WAN-IFRA is inviting newspapers to enter the 10th International Newspaper Color Quality Club competition, a bi-annual opportunity to help them fully exploit the enormous impact that good colour printing can have on readers and advertisers.
The Club is more than a contest; its program includes numerous tools to improve colour quality. Newspapers that make the short list of the world's best-printed colour newspapers also increase their prestige among readers, pride among staff members, and - perhaps most importantly - benefits when it comes to selling ad space to fussy customers.
Registration for the 2012-2014 competition is now open, and there is a special bonus for early sign-ups. Those who register by 17 October 2011 will benefit from a free preliminary test evaluation. Full details and registration information can be found at www.wan-ifra.org/colorqualityclub.
The first Club tutorial will be held on 29 June in Darmstadt (see below for details). Please contact Ulrike Cremer, manager WAN-IFRA Academy, at gro.arfi-naw@remerc.ekirlu to register.
The International Newspaper Colour Quality Club is reputed to be the only worldwide printing quality competition for newspapers. Its goal is to improve the quality of reproduction and printing in production, while also increasing competitiveness as well as training and motivating all personnel. The competition has been held every two years since 1994. Newspapers that participate with success are awarded membership for a two-year period in the exclusive club of top-quality titles. Multiple winners and participants in the WAN-IFRA certification project also have the prospect of being awarded membership in the Star Club.
Participation in the contest can be easily integrated into a newspaper's normal production operations. Participants download a small ad-like test element and incorporate it into a page - no costly, time-consuming special print runs are required.
Here are some of the benefits of participating:
Four categories
Participation in the competition is open to all newspapers, independent of the production processes or types of paper that are used. Four categories have been defined:
Newspaper titles can be registered by publishing houses or by printing companies. Each title is considered as a separate participant. One company can register several titles.
As part of the Club program, WAN-IFRA offers a variety of tools to help prepress specialists, production and printing plant managers, and other personnel responsible for printing quality. One offering consists of tutorials in which contest participants learn in detail about the relevant ISO standards and contest rules.
Tutorial main topics:
Find out more about WAN-IFRA at www.wan-ifra.org or through the WAN-IFRA Magazine.
WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18 000 publications, 15 000 online sites and over 3000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.
Go to: http://www.wan-ifra.org