Life’s all about making choices

Feb 1, 2005 12:00 AM, By M. Richard Vinocur

Vinocur’s Perspective

When I first began to track this industry in the 1970s, I promised to "tell it like it is." I’ve collected some loyal readers. Many agree with my positions; some, on occasion, don’t. Regardless, I’ve been honest and have cared deeply about the printing industry. In the interest of full disclosure, there is something you should know before reading this column.

For the past two years, I have been consulting with the National Association for Printing Leadership (NAPL) (Paramus, NJ)—dealing with vendor sponsorships, offering advice when needed and writing a weekly column on the association’s Web site. And I truly love working with the staff at NAPL. If this column ruffles some feathers and NAPL decides I’m not politically correct, so be it. I’ve got to get this off my chest.

The proposal
Late last year, a vendor sent a letter to the presidents of the three major national associations: NAPL; NPES—The Assn. for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies; and Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF). The letter also was sent to The Graphic Arts Show Co. (GASC), a joint venture of the three entities. It was sent following a meeting of the PIA/GATF Vendor Advisory Board attended by manufacturers’ representatives, many of whom are very good friends of mine. In a nutshell, it noted the group’s concern about tighter margins for all supplier organizations and urged the consolidation of "management" and "technical" conferences.

This is a subject I’ve addressed many times. In fact, when I launched VUE/Point, originally billed as a prepress conference in which vendors and users could address common problems and opportunities, I approached both the Research & Engineering Council and the International Prepress Assn. (now IPA—The Assn. of Graphic Solutions Providers). Both of them hosted small meetings, so I suggested we work together to build one big one. They declined to join forces. Over the years, VUE/Point emerged into a general industry conference. By 2000, it attracted nearly 1,000 attendees, and sponsors clamored to be involved. Then came 9/11. The conference business was transformed, as were many others.

Association events
One of the letter’s objectives is to merge NAPL’s Top Management Conference and PIA’s Presidents Conference. I’m probably one of the few people who can recount the history of these events. PIA in the early 1980s was a totally different organization than it is today. If I remember correctly, it was a federation of 33 local groups and 13 special industry groups (SIGS). Today, there are approximately 20 regional associations and only a handful of SIGS.

PIA’s Presidents Conference, held in February, drew about 300 attendees. The association decided to hold a second meeting in January, (which attracted another 300 people) and eventually held a third meeting in March, which drew less than 100. One meeting was held on the East Coast, another on the West Coast and the third in Arizona. As the value diminished, each meeting lost attendance. PIA began to sell sponsorships to augment its income for the event. The meeting has struggled in recent years, attracting approximately 100 printers who represent small companies.

NAPL, on the other hand, has seen attendance to its Top Management Conference grow in recent years. Today, more than 200 attend the conference and, when surveyed, give the event rave reviews. I doubt the meeting would be affected greatly without the sponsorship of the vendors. But, I do believe they get value from sponsorship. I doubt the association would ever discontinue the meeting, with or without sponsors.

Here’s another key piece of history. In 1982, when GASC was formed, NAPL and PIA owned the Graph Expos, while NPES controlled the Print Shows held every five years. When the joint venture was formed, NAPL (which managed Graph Expo for a fee) took a financial hit in an effort to work in concert on the industry’s behalf. As it turned out, GASC’s formation was a great move financially for these two national printing associations and the vendors’ association, NPES. It was a win-win decision. More than 20 years later, the three shareholders still reap benefits from its creation.

My point is simply this: The vendors’ decision to sponsor any event is theirs alone. Many offer "road shows" that cost thousands of dollars to better market their products. The decision to do so is based on costs, benefits and the relationship of the two.

The customer is king
Vendors must consider that both NAPL and PIA/GATF are member-driven organizations comprised of their customers. The associations cannot make demands on their customers without jeopardizing relationships, and they can’t dictate when customers hold their meetings, where they hold them or how often. They can only decide which meetings they attend and sponsor, and which ones they don’t.

M. Richard Vinocur is president of Footprint Communications. E-mail him at

mrvinocur@aol.com.