The Institute of Printings new chairman has pledged to get the association back on track, after it posted a 21,000 deficit for 2000.


"We are going to make a change," stated Tony White, who was appointed as the new chairman at the IoPs AGM last weekend. "The ship is not foundering exactly, but it has lost its rudder a bit and we have to get the thing straight."


Income at the IoP, a registered charity, slipped from 69,472 to 64,518. Tresurer Steve Oram said the bad performance was "almost wholly due to publications", specifically the cost of publishing the IoPs bi-monthly journal, Professional Printer.


White urged members to "focus their minds and ideas on how we go from here... we must move to a dynamic and proactive membership."


He said that the IoP must attract new sponsorship, increase its marketing activity and capitalise on its new fast-track membership plan, which has already seen numbers increase by 4.5% to 1,320 this year. "50,000 a year will transform us as an institute," he added.


The conference, organised by the Kent and London branches, was held in Ashford.


"The mood was significantly more positive than last year and for me there was an exciting buzz about the whole weekend. I hope we can capitalise on this in the coming months," said president David Richards.


The overall event sponsor was Xerox, and there were presentations from law firm Furley Page and Astron chief executive David Mitchell (see below).



Key messages from the speakers


Jonathan Gauton, partner, Furley Page
"For the past two-to-three years it has been increasingly difficult
for companies to keep up-to-date with the flood of new business information and employment legislation. Instead of ignoring the legislation or looking to minimise it, why not look at the proposals and see if you can turn them to your advantage be entrepreneurial about it. People know when youre trying to do them down on benefits but motivated, buzzed up people rarely bring claims."



David Mitchell, chief executive, Astron Group
"Learn to manage knowledge workers, who are not like manual workers at all. They are less loyal than previous generations, more demanding and not solely motivated by cash. Develop multi-level relationships with customers think beyond the print buyer to reduce the risk of being commoditised. Before you do anything, ask yourself why you are doing it. Will it add value? Delight your customers? Or confuse the competition? You have to deliver and achieve your numbers profit makes you free."



Story by Jo Francis