James Cryer, of RDA Print Recruitment, did. Cryer wants printing groups to work together to develop a better future for all.
If you have an opinion, send it. Let's have some healthy conversations while we all have time to think about the good, the bad and the ugly in our working worlds.
Here is Cryer's opinion piece:
Gavin Williams, chief executive officer of the PCA, recently wrote in Packaging News, of the need to reconsider the role of our trade associations, coincidentally echoing similar sentiments I'd expressed in a recent opinion piece, THE PRINTING INDUSTRY: ONE INDUSTRY OR MANY.
It's an issue that's becoming increasingly relevant as the pain becomes more acute for many associations - dwindling membership revenues, marginalised relevance - and the rise of "mega" issues (eg, the image of print and packaging, the threat of alternative media options, and of course the need to attract more school-leavers.)
All of these issues transcend the ability of any one, single organisation, but may possibly be dealt with if there is some level of cooperation among and between organisations.
As I say (and I'm sure most would agree) this may simply involve forming a "working group" made up of representatives from all participating organisations - not with the intention of taking anything away from any one group, but simply being able to fight bigger battles!
Such a body could be kept "lean and mean", simply utilising the secretarial resources of the existing participating bodies.
The flow-on benefits, however, would be enormous: by pooling our resources to present a more powerful lobby group if required, to mount more high profile "public awareness" campaigns, including the benefits of print and packaging - and as mentioned, to present a more robust vision of career options to school-leavers.
In a way, the smaller organisations would stand to gain the most, as it would give them a platform to present their point of view - which is currently denied them.
At the moment there is NO incentive for any individual organisation, say, to embark on a campaign to attract school-leavers, because of the "free rider" problem - ie, other organisations would benefit without having "spent a penny". That is the problem with the current model of lots of small, specialist (under-funded) groups.
I feel it's a sign of a maturing industry that we can recognise the great variety of specialist groups within it - the challenge is how to give them some say.
Forming a "coalition of the willing" while still allowing each one to flourish may be the way forward.
