Shooting out of the collaborative minds or various students, faculty and staff of RIT the Innovation News set out to create an on demand, scalable, cross medium newspaper that displays the news as fast as it is created: “It was made possible by the collaboration of experts across a broad range of disciplines from computer science to systems engineering to visual and verbal story-telling, and demonstrates RIT’s leadership in enabling these kinds of collaborative efforts to solve the complex problems of the future,” Frank Cost, associate dean of the RIT College of Imaging Arts and Sciences. The entire project was developed in response to the call for innovations for the Imagine RIT Festival.

In a joint effort with RIT’s Open Publishing Lab, a cross-disciplinary center that focuses on researching new methods of content creation and developing innovative applications to publish across various media, the Innovation News brought together 25 student photographers and 12 student writers who sent content through open source applications created for news content management in Drupal. The content was sent through a custom made XML import feed that connected Drupal to an InDesign layout. With the help of RIT’s Print Application Lab, Digital Publishing Center, and HUB, using Cannon C1, Xerox 6060, Xerox 7000, Nextpress 2100, and Indigo 5000 printers the newspaper was created in print ready form, free of charge, and actively distributed through the Image RIT Festival. Printing four editions in total, the Innovation News was able, through the quick response of festival attendance, to scale the amount of newspaper being printed to correlate production with circulation.
The photographers in the field were given wireless cameras, generously provided by Nikon, to capture activates occurring in the Imagine RIT Festival. Located in the action was photo faculty member Doug Rea who managed the photos students working with the project; while in the pressroom Gunter Cartwright, an associate professor of photography, and Pulitzer Prize Winner William Snyder of the Dallas Morning News ran 350 images through imaging workflow to make them print and web accessible.
Circulating through the Imagine RIT festival, student journalists reported on activities occurring throughout the day. The students submitted their findings through RIT’s wireless network on personal laptops through a Drupal created account. One student even managed to successfully submitted two stories via an Apple iPhone to contribute to the spirit of the innovation of the festival and give expandability of technology to the Innovation News project spectrum. Overseeing newspaper project as Editor-in-Chief, assistant professor of color imaging and publishing, Michael Riordan along with the help of Myrtle Jones and Christine Adamo edited incoming article and prepared them to be distributed to web and print based production.
Found on the Innovation News website, the team created PDF copies of each printed edition made accessible to the public masses. Attached to the upper right corner of each printed edition, the Innovation News created a QR code that when scanned by a users cell phone would direct them to the Innovation News website, giving access to all reported stories. In keeping with the spirit of innovation presented at the Imagine RIT festival, the Innovation News in alliance with the CollaboRITorium created a GoogleEarth connection where individuals could locate direct story activities as they were being reported on with a virtual 3D map of RIT’s campus. To date this application has successfully only been applied by one other newspaper, the New York Times.

Upon completion, the Innovation News was found to be a remarkable success and RIT hopes to further extend its capabilities for the future endeavors.

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.

If you are a student, faculty member, alumnus, parent, or in any way associated with RIT, then you should be aware of the Imagine RIT festival next week. The much-anticipated festival has been discussed and planned for several months. However, there will be so much activity going on that day, that it is hard to keep track of it all. The festival will take place on Saturday, May 3 from 10:00AM to 4:00PM at several venues all across campus.

RIT has long been acclaimed as an excellent technological and innovative institute of higher learning. RIT has also been known for having a diverse selection of programs ranging from engineering to photography to liberal arts. These programs are divided into colleges, but they may overlap occasionally. The first annual Imagine RIT festival plans to bring together technology and artistic creativity, or in President Bill Destler’s words “a collision of the right brain and the left brain.”

Exhibits at the festival will showcase the work of students, faculty, and staff. Each event falls under themes such as alternative energy, healthy living, interactive activities, and live performances. In all, more than 400 different exhibits and displays will be featured.

One of the main attractions of the Imagine RIT festival will be the Xerox WOW! Center, also known as the Gordon Field House. It will feature many cross-disciplinary exhibits from each of RIT’s eight colleges. One of the projects, entitled “Innovations in Publishing” will include “The Innovation News”, a real-time web and print based newspaper that will be published during the festival. Another activity is a virtual social networking game developed by the Open Publishing Lab.

The festival will be open to the public, and Dr. Destler hopes to attract around 30,000 guests. Imagine RIT will undoubtedly be a great, unforgettable celebration of RIT’s unique creativity and innovation.

Additional information can be found at http://www.rit.edu/imagine/

During a presentation to RIT faculty, staff, and students lead an open discussion on what it means to truly be a green company and the overall benefits that a green company receives from aiding the environment.

While many people picture Green companies as granola eating, Birkenstock wearing, tree huggers they often don’t picture printing companies as fitting the bill. I mean printing companies need paper, paper comes from tress, and cutting down tress hurts the environment right? However, as explained by the Pictorial Offset Corporation the move to Green had environmental impacts but was done almost purely as a business move to increase company revenue.

Pictorial Offset Corporation explained how the company first met its original ISO standard and was the first company in the world to earn duel ISO (International Organization for Standardization) in quality and environmental process control. Pictorial Offset Corporation was also the first commercial printer to offer FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper sheets as an option to its clients. FSC certified paper comes from forests harvested in a sustainable manner and are processed in FSC – certified mills. To date Pictorial Offset Corporation is ISO 14001 certified in doing business in an environmentally sustainable manner and ISO 9001 certified in quality compliance. They are also the first printer in the world to earn The Conservation Fund’s Carbon Neutral status in 2006 for reforestation by planting 5,000 trees in the Edwin B. Forsythe national Wildlife Refuge to offset the company’s carbon emission. Pictorial Offset Corporation was also named a Global Sustainability Trendsetter by The Rainforest Alliance and awarded SmartWood Certification.

Pictorial Offset Corporation has also been an Environment Protect Agency Performance Track Member since 2006 and was the first commercial printer in the world to be certified with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. By reaching these government standards all products printed with Pictorial Offset Corporation have the option of containing various logos that certify any company using them as a printer as a Green friendly company. By doing this Pictorial Offset Corporation was offered a larger clientele base of Green friendly customers and those wishing to become Green friendly.

Now you may be thinking a printing company that is Green friendly must have the ugliest, poorest quality inventory that looks more like shredded wheat then real paper. You would be wrong. During the presentation various job samples created by the company were passed around and not only was the paper quality excellent but the documents themselves were vibrant and eye catching.

For more information on Pictorial Offset Corporation you can visit their website at www.pictirialoffset.com

The lab has been working hard for the past weeks to prepare for the Imagine Festival, their ultimate project. This Thursday they are holding an Open House so students can explore the projects and works the lab is focusing on. Stop by and learn more about the students, professors and projects!

To learn more visit their website: Open Publishing Lab

Community Darkroom’s book Sharper Image was just recently completed and distributed among its contributors in the past weeks. Community Darkroom is an organization through Genesee Center for the Arts and Education, in which inner city students (7th-9th) learn about black and white photography. Wilson Foundation Academy Photo Club hosts the program to allow students to explore the wonders of photography and be apart of a larger project. The students learn how to composite, shoot, and mate photos over sixteen weeks through field trips around the city.

PUB has been working with Community Darkroom for several years now, providing workshops on scanning, InDesign and Photoshop. They show the students how to layout their images and add text. Several PUB members work with the project each year and fulfill the demands of project manager and production manager. Along with offering workshops, PUB also oversees the printing of the book with the help of Xerox. Xerox donates all the press time for the body of the book to be printed. This was the first year the book was created as a case bound book, a large leap for the organization.

The book was given out to all the students and volunteers on April 4 at the award ceremony. Students also received a camera for their participation in the program. The students find the experience extremely awarding and having a positive impact in all aspects. The book reflects the student’s lives and tell a story about each individual one, an aspiring accomplishment. PUB annually contributes to this rewarding program, hoping to bring inspiration to the teenagers’ lives.

The School of Print Media requires their students to complete two semesters (20 weeks) of co-ops to further their education and career. Students are given the chance to work almost anywhere and with any company, but very few experience working on a cruise ship. Our school yearly recruits a few students to work aboard the world famous Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth 2. James Wegner, James Kase and, soon to deport, Crystal Pavlak were able to enjoy this experience and travel the world while pursing their career.

James Kase (4th year New Media Publishing) has cruised the seas, and soon to return, as the Assistant Printer aboard Queen Elizabeth 2, The Most Famous Ocean Liner in the World. Crystal (Graphic Media Student) will soon being on The Queen Elizabeth as well, come fall quarter 2008. James Wegner (3rd year New Media Publishing) is also on the seas as the Chief Printer on the Queen Victoria.

As a freshman I was intrigued by this opportunity and wanted to really see what all it entailed. I personally hope to travel one day and see the world, and I knew this co-op provided that chance. As for Crystal, Wegner and Kase they also shared this desire. Wegner commented, “One of the reasons why I chose to come to RIT was for this co-op. The main attraction for me was not just seeing the world, but also knowing I would be learning priceless life lessons, along with obviously gaining hands on experience in the print field.” Kase added, “It gave me a feeling of accomplishment, knowing that I printed something that would be used the same, or next day.”

The process begins in fall quarter every year. You fill out an application and sign up for an interview. The interview is usually ran by a few staff faculty along with current and/or former Chief Printers for Cunard. They make their decision and hire the best candidates. I asked Crystal how to prepare, and what to expect from the interview, “I think the main thing they are looking for are mature people, with a strong work ethic. The passengers on the ship pay a huge portion of money to be there, and they want to have people working that can handle themselves well. You also have to work everyday under deadlines, so if you don’t work hard, you probably won’t do well.”

As the associate or chief printer, the hours are long and you have complete control and responsibility over the printers. Both Wegner and Kase found these aspects one of their favorite characteristics of the job: “I love the fact that I know that I am in complete control. Not too many places in this world would place this amount of responsibility into such a young persons hands,” Wegner stated. But with work, comes play and not to mention you are aboard a gigantic cruise liner: “You may work 10-12 hours a day. Even though I worked so much, it didn’t seem like it because I was having just as much fun” (Kase). Spending six months on the ship allowed Kase and Wegner to develop many long lasting relationships. Kase spoke out commenting on this aspect, “My other favorite part of the job is the people that you meet. You learn a lot about a people by the way they are instead of the place where they are from. I try to stay in touch with them as often as I can.”

I was curious to find out where both Kase and Wegner have traveled, to me this was one of the most interesting aspects of the co-op. Wegner is currently on the World Cruise and has been to ports in the US, Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia, South Asia, and will be heading back to Europe shortly. Kase has visited Egypt, England, Iceland, Norway, France, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Turkey,and Canada.

Both commented that this experience has taught them more about their selves: “I’ve learned that there is more to the world than Long Island and upstate New York. Getting to know people from other countries is a lot of fun and you learn a lot” (Kase). Wegner added, “Just being away from everything and everyone that you know for 7 months can do that to a person.” Along with creating their own self-identity, both gained valuable time management skills and independent thinking. Kase confirmed, “I learned that you have to schedule your fun around your work. There is time for everything; you just need to make time for it. This also attributed to my work ethic. I work until everything is done, so I can relax as much as possible. The sooner you get the work done, the more time you have to plan what you want to do at the next port.”

“Don’t think twice about it. I think that no matter who you are or where you come from, you stand to gain a lot from this (Wegner). This isn’t one of your usual co-ops. The work you do is seen and used the next day. You do make a difference and make an impact on the place where you work. It’s a lot of hard work at times, but it is definitely worth it for the memories and experience you get from it (Kase).”

To conclude, I think James Wegner sums up the opportunity the best—“This is the experience of a lifetime, and a story that very few are able to tell.”

Thursday, May 10, 2008, PUB sold popcorn in order to raise funds for its upcoming projects and events.

After hearing about GET, I was interested in seeing what the fellowship is about. I attended a brief “meet and greet” session last Wednesday, and liked it enough to come back for a GET game night this week in the SAU. I was met both times with an enthusiastic and welcoming group. Membership Chair Tiffani Williams says that she looks forward to having new members join them.

Gamma Epsilon Tau has several collegiate chapters across the country. The Zeta Chapter of GET was founded at RIT in 1955 and has gone through much change since then, just as the print media industry has. Our Zeta Chapter organizes and participates in many activities both on and off campus, such as the Adopt-a-Highway program. The largest GET event is the annual Alumni Pig Roast in the spring. The event features food, drinks, and fun, and will take place on April 26 this year at Stewart Lodge at Mendon Ponds Park.

GET has a rich history here at RIT, and you can continue the tradition as a brother or sister!