WGMT Paves Present/Future Path for Women Print Leaders
- Published: November 22, 2002, By Teresa Koltzenburg, Senior Editor
CHICAGO, IL, USA— "Recent estimates show the number of women leaders in the graphic communication industries will more than triple in the next years." This, according to Women in Graphic Media Technology (WGMT), a new not-for-profit professional association, creates a real need for support services for women working in the print sector.
A result of the combined efforts of IDEAlliance and Raine Consulting, WGMT formally launched in September of this year. A WGMT-sponsored "wake-up call" breakfast Tuesday (November 19) introduced approximately 20 individuals (a few of them men), PFFC included, to the professional group and its mission.
Content Is Queen
Lead by Susan Kelly of Raine Consulting, the wake-up call highlighted the group's role for women in the industry. "WGMT is about the work, it's about the content," says Kelly. "WGMT's mission is to network high-caliber professionals to exchange knowledge capital in a non-competitive environment. In turn, WGMT offers the opportunity to give back to peers and new professionals by volunteering subject matter expertise, personal experience, mentoring, and fellowship."
Last Tuesday's meeting at RT Associates, a prepress house and commercial printer in Arlington Heights, IL, included a tour of the heavily female-staffed facility, as well as a subject-matter expertise presentation by Raine's Dona Quirke, a 25-year printing industry veteran.
In her executive brief Preparing for the 1:1 Demand, Quirke addressed what many tout as the future of printing: the ability to produce customized printing and information management -- essentially communicating with customers (and potential ones) in a more personal, one-on-one manner designed to meet their needs.
"The deployment of enterprise-wide business intelligence (BI) systems will drive the demand for strategic 1:1 marketing communications programs," states Quirke's executive brief, made available to wake-up call attendees. "It also will transform the role of the print provider. As a result, restructured infrastructure and programs are mandatory, and they will need to parallel the requirements of the client's 1:1 market objectives."
Contact Raine Consulting, RaineConsulting.com; 630/790-2799, for more about Quirke's 13-page brief. Or for a live presentation, contact WGMT about its upcoming Lunch Break meeting, slated for December 18, 2002. Quirke will be on hand for a command performance of Preparing for the 1:1 Demand.
For membership and Lunch Break information, contact Julie Brink at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; or at 630/629-3410. Visit WGMT at wgmt.org.
