Graphic Media Alliance

09/20/2023

The 2023 PEA Grand Ceremony Was a Huge Success!

At 6:00 pm, our attendees were invited to ascend the elevator to the glass atrium, the Revery, atop the Smith Bros' Hardware building in downtown Columbus. Once in The Revery, they were greeted with amazing views of the sunset, delicious appetizers and drink tickets while James Pyle serenaded all attendees. While guests mingled with familiar faces, they also took their turn at voting on the 2023 People's Choice Awards while looking over the Print Excellence Awards Best of Category Winners.

After calling everyone to their seats to start on their salads Christian Weekley, Chair of GMA Board of Director's, welcomed everyone and the staff at Milo's Catering began to serve the delicious plated dinner of steak and chicken.

Once everyone was finishing their meals, Andrew Schall, President of GMA, took the stage to thank everyone for coming and to thank all of our generous sponsors who helped make this event so successful. He then turned the microphone over to GMA Business Development Director Karen Robinson, who proceeded to announce the Best of Category Winners, Judges Awards, Rising Star Awards and People's Choice Awards. After congratulating everyone and allowing winners to pose for pictures, Karen gave the stage back to Andrew who announced the winners of the coveted Best of Show Awards. Once everyone had their trophies in hand, we kicked off the after party with James playing some of his greatest hits. It truly was a perfect evening!

Check out the photos from the Grand Ceremony

Congratulations to our 24 members who won the 36 Best of Category Awards! They include: Allied Bindery, L.L.C., ArborOakland Group, Arnold, Freeport Press Inc., Graphic Village, HKM Direct Market Communications, Inc., Hopkins Printing, H.O.T. Graphics, Inland Press, Identity Systems, INNOMARK Communications, Master Printing & Mailing, Metzgers, Model Graphics & Media Inc., Olberding Brand Family, Print Bind Ship, Robin Enterprises Co., Sheridan Ohio, Sonoco Metal Packaging, Source3Media, Student Graphic Design of Eastland Career Center, Tap Packaging + Design, Think Patented, and West-Camp Press, Inc.

The judges for this year’s print contest included our long-time judge Jeff Ekstein from Toronto, Canada, whom Print Action Magazine named as one of the Top 20 Most Influential Printers. Jeff has judged for us the past six years and has been judging national awards for over 15 years. Joining us this year was Greg Jovanovic, the Pressroom/Digital Press Manager of ColorArt in Eureka, Missouri. Greg is a 3rd generation printer who has worked in the printing industry since 1991. Together, the judges combined their extensive backgrounds in print production and quality to provide expert level judging for our contest.

Jeff and Greg were asked to choose their personal favorite pieces from the Gold Award winners. 

Jeff Ekstein chose as his personal favorite Graphic Village's entry in the category of Digital Printing for The Future Looks Wild booklet. 

Greg Jovanovic selected Hopkins Printing's Corporate Communications entry titled 2022-2023 Admissions View Book as his favorite. 

The Rising Star award is given to a new participant in the Print Excellence Awards. Excelling in your first competition is a special achievement, especially this year. We had a LOT of first time participants, so the Rising Star was extremely competitive this year. 

The winner of the 2023 Rising Star Award is Print Bind Ship for their entry Visualizing Corktown in the category of Books - Other Than Hardbound - Larger than 6" x 9".

The People's Choice Award is the only award presented that was not decided on by our judges. Attendees of the Grand Ceremony voted to name Hopkins Printing and their JobsOhio 2021 Annual Report Strategic Plan entry as this year's recipient. 

The Best of Show Awards honor printed pieces that have worked their way to the top of a rigorous competition. These awards are selected from the winners of the Best of Category Awards and the Best of Region awards that are chosen during the Print Week celebrations at the beginning of the year. Best of Show Awards are presented in four divisions, based on number of employees. 

The Best of Show winner in the 20 employees or fewer division, is Master Printing & Mailing for their Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows entry.

The Best of Show winner in the 21 to 50 employees division is H.O.T. Graphics who won for their Hillsdale Academy Brochure.

The Best of Show winner in the 51 to 100 employees division is Print Bind Ship for their Visualizing Corktown Entry.

The Best of Show winner in the 101 and above employees division for goes to Graphic Village for their President's "Power of Vision" Brochure.

As always, we want to make sure to thank our sponsors and volunteers. We could not have hosted such a wonderful event without your help!