The Toronto Chapter of the IAPHC (Craftsmen Club) held its annual student awards night January 23rd . The dinner and celebration, featuring a brief talk by Canadian Printer editor Doug Picklyk, honoured students who displayed excellence in their respective graphic arts related programs.

The 2008 annual Chia Tse Memorial Education award presenters and winners (l-r): Bill Kidd, instructor with Eva's Phoenix and IAPHC Toronto board member; Matthew Santos, Eva's Phoenix program; Mike O'Reilly, Ontario Graphic Communications Training School (Union School); Alexx Swanson, Humber College program in digital design and printing technology; Diana Brown, Ryerson University's Graphic Communications Management program; and Rael Fisher, Toronto's IAPHC president.

The organizers of drupa hosted a pre-drupa Media Week in mid-January in D�sseldorf, Germany, hosting 130 journalists from around the world, including Canadian Printer. Although the presenters (including: Heidelberg, Kodak, Fujifilm, Xerox, EFI, Screen, Domino, Ricoh, Presstek and Dalim Software) all shared company strategy and vision, few were forthcoming with real new product information - expect the surprises at drupa, May 29-June 11.

Bill Lloyd, chief technical officer with Kodak, shared some details of the Kodak Stream Concept Press that will premiere at drupa, featuring all-new continuous inkjet technology, printing what Kodak is calling "offset class" quality at speeds exceeding 500 feet-per-minute.

Heidelberg's senior vice president global marketing, Adriana Nuneva (above), shared some branding strategies and indicated that Heidelberg will dedicate an entire hall to packaging print. She promised some surprises in the Anicolor technology area.

Xerox introduced a new monochrome continuous feed engine, the 650/1300, the fastest in their portfolio, printing at 300 feet-per-minute. Valerie Blauvelt, vice president marketing (above), promised technology demonstrations at drupa featuring new inkjet products from Xerox, along with key announcements/partnerships with a packaging focus.

If you're still on the fence about attending drupa (May 29-June 11 in Dusseldorf, Germany), call 1-888-drupa08 (378-7208) for travel package options. Thank you to Messe Dusseldorf for the event photos above.