

Brian Price (NPES) Raymond Prince (NAPL)

Brian Regan (Semper International) Ted Ringman (PGSF)

Mark Sanders (Virginia Tech) Michael Stinnett (Kimball High)

Larry Warter (Fuji) Jeff White (EFI)

Doug Yeager (Alcom Printing)

The task force has distilled the discussions into six action items and has already implemented

steps to move forward in some of the areas indicated. In other areas, further development will be

required. This report is intended to give an update on the current state of the six items.

The task force continues to hold monthly teleconferences, and a third summit will be held during

GRAPH EXPO® 2008, on the morning of Tuesday, October 28.

Action items:

1. Reach Generation Y (or the Millennials) in places where they congregate. This would

include, for example, social networking sites and the Second Life online virtual world.

Team: Brian Regan, Mike Stinnett, Tony Vinski, Doug Yeager

• Completed the expansion of the current Second Life location. Added classes

for teachers, community events, reach-out programs, a tour of all the stages of

printing and a “print is green” exhibit.

• Second Life is the primary focus.

o The island is secured and a name is established – “Printalution” to

target college students, industry and educators.

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o Develop a special registration portal from our websites that allow our

community to register for their Second Life accounts and go through our

on island orientation process.

o Built a facility that accommodates 144 people for

large demonstrations and presentations.

o Create an area for educators to communicate with industry.

o Introduction to printing tour of all the phases of printing.

o Build an area for educators to discuss curriculums such as PrintEd.

o Offer various training seminars, such as interview skills and print 101,

and invite industry leaders to speak.

o Community areas such as a large “sandbox” area where our community

can learn how to use the building tools in Second Life.

• Create Print Industry Facebook account, then group and actively recruit other

Facebook users to the group. Actively engage the group in discussion and

provide information. Combine print-related YouTube content to a webpage

connected to the project. Connect the Facebook community to the Second Life

community and to Graph Comm Central and other industry sites.

This project is well underway and all the above bullet points are achievable in 2008.

2. Use Association lobbyists to change the U.S. Department of Labor’s outdated descriptions

and classifications of the industry’s jobs and segments.

Team: Mark Nuzzaco, Ben Cooper, Michael Makin, Lisbeth Lyons, Ron Davis, Kathy Lauerman,

Pat Klarecki

• Promote the graphic communications industry to local, state and federal government

officials.

o Place a high importance on informing the Bureau of Labor Statistics about

the direction of the graphic/printing industry.

o Recognize a problem in that the BLS does not accept private data.

• Report correct statistics and job classifications to the government.

o Concern regarding article in USA Today January 22, 2008 projecting 2006–

2016

22% decrease in wages within the industry.

o USA Today was contacted and they printed a retraction on February 1.

o Kathy Lauerman has worked with the BLS statistics for over four years and

has made real progress.

􀂃 There will be definite changes in the SOC codes

􀂃 The Department of Education relies on these codes to determine

funding of the programs and validity of an industry.

􀂃 Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers are based on production workers.

􀂃 As of April 2008, the BLS has accepted the updated information that

has been provided by the group and changes in the industry’s job

descriptions are pending.

• Currently PIA/GATF is very aggressive with annual lobbying efforts

promoting graphic communication jobs as high tech, high skilled, with high

income potential, and creative and innovative.

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• Work closely with GAERF to continue to promote industry awareness.

o Promote industry and statistics to students and educators.

o Develop an industry overview that can be distributed to all interested parties

with accurate information about the field and the opportunities it has.

3. Convince more companies about the value of contributing scholarship money.

Team: Ted Ringman, Bernie Eckert, John Berthelsen

• PGSF is currently doing ten to twelve mailings yearly. These go to:

o A general list of 8500+

o An endowed list 2000+

• There are ongoing communications with the trade magazines, IPA, GAM, etc.

promoting individuals and companies to support the scholarship fund, in order to

build up donations and awareness.

• PGSF is currently promoting a Life Long Learning scholarship to the industry. This

is a full scholarship benefit for employees at a printer or supplier in the graphic arts

field.

• Scholarship posters are distributed to all colleges, universities, technical schools and

accredited high schools as part of ongoing recruiting efforts.

• Updating of the endowed scholarship flyer, as well as creation of a new general flyer

is in progress.

These are all ongoing efforts of the group and will continue throughout 2008 and beyond.

4. Ask printers to visit schools for a “show and tell” about their company, technology, and

career options. Encourage holding open houses to showcase industry awareness and high

technology.

Team: Dean Flowers, Doug Yeager

• Develop a model tour program to be implemented nationally.

o Motivate educators and students to participate in field trips

o Research what liabilities are involved

• GRAPHIC COMM CENTRAL will post videos of actual plants and virtual tours to

promote the industry.

• We anticipate that a model and guide plan for printers will be rolled out by the end of

2008.

5. Review the GRAPHIC COMM CENTRAL (GCC) website for relevancy, substance, and

design. Implement changes necessary to make GCC a valuable resource for students,

educators, and industry.

Team: Eileen Cassidy, Brian Regan, Mark Sanders, Brian Price, Mike Stinnett

• Enhance GCC content by working with industry associations and individuals

to identify educational materials the industry can and would provide to GCC

for dissemination.

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• Create new “customized entry pages” to GCC (e.g., separate “entry pages” for

audiences such as guidance counselors, elementary teachers, and industry

personnel) that provide them with a small number of links to the GCC

sections that are most relevant for their specific purposes.

• Enhance GCC visibility, particularly among industry personnel, by

encouraging graphic communication publishers, vendors, etc. to promote the

GCC URL and purpose in their trade publications, on their websites, at trade

shows, etc.

• Enhance communication between the industry and education sectors by

encouraging more industry personnel to subscribe to and participate in the

GCC Listserv.

• Post industry-generated job descriptions that provide an overview of the many

career opportunities in the graphic communication industry.

• Consider simplifying the website URL.

6. Increase number of skilled candidates for employment in the printing/graphic

communications community.

Team: Eileen Cassidy, Katie Gekker

All committee members to support this goal as an ongoing effort.

• Duplicate the Ambassadors for Print Program in other states by marketing it to PIA

Affiliates that have active education arms. A training manual, developed by the

Virginia Printing Foundation, is available to provide step-by-step instructions for

states to use in implementing the program.

• Increase industry recognition and support of SkillsUSA.

• Market the value of PrintED accreditation and certification to industry and career and

technical education state supervisors resulting in increased PrintED accreditations

and certifications.

The team feels confident that progress can be made and goals are achievable in 2008.

An audio record of the 2007 summit is available via podcast download at the

following:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/lubetkin/PGSF1.mp3 or

http://www.graphicartsonline.com/Podcasts/47505/PrintCast.html

The current Officers of the Education Summit:

Chairman, Raymond Prince (NAPL)

Vice-Chairman, John Berthelsen (Suttle-Straus)

Secretary, Larry Kroll (Heidelberg)

Treasurer, Eileen Cassidy (GAERF)

The working committee consists of all members of the task force listed above.