Drupa 2012 - Quite the Af-fair

Last week, a few of our GotPrint staff from Press, IT, and Management attended the drupa print media fair. Packed with curiosity, an eagerness to learn, and a lot of that GotPrint pizazz, we made the long trip overseas to well-kept Düsseldorf, Germany, where the quadricentennial fair was held.

If you don't already know, Drupa is where printers and those who are interested in the print industry can share their love of all things printing. Think of it as E3 for the computer and video games industry, or Comic-Con for comic book lovers, or even photokina for the photographic industry (get the picture yet?) It's is the ultimate and largest show for the print industry, and speaking of large, what a crowd it attracts!

In fact, it's such an esteemed fair for the industry, that it's a little world on its own. At drupa, you'll find yourself in drupacity, a world of high-tech equipment, efficiency, people discussing efficiency, ideas, innovations and more efficiency and workflow systems.

Indeed, at drupa, you'll meet with drupartners, and be welcomed by drupaulas and drupauls. Maybe you'll be like us and even get the chance to stop by the drupartnermalls and drupartnershops on your trip!

You can expect to gather a great deal of information ranging from the state of the printing industry, to sustainability, information on packaging, design, and talks on future trends and the latest in the printing world. Moreover, there were special shows and events, the drupa cube, which hosts half-day symposiums, and the dip (drupa innovation park), where you can dip into some very interesting talks on ground-breaking innovations.

But it's not all about the shows and discussions - time for some mingling! There were representatives from various companies in the print industry - ranging from start-ups to print giants, and we had the opportunity to meet up with several partners and reps from Heidelberg, Polar, HP, and EFI, which is always a pleasure!

Drupa was a whirlwind of inspiring events, engaging discussions, brilliant colors and displays and like-minded people. We were introduced to a great deal of new technology, available enhancements to workflow and printing systems, and engaged in discussions on ideas about improved efficiency.

And now that we've left the little world of drupa and are back, we're excited to take everything we learned and integrate them into our own workflows and systems.

The fair will continue until the 16th of May, so for more information, make sure to visit their site.

Coachella 2012

It's getting warmer here in California, which means more time spent outdoors, and a lot more festivals like Coachella. 

In case you don't know, Coachella is an annual music and art festival (mostly music) spanning across two weekends and held in Indio, California. Music enthusiasts, hipsters, celebrities, young folk, and pretty much anyone else nowadays camp out to hear live music featuring big names in rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic music. Indeed, this is where you can find everyone from up-and-coming artists to Radiohead and Snoop Dogg.

There are cars, there are tents, and a whole lot of music and dancing, which is what attracts thousands each year to this desert region. And it seemingly gets more diverse and bigger each year: just this year alone, tickets were sold out in a matter of hours—before any bands were even announced!

But don't worry. Just in case you missed it (unfortunately, so did I), we've provided some very colorful and beautiful Instagram photographs that were taken by our GotPrint staff member and Coachella attendee, Leslie Brymer.

GotPrint at the Grand Opening of Super Shop 9

Last Saturday, GotPrint was invited to the grand opening of Venice High School's Super Shop 9, to celebrate the new $3 million state-of-the-art printing facility in the public school. So off we went to Venice High, to see what most call “the best equipped high school graphic communications program west of the Mississippi.” Who can miss this, right?

The upgrade can be attributed to the hard work of Art Lindauer, an instructor of the Super Shop 9, who applied for and won not only a $1.5 million Proposition 1D state grant in 2006, but lobbied for several years to win a $1.5 million grant from the L.A.U.S.D. Impressive!

The outdated (dating back to the 1970's), non-automated equipment in the shop was replaced with 48 pieces of new equipment, including (and here's where we get technical) a 4-color Speedmaster SM 74 perfector, a 2-color Printmaster QM 46, and POLAR 78X high-speed guillotine cutter. In addition, a graphic design computer lab was set up, equipped with Mac computers and a touch-screen HD TV for students.

But it's not just about the equipment: Lindauer believes the focus should be on the education itself, which is why the grant money will also support lectures, field trips, demonstrations, and instructions on safety and machine usage.

This shop has been a part of the schools graphic communication's program since its opening in 1956 by Jerry Greene. Students are offered an introduction to and training of the print industry, (all that fun stuff we do, from applying basic graphic design principles, to automatic plate-changing and binding), followed by advanced courses if they are further interested in the program. The shop focuses on graphic design, sheet-fed offset, digital and screen printing.

Former actor turned California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited to attend the tour and event, due to his support of Proposition 1D, which is a $20 billion bond measure for public school upgrades. Super Shop 9 instructor Art Lindauer was there to host the event, and thanked the former governor for his support for technical education, who in turn, commended the instructor for his relentless efforts in providing the most up-to-date hands-on training possible for technical careers. Also there for the event were students, faculty, family members, and printers (that's us!).

According to Art Lindauer, “The Graphic Communications/Printing is the only industry I know where you are able to earn a good salary no matter what level of education you have.” And now, thanks to Art, students who graduate from Venice High will have all of the training to handle the print industry's standard and latest equipment, and will have the opportunity to obtain high-paying, technical jobs.