Admittedly, I haven’t worked at NAPCO Media for very long, with my five-year anniversary coming next week. But over the course of five years, I’ve been consistently amazed at how many opportunities there have been to beam with pride over the initiatives we’ve taken to better serve this rapidly evolving industry.
Back in 2015, we launched the Digital Packaging Summit, bringing together a community of printers and suppliers set on blazing new trails in the packaging world. Just a year ago, we ventured into research, and now have published multiple reports, providing our readers with in-depth looks into industry trends. And of course, we’re all excited for PRINTING United, a groundbreaking event coming in October that we’ve developed in partnership with SGIA.
But for me, the upcoming release of our May/June magazine symbolizes the most exciting initiative of all. The decision to rebrand packagePRINTING as Packaging Impressions, was not taken lightly, but in the end, it just felt right. Not only does it align us better with our sister publications serving the printing industry (Printing Impressions, In-plant Impressions, and Wide-Format Impressions), it gives us a platform to extend our content beyond printing, into additional packaging topics like design, brand and consumer trends, sustainability, and beyond.
Now, just because we’re expanding our focus, it does not mean we’re losing sight of our history. The focus of this publication will still be to serve package printers and converters, providing them with the news and insights they need to stay informed and at the forefront of the industry. But through our own research, data collection and polling, we’ve found that to best accomplish that mission, we needed to expand our scope.
The cliché says the only constant in life is change. Over the past several years, we’ve reported on just how rapidly this industry is changing and that for printers and converters to stay successful, they have to adapt. For us at Packaging Impressions, it was time to practice what we’ve been preaching and change with the times as well. We look forward to continuing to serve you as best we can, and of course, please feel free to contact us with story ideas, news tips, or any interesting trends you’re seeing.
Here’s to the next chapter!
Cory Francer is an Analyst with NAPCO Research, where he leads the team’s coverage of the dynamic and growing packaging market. Cory also is the former editor-in-chief of Packaging Impressions and is still an active contributor to its print magazines, blogs, and events. With a decade of experience as a professional journalist and editor, Cory brings an eye for storytelling to his packaging research, providing compelling insight into the industry's most pressing business issues. He is an active participant in many of the industry's associations and has played an essential role in the development of the annual Digital Packaging Summit. Cory can be reached at cfrancer@napco.com