Defeated PIAA election candidate Tom Eckersley says the industry association needs to improve, but is challenged by the volatile print market.

The Print Approach managing director, who lost his bid for the Queensland board seat to Susan Heaney, says despite the nastiness the campaign brought out, the number of competitive races is a positive sign of engagement with the industry.

“I think it is a really positive thing that we had two candidates stepping up to take on the job – and let’s make no bones about it, it is a lot of work and a big commitment,” he says.

“It is much better than the years when nobody puts their hand up and they are ringing around and asking anybody and everybody to stand.”

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However, Eckersley views the negativity surrounding the election as a missed opportunity for the PIAA to encourage engagement and recruit new faces to its management.

“Instead it got an unfortunate flavour attached to it. I hope in future the board can encourage positiveness about involvement and do away with the political negativity that came about by trying to paint factions that shouldn’t be there,” he says.

“The board should be strong enough to deal with that sort of thing. I hope it is something we as an industry have learned from.”

Eckersley was not one of the candidates whose bid for the board PIAA president David Leach supported when he inadvertently set in motion a series of attacks between candidates by publically backing several of them.

“I was disappointed because I have never met David or had the opportunity to express my views to him,” Eckersley says.

“I think since David is new in the role he has to go through a significant learning curve in how the board works and operates and the role the president plays within it, and hopefully he can learn from that experience and the association can manage the process and little bit better going forward.”

Eckersley says contrary to how the Qld race was portrayed, he has nothing but support for Heaney and only put his hand up for the board seat when he thought she was too busy with various commitments to run, and by the time he found out she was standing it was too late to withdraw.

“Susan and I are really good mates. I am really happy for her to be carrying that flag and without a doubt we will work together anyway,” he says.

“She will continue to do a fantastic job… and I’ve got a lot of extra spare time now I didn’t expect to have.”

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Speaking on the future of the PIAA in light of criticism of its operations, loss of regional connection and accusations of declining membership, Eckersley says the industry has been rocked by a declining market and that has hampered the  effectiveness of the assocation.

“Our industry, like a lot of others, has gone through incredible change and a lot of heartache,” he says.

“We have had a lot of blood on the floor and an incredible number of companies have fallen. It’s a volatile market and I think and I think in that space, any association body will have its challenges.

“Can it be better, stronger and offer more? Yes it can, but let’s keep in perspective to the fact that it has been a very challenging time and it’s hard to work through that.

“I think the model of tomorrow will and needs to be different to the model of yesterday – that is pretty well a given – and the pursuit of whatever that model is, that’s the challenge at hand.

“The service models have to change, the way we deal with our members has to change, we have lost some of the parochial and connectivity that we have had traditionally, but that’s par for the course considering the times.”

He says another major cause of the lack of engagement among printers, both with the PIAA and as a whole industry, is a wider change in society’s priorities as the pace of modern life gets faster and faster.

“Once upon a time we used to all go off and have golf days and catch up at functions and meetings all the time, but no one is doing that now at the rate they used to. Everyone is too busy, even my corporate clients,” he says.

“These days people’s free time is endearing to them – do you want to spend Saturday night in a corporate box at the football or with your family?

“I think people are actually starting to think about that and it’s a change in general society as well.”

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