For the first time in its 49-year history, the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) ventured into Minnesota last month, bringing 80 higher-ed in-plant managers together for four days of networking and education.
Doug Fenske
A chilly rain dampened the highway on the 90-minute bus drive to Mankato, Minn., Wednesday morning, as the third day of ACUP got underway. Attendees of the 48th annual Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference spent the morning touring Minnesota State University-Mankato's print and mail operations, overseen by ACUP host Doug Fenske. They saw his well-equipped offset and digital printing facility and spent time talking with operators.
After a long, cold winter, Minneapolis greeted college and university in-plant managers with warm temperatures and cloudy skies on the first day of ACUP. About 80 managers from 25 states and the U.K. are gathered in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” right now for the 48th annual Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference.
After its cancellation last year due to low registration numbers, the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP) conference was back with a vengeance this year. Attendees this year hailed from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Scotland, and included managers from all over the U.S., from Oregon to New Hampshire, with a large contingent from Texas.
Doug Fenske’s decision to replace the CTP unit in his in-plant might be characterized as an “It’s not you, it’s me” break-up. Fenske, the director of printing and photocopy services for Minnesota State University, didn’t detest, dislike or even distrust the five-year-old ECRM Mako2 violet laser system.
CHEMISTRY DEFINITELY has its place: in science fairs, laboratories and love. However, more and more in-plants are displacing chemistry in favor of greener, cleaner workflows. Platemaking is one of the areas getting the enviro-overhaul. Here, five in-plants recount their transitions to chemistry-free computer-to-plate (CTP). And despite our best efforts to document the bad along with the good, these in-plants claim to have had very few reservations—and even fewer regrets.