Late last year, LIA Victoria held its first in-person gathering in several years to mark the reinvigoration of the Victorian chapter of the association and present the Victorian LIA Heidelberg Graduate of the Year Awards for 2020 and 2021.
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| (l-r) Lindsay Banks (LIA) with Mangaljit Singh, Nick Monshing, Matilda Milligan (2020 award winner), Jake Lovell, Corné Mostert (2021 award winner) and Robert Black (LIA). |
Corné Mostert from Norwood Industries in Hallam took out the 2021 Award, from a field which also included Jake Lovell from Willprint in Shepparton and Nick Monshing from North East Media in Wangaratta.
The 2020 Graduate of the Year was presented to Matilda Milligan from Fildes. The other 2020 finalists were Jessica Daniels from Nathalia Printers, and Amel Bilali and Mangaljit Singh, both from Amcor Flexibles in Preston.
Supported by Heidelberg Australia and Visual Connections, the Graduate Awards were held at Fujifilm Business Innovation in Richmond, and saw some 30 guests travel from around the state to attend the presentations and enjoy a technical briefing from Brett Maishman, the company’s National Sales Manager - Channel Production.
Maishman, a former LIA Heidelberg Australia Graduate of the Year himself, took a group of some 30 industry personnel on a tour of the company’s showroom, explaining technologies including the new RevoriaTM PC1120 digital production press.
“It was fantastic to welcome visitors to our showroom again to see and discuss the developments which have happened over the past couple of years, before celebrating with some of the industry’s most impressive new talent,” Maishman said, emphasising that winning the Award had made an ‘invaluable’ contribution to his own career.
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| Brett Maishman explains latest Fujifilm innovations to LIA Victoria visitors |
The technical session was followed by a networking event at which the 2020 and 2021 LIA Heidelberg Australia Graduate of the Year Awards were presented by LIA Victoria president, Robert Black and committee member Lindsay Banks.
Black, whose own career has focused heavily on training and career development, said Matilda and Corné demonstrated impressive achievements over the course of their training and outstanding potential as a future industry leaders.
“The candidates for both the 2020 and 2021 Awards were enormously impressive, making determining the winners a difficult task. We sincerely congratulate our winners and also applaud all the finalists for their commitment, achievements and exemplary conduct throughout the judging process.”
LIA Victoria President, Robert Black, whose involvement in the industry has focused on training and career development, said the Awards set the LIA apart from other industry associations.
“One of our key pillars at the LIA is that strong focus on recognising individual achievement and providing opportunities for career development,” Black said. “It’s a huge privilege to lead the LIA committee here in Victoria and to be able to recognise and reward the achievements of the next generation of industry’s leaders.”
With the Victorian chapter now well and truly back in business, Black encouraged all people in print from designers and creatives, to those involved in all aspects of print production – whether digital or wide-format, lithographic, flexo, textile or any other method – as well as sales people, engineers, technicians and admin support staff, to join the LIA for 2022.
“The LIA has always welcomed membership of anyone and everyone involved in our dynamic and exciting industry to connect with other people involved in print, share ideas, learn from our technical sessions and, of course, to enjoy the full range of events and initiatives we look forward to running in 2022 and beyond.”
To find out more about LIA Victoria and view the calendar of up-coming events, go to https://lia.com.au/states/victoria/ or to enquire about membership, contact vic@lia.com.au
