Porter (pictured), the product performance manager at Hamilton-based Cryovac Sealed Air, will oversee a series of changes to the Pride In Print format over the coming year.
“Printers need to know that this is the right forum in which they can leverage their marketing of themselves, and our patrons and sponsors need to be comfortable that this is the appropriate use of their discretionary sponsorship dollars,” Porter said in a statement. “With these things in mind the committee has canvassed the key contributors to better understand what they are now looking for in the Awards programme.
“This has highlighted some very valid points that we hope to address in the next campaign. In particular, we will aim to deliver an exclusive event with a gala atmosphere that is also attractive to those not intimately involved in the print process, but [that] are key in making print or packaging buying decisions.
“We aim also to realign the Award categories to better reflect the end-use of our printed materials without jeopardising a printer’s opportunity to win gold or ultimately the supreme award.
“Finally, we want to identify and assist in the ways and means that winners have available to them to ensure they can best market their successes, either individually or as a collective.”
Porter said he was delighted to be taking over the reins for the awards, which he described as “an excellent benchmark within the industry”.
“It is going to be paramount in these times of competition from overseas imports and cost-cutting that our industry can positively differentiate itself to the discerning print buyers,” he said.
“For these reasons we need to ensure that we go from strength to strength. We need to listen to our market and our entrants to be able to recognise where this evolution will lead us.
“We will learn from our mistakes and continue to promote that we have a dynamic industry full of clever, dedicated people who deserve a forum in which we can recognise their efforts and encourage the ink to continue to course through their veins.”
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