Graphic Arts Magazine December 2017 / January 2018 | Page 31

Column Robeznieks thinks a sixty-forty split would be pretty good for a mature industry steeped in what was a male dominated culture with inflexible institutional structures. The bottom line for Ricoh is acquiring the best talent for its customer base. “The print industry is becoming more and more about how to help a client manage print and print can be any- thing. This philosophy will continue to make graphic communication an extremely interesting place to be in and that will be the attractor for everyone.” Deanna Sinclair of Cambridge Labels says, “I was not particu- larly shocked by the picture. Quite often you do tend to see a lot of males on panels. I got immune to it.” Sinclair believes the industry is evolving. Cambridge Labels services a lot of female customers who own their own shops. Beside the many female corporate executives in the print industry the entrepre- neurial independent vendors and printers are not captured in that picture. Behind that row of four men in blue suits is a cadre of women and people of diversity pushing and pulling print and graphic communication. About a year ago Sinclair attended a Label Expo gathering in Chicago where the six panelists were all female. Curious, she contacted the panel organizer and learned the panel design was deliberate. “The organizer personally found females are not asked as much or known so she purposely designed the panel to be all females.” A lot of powerful women are making their mark in the entre- preneurial aspects of print. They are successfully running and owning shops and moving into leadership positions. And for Sinclair, “that’s really inspiring.” Sinclair believes that no particular sex is a better manager, leader, or businessperson than the other. “The biggest chal- lenge [for new print industry entrants] is gaining the technical knowledge that is required to successfully run a printing business.” A Complete, End-to-end Print Management System PressWise lets you run your shop with a single, affordable, print management solution: Unlimited custome web storefronts End-to-end digital workflow automation Turn quotes into barcoded job tickets with no rekeying Fully integrated MIS Browser-based for instant access - anytime, anywhere Marg Macleod, Associate Manager Digital Imaging Association clarifies the focus of the Digital Imaging Association as being on technical education and not on the concept of isolating women or for that matter anyone else in print. “If you work hard and do a good job, then it doesn’t’ matter whether you are pink or purple or male or female or whatever ethnicity. It’s your ability to do a job that counts.” Barriers are self-made. The industry in general does not do anything to actively set up barriers. And so we circle back to where we started with four men in blue suits sitting in a row. Fagan, Robeznieks , Sinclair and Macleod agree that the industry has evolved and with the retirement of a dynasty of print titans the playing field will become wide open for women. Caterina Valentino, PhD, is an Instructor at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University and the Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University. She can be reached at [email protected]. @graphicarts [email protected] 888.227.7221 presswise.com GRAPHIC ARTS MAGAZINE | December 2017 / January 2018 | 31