Update from the CEO—February 2021

Dear Friends,

When David Steinhardt and I began to direct the efforts at Idealliance early in 2020 we took over an association that needed a new vision—not about our mission, but rather about how to help our members be successful. With the help of our great team of employees, our members, and our board of directors, we embarked on a journey of goal setting.  

Where did we want Idealliance to go? Should we go it alone, or in partnership with another, larger association that shared the same goals as we did? Going it alone was alluring—we were in great shape financially, but as I have said often, we were small, relatively speaking. It became clear that, after many conversations and video conferences, that partnering with PRINTING United Alliance was the right course for us. And it was an easy decision to make. Ford Bowers and his team at PRINTING United are on a mission, and they wanted us to be part of that. Idealliance will remain an “association within an association,” keeping its identity and its products and services as they are today. But we will have many more resources at our disposal to support our unique mission. I could not be more pleased with the future of both Idealliance and PRINTING United.

As I have said, the traditional segmentation of print providers has continued to blur and converge, which the shifts in digital printing technologies have only accelerated. Over the past few years, PRINTING United Alliance has built an association that addresses all the major segments through expanded membership, an array of events, and industry leading media brands, bringing considerable resources, marketing reach and audiences under one roof. At the same time, Idealliance has developed the expertise to build and rollout not only its traditional color management programs, but new standards training and education on a global platform. This is the right strategic move by Idealliance to better serve the graphic communication industry.

So, what is new is really not. Together we are all better prepared to continue to address the changing landscape that is the global printing industry well into the future. David and I will not be along for the ride, but we will remain close and interested observers of PRINTING United, Idealliance, and our great industry. 

Thank you for your support—the vote in favor of this merger was overwhelmingly positive, so it must have been easy for many of you to see the benefits of this merger as well. But in the meantime, there is still time to join Idealliance if you are not a member or renew your membership (just as there will be after the closing on February 28).  

Likewise, there will always be the opportunity for you to renew your expert certification in color management processes, suggest the same for a colleague, or head up to the CEO’s office and tell her or him that certification and training will point toward higher quality outputs and save money. That story never changes, and never ever gets old!

~ Dick