Recently, ten students from the RIT chapter of the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) represented and competed at the 60th annual TAGA Conference. The event was held in San Francisco, California from March 16th-19th, 2008.

The conference gives RIT chapter members a great opportunity to network with industry professionals and a chance to view the projects that students from other schools have been working on. They also attended keynote speeches and tutorials about new technology in the graphic arts industry.

Each year, the RIT chapter competes against other student TAGA chapters by publishing their own journal. The journal is comprised of technical research papers written by students that are about issues relevant to the graphics industry. This year’s publication received the excellence in publication design award, the attendee’s choice award, and the Dusty Rhodes Graduate Paper award.

Being a teacher at RIT takes you to interesting places, like the 2008 Columbia Scholastic Press Association Conference in New York City! Last week, Michael Riordan and I (Matt Bernius), headed down to Columbia University to talk with high school students and their advisors about the production of Yearbooks, Student Newspapers, and Literary Magazines.

Columbia University has an amazing campus. Above is a picture of their famed Graduate School of Journalism, which awards the annual Pulitzer Prize. What a perfect location to bring together students from across the country who are excited about publishing in all its forms! While we were there, we gave lectures on color management, solving common printing problems, and how to easily create an online component to your print publication.

Most importantly, we got the chance to meet with a lot of really creative and enthusiastic students and advisors, like this group from Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville Maryland (they produce a terrific literary magazine). Not only did we answer questions and help solve problems, but we also shared information about some possible careers in publishing (and hopefully got them interested in the programs here at RIT).

p.s. If anyone from the conference is reading this, be sure to visit our page about our Summer Publishing Program for High School Students (remember there are scholarships available). Also check out the page on our site where we’ll post our presentations and answers to common publication problems.

p.s.s.  You don’t need to have been to the conference to visit those links. ;-)

This weekend, students from our chapter of the Technical Association of the Graphic Arts (TAGA) are heading out to represent RIT at the 60th Annual TAGA national conference. While hanging out at the convention center on San Francisco’s famed Fisherman’s Wharf, they’ll attend technical panels, network with industry professionals, and, most importantly, participate in the annual Student Journal Competition.

Every year, each student TAGA chapter creates a book of research papers written by undergraduate and graduate students concerning technical aspects of the graphic arts industry. The books are judged for the quality of their content and the creativity of their design. While the final version of RIT’s book is still “under wraps,” here’s an SPMETC exclusive sneak peek of this year’s journal:

Good luck, guys!

Twenty graduate and undergraduate students were fortunate enough to attend the annual School of Print Media’s Alumni Social this month in New York City. Not only were students able to sit and speak with alumni both young and old, but they were also given the opportunity to see some amazing facilities (Pantone and Time, Inc.). They listened to a short presentation by Howard Kaneff, former CEO of Arkay Packaging, and were able to network with representatives from companies of the likes of Vertis, Inc., The New York Times, The New York Post, and One Source Printing.