And compiling this year’s report card on the industry’s great and the good was no different, certainly judging by the heated exchanges that began in the PrintWeek staffroom in June anyway.

Clearly it’s not just us that get absorbed with what exactly represents ‘power’ in print either, as shown by the impressive 2,500 nominations we had this year. (Shame on you that voted for yourselves though, yes we know who you are - see me after class.)

As you’ve probably guessed, this year’s theme is ‘Class of 2013’, our homage to the print icon that is the school yearbook. It seemed to make a perfect backdrop for this year’s ranking because learning and knowledge-sharing are among the new areas of focus of the revamped fortnightly magazine.

Of course, the school yearbook also represents the end of one chapter in a student’s development and, just as importantly, the beginning of the next. And I hope that also resonates with the print industry insofar as we have all learned from the painful lessons of the past five years and can now start to look forward to the next stage in the industry’s development with a little more confidence.

Equally, the Power 100 is our nod to the many inspirational leaders or, in our context, teachers, that the industry boasts, many of whom have valuable lessons to share. Keep up the good work.

So perhaps the industry’s past 12 months can be surmised thus: the pupil has had its fair share of challenges, but is keen to learn and has built strong foundations for the future.

Attributes key: