Sappi Fine Paper North America Announces Call for Entries for the Printers of the Year Awards for 2010

BOSTON, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Sappi announced the call for entries for Sappi's North American Printers of the Year awards for 2010, a competition that recognizes print excellence and innovation for work produced on Sappi papers. Printers have the opportunity to win up to $20,000 in design support of their marketing initiatives for each category and to be featured in Sappi's upcoming searchable online database for designers, printer buyers and corporations. All entries for Sappi's 2009/2010 North American Printers of the Year must be received by the February 12, 2010 deadline.

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Entering this competition is easy -- printers can enter existing work printed between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2009 that uses a Sappi paper as the dominant stock and is printed on a Sappi paper in the U.S. or Canada. For each entry, six copies of the printed piece must be submitted by mail along with one copy of the entry form.* For more details and for the entry form, visit: www.sappi.com/na/poy or contact us at 1.800.882.4332.  

"Sappi is pleased to announce that we have expanded our Printers of the Year program to include a digital category recognizing the trend towards digital printing even in the most demanding applications.  We have also listened carefully to our printer customers about what kind of recognition for printing excellence is most appropriate in today's challenging economic environment.  We are excited to partner with our winning printers in offering them $20,000 in design and marketing services to promote their businesses. Sappi remains  committed to promoting the vitality and relevance of the printed image in innovative ways, including this re-invigorated Printers of the Year contest.," said Jennifer Miller, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Sappi Fine Paper North America.

Award Categories

Printers may submit entries for one of the following 10 categories: Annual Reports, Books, Brochures, Calendars, Catalogs, Digital Print, Magazines (sheetfed), Magazines (web), Printer's Own Promotions, or General Print (any printed material not included in the other categories). Each printer may submit an unlimited number of entries but each entry must be accompanied by its own entry form. All entries will be judged on overall impact of the piece; degree of difficulty in the printing techniques; and technical excellence.  

Printers will be initially competing for Sappi's North American Printers of the Year Silver Awards, who then compete for the Gold Awards and Sappi's International Printers of the Year, respectively.

• The Silver Award winners from each region --  Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes, Midwest, Northeast, South and West --  will be chosen in each of the 10 categories for a total of 60 Silver Awards. These finalists will represent their regions in the challenge for the Gold Awards.

• There will be Gold Award winners from each category for a total of 10 winners, who will receive up to $20,000 in design support of the printer's marketing and brand initiatives, with paper provided by Sappi. Gold Award winners from North, Central and South America will then proceed to compete in the Sappi International Printers of the Year Awards to be issued later this year.

Judging Panel

To ensure the highest possible standards and integrity, Sappi has selected a judging panel of four highly regarded print professionals: Ken Lantz, Executive Vice President, Managing Director at Pica 9 in New York; Malcom Keif, Professor in the Graphic Communication Department at Cal Poly; Constance Sidles, Print-Production Consultant and Writer; and Bill Garno, Director of Rochester Institute of Technology's (RIT) Printing Applications Laboratory (PAL).

*An online version of the entry form will be available on Sappi's North American Printers of the Year Web site in the near future, in addition to the downloadable pdf entry form currently available at:  www.sappi.com/na/poy.

About Sappi Fine Paper North America

Sappi Fine Paper North America (SFPNA) is a leading North American producer of coated fine paper used in premium magazines, catalogues, books and high-end print advertising.  Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Sappi Fine Paper North America is known for innovation and quality.  Its brand names, including McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo, are some of the industry's most widely recognized and specified.  SFPNA is a division of Sappi Limited (NYSE and JSE), a global company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, with manufacturing operations on four continents in 10 countries, sales offices in over 40 countries, and customers in over 100 countries around the world.   Learn more about Sappi Fine Paper North America at: www.sappi.com/na. For the media kit and past press releases, visit the "About Us" section of the Web site.

ENDS

SOURCE Sappi Fine Paper North America