The Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau held its Gold Key and Founders Award ceremony in New York City on May 29. The annual event salutes outstanding achievement in graphic communications and promotes the value of higher education in the field.

This year’s honorees were Mike Connors, managing director, production department, The New York Times, who received the Gamma Gold Key Award; and Frank Romano, professor emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology, selected for the Founders Gold Medal and Citation Award.

Gamma Epsilon Tau is a national fraternity for students of graphic communications, and Gamma chapter is its branch at New York City College of Technology (City Tech). The school’s department of Advertising Design and Graphic Arts (ADGA) has an enrollment of more than 1,000.

The event, organized by ADGA Professor Frank Adae, was held in its customary venue, the 101 Club on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The evening’s master of ceremonies, Jack Powers, noted that the ceremony was taking place in a “big week” for graphics studies at City Tech, a week that also included ADGA’s annual student portfolio review and design competition.

When it comes to education for graphic communications and other high-tech disciplines, “no place in the city is more on top of that than City Tech,” Powers declared. Russell Hotzler, president of City Tech, said that it wouldn’t be possible to provide the quality of education that the school offers without the support of industry members who back its efforts on behalf of students.

Mike Connors (left) accepts the Gamma Gold Key Award from Jack Powers (center) and Prof. Frank Adae (right).

Exemplary among them is Connors, who assists students by hosting plant tours for them at the newspaper’s production facility in College Point, Queens. He also operates a student internship program there, raises funds for learning and physically challenged children, and is active with public-private educational initiatives like PENCIL.

Nick D’Andrea, manager of the College Point plant, cited Connors’s “driving passion to get things done” both professionally and in support of education.

“When you have a task that needs to be done, give it to Mike,” D’Andrea said.

Referring to students in his Gold Key acceptance remarks, Connors spoke of “our obligation as business people and adults to take care of them.” Most important to impress upon young people in graphics studies programs, he said, is that “in our world, it comes down to one word, quality.”

Powers and Adae present the Founders Gold Medal and Citation Award to Frank Romano (left).

Frank Romano, the recipient of the Founders Award, arguably is the most widely known and highly regarded of all specialists in graphic communications. This blogger, called upon to make Romano’s introduction, noted that his name “has become synonymous with higher education for the graphic arts.”

“it doesn’t stretch the truth to say that because of the enormous amounts of source material that he has created for the rest of us to use, he is an invisible presence in every classroom where graphic communications is taught,” we observed.

Romano spoke bluntly both to students and to educators and industry members who are trying to help them build the foundations of their careers.

He told the students that as products of an educational system that graduates 40,000 people trained in graphics every year, “you’d better be really good at making something print.”

But in some cases, Romano warned educators and their industry supporters, “we’re not teaching the right stuff. We’ve failed at that.” He urged everyone with responsibility for educational programs like ADGA’s to be sure that what they are teaching touches all of the bases covered by graphic communications as the industry practices it today.

In the induction ceremony for new student officers of Gamma Chapter, Gamma Epsilon Tau, the lighting of the candles symbolizes the light of knowledge overcoming the darkness of ignorance.

The program concluded with a candle-lighting ceremony that marked the induction of new student officers into Gamma Epsilon Tau’s Gamma Chapter.

The fraternity’s name comes from ancient Greek words representing its purposes and ideals: Gamma for letter, literature, or alphabet; Epsilon, for science or knowledge; and Tau, for art or craft. Thus translated, Gamma Epsilon Tau means “the science or knowledge of the art and craft of letters.”

On Friday, May 24, judges will select winners among the finalists in the 12th Annual Citywide Graphic Arts Competition, a contest that showcases the creativity of some of the city’s most talented high school students.

Judging by a panel of academics and graphics industry professionals will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the ground-floor Atrium of New York City College of Technology (City Tech), located at 300 Jay Street in downtown Brooklyn. At 2 p.m., first, second, and third prizes will be awarded in the categories of digital photography, web site design, digital video production, desktop publishing and design, filmmaking, and package design.

The competition has been in progress since February, when students began working on projects at their local high schools. Two preliminary rounds of online judging followed, yielding the finalists whose work will be scrutinized at City Tech next week.

First-place winners will receive trophies for their schools and will be invited to tour the main production plant of The New York Times in College Point, Queens. Additional prizes are being provided by Adobe, Apple, B&H Camera, and other supporters.

The event is sponsored by the Graphics Industry Advisory Commission, part of the New York City Department of Education’s Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education. The Commission is a volunteer group of executives, academics, vendors, employers, and analysts dedicated to keeping New York’s schools up to date with change in the digital graphics industry. They also work to expand career opportunities for students preparing to enter the field.

For more information, contact Florence Jackson, Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education, at 212-374-4224 or by e-mail at jackso2@schools.nyc.gov

Direct-mail marketing entrepreneur Gregory P. Demetriou has received an Outstanding CEO Award from Long Island Business News, recognizing him as one of Long Island’s leading executives.

Demetriou, founder and CEO of the Lorraine Gregory Communications Group in Farmingdale, NY, was honored along with 19 other Outstanding CEO recipients at a ceremony at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury, NY, on May 9.

Originally a detective with the New York City Police Department, Demetriou retired from the force in 1981 after being wounded in a shooting incident that led to his receipt of an NYPD Medal of Honor. He and his brother, the late Bob Demetriou, established a high-volume mailing operation for a brokerage firm in 1988. Four years later, Demetriou and his wife, Lorraine, formed the Lorraine Gregory Corp. and purchased Bi-County Mailing, a small mailing company in Bethpage, NY.

Today, the Lorraine Gregory Communications Group comprises Bi-County Mailing and its affiliates American Mail Communications, Direct Printing Connection, and Precision Envelope & Printing Co. The family-run business offers a full spectrum of graphic communications services including mailing and list management, consultation, project management, writing and editing, graphic design, e-mail marketing, digital and offset printing, bindery, services, and variable data printing.

The group’s mission is to develop and expedite marketing campaigns that enable businesses and organizations to reach their target markets and audiences. The company serves a client list of over 1,200 businesses and not-for-profits from its Farmingdale facility, where 34 people are employed.

Demetriou was one of the inaugural recipients of the annual Outstanding CEO Awards, created to recognize business and not-for-profit executives on Long Island who have consistently demonstrated remarkable leadership skills, integrity, values, vision and a commitment to excellence, financial performance, community, and diversity.

The May 9 ceremony also included a posthumous tribute to Leroy R. Grumman, co-founder and later chairman of the legendary aviation company that bore his name. Its latter-day incarnation, Northrup Grumman, was one of the sponsors of the event. A complete account with bios of all the recipients can be read here.

Ursula Burns, chairman and chief executive officer of Xerox, will receive the 2013 Prism Award from the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (NYU-SCPS) Graphic Communications Management and Technology (GCMT) M.A. program on June 13.

Presented annually, the Prism Award recognizes distinguished leadership in the graphic communications media industry. The 2013 Prism Award will be presented to Burns on Thursday, June 13, 2013 during the 27th Annual Prism Award Luncheon, which will be held at Gotham Hall in New York City. The event is a major networking opportunity for graphic communications professionals and is the most heavily attended gathering of its type for the industry in the New York metro area.

“I am grateful for the honor,” said Burns, who is a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of NYU. “This award reminds me of our obligation to the next generation of graphic communications professionals, and I share the enthusiasm for an industry that has seen much change, and for the possibilities yet to come.”

The net proceeds of the Prism Award Luncheon help to fund student scholarships as well as student and program support for the NYU-SCPS GCMT graduate program, which prepares the next generation of media communications industry leaders. Since its inception, the Prism Award Luncheon has raised millions of dollars for scholarships for students in the GCMT program.

Previous NYU Prism Award recipients include Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media LLC; Thomas J. Quinlan III, president and chief executive officer of RR Donnelley; Vyomesh (VJ) Joshi, former executive vice president, HP’s Imaging and Printing Group; Cathleen Black, former chairman of Hearst Magazines; Antonio M. Perez, president and CEO of Eastman Kodak Company; Anne M. Mulcahy, former chairperson and CEO of Xerox Corporation; and Janet L. Robinson, president and chief executive officer of The New York Times.

Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI, is this year’s Prism Luncheon chair. The event’s Advisory Board co-chairs are Martin Maloney, chairman of Broadford & Maloney, Inc., and Kathy Presto, vice president, strategic sourcing, of Williams Lea North America. Serving as co-chairs of the Prism Committee are Laura C. Reid, vice president of production at Hearst Magazines, and William “Buzz” Apostol, vice president, sales, Americas at X-Rite/Pantone Inc.

The June 13 ceremonies also will include the presentation of a student award to a distinguished graduate of the M.A. program in Graphic Communications Management and Technology.

Gotham Hall is located at 1356 Broadway (36th Street) in Manhattan. Tickets for the Prism Award Luncheon are priced from $750 per person to $6,000 for a sponsor’s table of eight and $10,000 for a co-chairmanship (which includes a dais seat as well as a table of eight).

Tables, ticket reservations, and additional information are available through the NYU-SCPS Office of Development. Contact Melissa Malebranche at 212-998-6950, by fax at 212-995-3663, or by e-mail at melissa.malebranche@nyu.edu. More information about the Prism Award Luncheon and Scholarship is available here.

Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau, the national graphic arts honor society, will honor Mike Connors and Frank Romano at its 2013 Gold Key Awards ceremony in New York City on May 29.

The Gamma Gold Key Award will be presented to Mike Connors, Managing Director, Production Department, The New York Times. Starting his career with the newspaper in 1976 as a mailroom feeder, he became a member of the department’s management team in 1984 and went on to run it from 1998 to 2004. That year, he became Deputy Plant Manager, and in 2008, he was promoted to his current position.

Connors is being recognized by Gamma Chapter for his steadfast support of industry education. As coordinator of Diversity Events at The Times production plant in College Point, Queens, he directs the mentoring program with the Queens Satellite High School for Opportunity and also supports the GED Plus Program in the Bronx. He is an active member of the industry advisory commission to the High School of Graphic Communication Arts and the New York City Department of Education’s CTE (Career and Technical Education) program.

In March 2012, Connors partnered with PENCIL as the career development business partner for the GED Plus program, which aims at inspiring innovation and greater student achievement by partnering business leaders with public schools. He also helped to initiate a paid student intern program at The Times College Point facility, where he organizes the annual golf fundraiser. In its fifth year, the event will provide $30,000 for programs assisting learning and physically challenged children at PS 107, the Hour Children Program, St. Mary’s Hospital, and The Catherine McCauley Center.

Connors holds a BS in management and an MBA from St. Peter’s University, where he is a member of the adjunct faculty.

The Founders Gold Medal & Citation Award will be presented to Frank Romano, Professor Emeritus at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). After a career spanning 54 years in printing and publishing, he arguably is the most widely known and highly regarded of all specialists in graphic communications.

Many in the industry know him as the editor of International Paper’s Pocket Pal series for 30 years or have read one of the thousands of articles he has written. He is the author of 53 books including the 10,000-term Encyclopedia of Graphic Communications (with Richard Romano), the standard reference work in the field. He also is a consultant and an editorial contributor to WhatTheyThink, the industry’s foremost online news and information service.

Romano lectures extensively around the world and was the principal researcher on “Printing in the Age of the Web and Beyond,” a landmark study for the Electronic Document Scholarship Foundation (EDSF). He has been quoted in many newspapers and publications as well as on television and radio. He appeared on the PBS program History Detectives and serves as president of the Museum of Printing in North Andover, MA. As a forensic typographer, he has been an expert witness in legal cases concerning forgery, most recently in a case involving Facebook.

Gamma Epsilon Tau is a national, coeducational, collegiate printing fraternity in which students of printing and publishing can meet and interact in a professional and social atmosphere.  It has eight chapters at colleges and universities that offer degree programs in graphic communications.

Gamma Chapter of Gamma Epsilon Tau is located at the Department of Advertising and Graphic Design (ADGA) of New York City College of Technology, part of the City University of New York. Gold Key honorees in recent years include Vicki Keenan, Bob Sacks, Annette Wolf Bensen, Michael Cunningham, Florence Jackson, Diane Romano, and Russell K. Hotzler.

The 2013 Gold Key Awards dinner will be held on Wednesday, May 29 at Club 101, 101 Park Avenue, New York City. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact ADGA Prof. Frank Adae at (718) 260-5833 or by e-mail: fadae@citytech.cuny.edu

Described by its organizers as “the Academy Awards^® of Media Production,” the Luminaire Awards event will celebrate its 25th anniversary in New York City next month by honoring five outstanding professionals in graphic communications.

First bestowed in 1988, the Luminaire Awards recognize industry members whose spirit, creativity, commitment, and inspiration have led the transformation of the industry. Today, the Luminaire Awards program is one of the best attended and most influential events of its kind in the NYC-metro region.

The 2013 Luminaire Awards will be presented on April 15 at the Pierre Hotel in a ceremony that commences with a reception 6 p.m. The honorees are Kevin Brucato, director of operations, Prudential; Lynn Fantom, chairman & CEO, ID Media; Bill Kasdorf, vice president and principal consultant, Apex Content; Chris Noble, senior director of print operations, ESPN Digital and Print Group; and Brian Sallaberry, associate vice president, publishing operations, Victoria’s Secret Direct, NY.

Producing the event are IDEAlliance and its Digital Enterprise Education & Research (DEER) Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization created to promote research and education for graphic arts and the media industry. Fundraising proceeds from the Luminaire Awards support student scholarships through the Graphic Communications Scholarship Foundation (GCSF), which provides financial assistance to students pursuing careers in graphic communications in advertising, design, media, printing, and publishing.

Online registration, including single tickets and table-of-10 reservations, is available here. Event sponsorships also are being sought, and those interested can learn more about them by downloading the prospectus or by contacting Georgia Volakis, IDEAlliance’s director of events and membership, at 703-837-1075 or gvolakis@idealliance.org.

The 2013 Luminaire Awards Committee includes Paul Nicholson (Showtime Networks), chair; Dave Stadler (Blue Ocean Worldwide), vice chair; and members George Ashbrook (E-Graphics), Brenda Barozzi (pipe line ps), David Luke (GCSF), Laura Reid (Hearst Magazines), Diane Romano (HudsonYards & Caps Visual Communications), Howard Weinstein (Candid Litho), and Michelle Weir (HP).