T
he Printing Industry in this country is a mature industry and the vast
majority of printers try to ensure that they give their clients the very
best quality, with top-class service and the fastest possible turnaround.
However, what is missing is a benchmark, a means of testing the levels
achieved within individual companies against an industry average. Not only
that but what one customer considers to be top-quality, another might consider
passable at best. The criteria for judging print quality can, in the eyes of the
uninformed, be a very subjective list. What is needed is the means to judge like
for like and to find the best of the best in an objective and unbiased manner.
Introducing The GAPP Awards.
So what are The GAPP Awards?
If you did not receive, or read, the last issue of Nex Media, then you may not
necessarily know what the awards are and what the aims of holding them
will be. As a brief recap, The GAPP Awards are designed to find the top local
printers in a range of categories and to reward them for their efforts to achieve
top-quality print and in so doing to proactively inculcate an industry-wide
philosophy of striving for excellence. It is only through firm and structured
competition that we are driven to excel and therefore, The GAPP Awards
will recognise The Pinnacle of Excellence.
When The GAPP Awards were announced in the last issue of The GAPP
Magazine, we had originally envisioned having around 20 categories
designed to allow printers from different disciplines and applications
to compete against each other with the aim of finding the top printer
in each category. In consultation with various printers, suppliers to the
industry and players associated to the industry, we have now settled
on a total of 30 categories.
The GAPP Awards will give recognition to the crème de la crème of the country’s
printing and packaging sector. This prestigious event will be highly inclusive,
open to all industry players and will focus on all categories of print, as well
as packaging that includes an element of print. The competition will include
commercial offset, flexo, gravure, digital, screen, signage, packaging, folding,
finishing and binding. This is the only awards event for the South African
printing industry and is presented by the only truly broad spectrum magazine
serving the industry.
Funding for the competition and the accompanying gala awards event will
be provided for through a process of entry fees and sponsorships. However, A
portion of every entry fee will be set aside for the improvement of education
for disadvantaged young people and for training in the printing and packaging
industry. In this way the broader industry will benefit from the participation
in the competition.
Who will be eligible to enter?
Any South African printer or service provider who has produced or participated in
the production of a commercial job may enter. Work can also be entered by the
purchasing end-customer of any printed material as long as the work is produced
within the borders of South Africa and has the consent of the printer or service
provider. All entries must be entered into a specific category. In the event that a
job is entered into more than one category a separate entry fee will be required
for each category.
A strict set of criteria will govern the entries and the entry process. However,
one overriding criterion will be that all jobs entered must be part of a production
run, whether a single item or multiples. The judges will have the right to request
to see the work ticket for all entries if required. Failure to produce the work
ticket, if requested, will result in the entry being disqualified and the entry fee
being forfeited.
Who will the judges be?
Judges will be selected by an independent convenor whose responsibility it
will be to select properly qualified judges. Both local and international judges
will be selected based on their knowledge and expertise in the various
printing disciplines.
Who will be sponsors for the event?
Sponsorships will be sort from all sectors of the printing industry including
printers and suppliers. Anyone who is interested in being a sponsor will be
given the opportunity to do so.
Why sponsor The GAPP Awards?
As a sponsor, your brand will stay visible and have an impact before, during and
after the event, amongst industry leaders and influencers from all walks of the
printing and packaging industry. The GAPP Awards demonstrates your company
as an industry champion committed to the long-term future of the industry.
The event itself will offer you the opportunity to network with leaders from the
industry. There is a range of event sponsorship packages available according to
the level of participation which sponsors would like to have.
How to enter
A dedicated website is in the process of being constructed to tell potential
sponsors and entrants all about The GAPP Awards and also explaining how
entries can be submitted. Once this website is up-and-running the URL will
be issued and the competition will officially be launched.
Entries are scheduled to be opened shortly and will remain open until December
2015. The judging process will then commence and the Gala Awards Event will
be held in March 2016. This extended period will give printers sufficient time to
collate their eligible jobs and select the best prior to entering them into
the competition.
Nex Media •
Vol 2 Issue 3
37
