Pamex 2024: NAEP and GPEA: Celebrating print excellence with a change
When it comes to drawing new criteria for excellence awards, it's important to consider what truly sets apart the best of the best in the industry. AIFMP’s goal is to make each winner unique, and who will inspire individuals and organisations to strive for their best. Tushar Dhote, in this column, explains the new look criteria for the awards, which may be challenging but is attainable.
31 Dec 2023 | By Tushar Dhote
Tushar Dhote
During the Jaipur governing council meeting of the All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP), the think-tank at the Federation reviewed the success of Pamex 2023, which saw a significant increase in exhibitors, footfalls, and business.
It was also unanimously agreed that the National Awards for Excellence in Printing (NAEP) and the Global Print Excellence Awards (GPEA) organised by the Federation needed a change. To achieve this, a committee was formed with a chairman and co-chairman for NAEP and GPEA, including all office-bearers and zonal pice-presidents as part of the organising committee.
At the first meeting of the NAEP and GPEA committee held in Mumbai in June 2023, the committee proposed a three-step course of action.
The first step was to create appropriate award classifications called "Groups," based on printing processes, and "Categories," based on product types to cover the ever-changing print landscape.
The second step was to simplify the process for applying for awards and expand its reach geographically. To achieve this, the committee created an online module and redesigned the user experience to make it easy to use.
The third and most important step was to increase the credibility of the awards by automating the entire process. This included offering relevant group-categories, providing a template for filling and editing relevant information to represent the entry appropriately, efficient payment processing, easy barcode-based submission, control of physical samples, IT-enabled judging process in multiple stages with checks and balances to maintain integrity. The goal was to ensure a simple, transparent and seamless workflow, where there was no scope for biases, and judging of entries would happen fairly based on the quality of work.
Roping in an expert
The team collaborated with a dynamic IT solutions provider from Pune to create a workflow that would meet the NAEP and GPEA Awards standards, incorporating insights from our experienced team. It took us several months of hard work to develop a workflow that would befit the stature of these prestigious awards.
The most challenging part was to create a credible module for the judging process. We are proud to announce that we have created a judging process where the jury will not know the names of the winning companies, except in the case of the Special Jury Award. They will only know the “bar-code number” and the “title of entries” that have won the awards. The names will be revealed by the software only after the entire judging process is over.
New judging criteria
The criteria for judging have been finalised after intense deliberation involving an illustrious panel from our industry.
The main five criteria involved in judging are a) Degree of creativity b) Complexity of execution, c) Visual appeal, d) Feel factor e) Level of innovation, each having numerous illustrative sub-points given to the jury as a base for judging.
The judging will happen through our cloud-based workflow using an iPad device, provided separately to each judge using their unique login to score entries individually. After scoring by all judges, the software will calculate the scores and declare the winners automatically in every category.
Our jury comprises experts recognised for their specialisation. We have a mix of overseas judges, print specialists, brand experts, and academicians to provide a holistic approach while judging the awards.
Change is necessary to keep the NAEP and GPEA awards in line with the overall progress of the print industry. As new technologies and techniques emerge, the awards must reflect these advancements and celebrate those who push the boundaries of what most consider - impossible.
Awards and recognition encourage innovation and inspire others in the industry who aspire to achieve. AIFMP through the NAEP and GPEA awards has rightfully redesigned and upgraded the platform for – Celebrating print excellence with a change.
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