Too many cooks can mix the message

There is something to be said for singing from the same hymn sheet, for speaking with one voice and delivering messages that all can agree on. But this is not happening when the industry addresses the next cohort of students it wants to talk with. First of all there was PrintIT. It sought to engage with kids working on a GCSE design project by showing what print can do. It did not seek to recruit youngsters, merely to give them a taste for the industry. That was supported by Picon but faded away as other priorities took over.

Now we have Young People in Print, since expanded to become Young People in Print and Packaging, which seems unsure, if its latest initiative is followed, whether it is talking to school or college students. Now we have Print Tomorrow, founded by a founder of Young People in Print, since renamed Young People in Print and Packaging. Keep up. It takes a broader view and wants to explain the industry to an older generation of second jobbers as well as school, college or university leavers. Next comes the BPIF which is threatening a Student Engagement community alongside its BPIF Cartons, Books and Labels sections.

This Students in Print initiative is at a formative stage, but has a set of objectives which seem familiar: to promote the industry and careers in it to students, careers advisers and schools to increase the number of apprenticeships. The federation wants to start them young, aiming to spread knowledge to kids from eight to 18+. Like other advocacy groups it will develop resources, create the templates for printers to use, forge links with the schools and so on. Just like these other groups. Meanwhile smart thinking printers are already working with schools, have already brought in apprentices who talk about their interesting job to friends and are filling job gaps. Others are still talking about it.