Since the late 19th century, rotogravure, or gravure for short, has been the primary method for printing. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a cylinder then rolled across the paper, printing the information on the paper.
Murray State’s graphic communications management program, put together a special collection of speakers for its students as part of Gravure Day. Speakers came from companies such as RR Donnelley, Quad/Graphics and New Page Corporation, all leading companies in their services.
Beginning the presentation was Jim Sheibley from New Page Specialty Papers. As part of the New Page Corporation, Sheibley talked about numerous subjects within the corporation, such as the advancement of the company since they opened in 2005. Since then, New Page Corporation has become the leading producer of printing and specialty papers in North America. With New Page owning paper mills in Kentucky, Sheibley emphasized that students looking for positions regarding paper mills would be close to home.
Sheibley also spoke about the numerous positions available
in New Page Corporation to GCM graduates. He mentioned career opportunities ranging anywhere from management positions to actually operating the machinery, along with the numerous internships and co-op positions available for students.
Later in the presentation, Judy Jones from RR Donnelley spoke to the students. RR Donnelley is one of the leading providers of global integrated communications. RR Donnelley specializes in many fields, but pre-media and printing are the two most important to GCM students. With businesses, locations and networking all around the globe, Jones emphasized the endless possibilities career-wise for RR Donnelley.
Because of unforeseen circumstances, some speakers were not able to make it to the presentation; one of the last speakers however, was Chris Lovorn from Quad/Graphics. Quad/Graphics is the world’s second largest provider of print and multichannel solutions. Lovorn spoke of how it is the goal of Quad/Graphics to always be on the forefront of the business.
“We strive to always be the ones that make competitors ask, ‘how did they do that?’” Lovorn said.
While talking to the students going into the field, Lovorn also assured them that going into printing was one of the best choices to make economically.
“Gravure is still the best printing technology available,” Lovorn said. “Even in 2010, in the midst of the economic crisis, we had a record selling year.”
Overall, Gravure Day 2012 served to open the eyes of GCM students to the many career opportunities available to them in the future.