Essen, 30.09.2020 – The Initiative Online Print (IOP) is growing. Four new members were admitted at this year’s IOP autumn meeting at mediaprint solutions in Paderborn. The IOP now has 41 members – the who’s who of the online print industry. Bernd Zipper, old and new, Chairman of the IOP: “Online print in particular has been hit hard by the pandemic. As early as mid-March, many suppliers saw their sales drop overnight – in some cases by up to 80%. Only now is normalisation slowly setting in – but the after-effects of the lockdown are still clearly felt. After many web meetings, the autumn meeting of the IOP is the first occasion for a face-to-face meeting – which with distance and hygiene – was a complete success.”
The new members of the IOP
On 22 and 23 September 2020, IOP member mediaprint solutions GmbH invited us to Paderborn for this year’s autumn meeting. Thanks to the efforts of mediaprint, this meeting was also a complete success under stricter hygiene and protection measures in times of COVID-19.
Dominik Haacke, Managing Director mediaprint solutions GmbH, about the IOP Autumn Conference: “Despite the enormous Corona and hygiene regulations, it was great to meet all our member colleagues in person once again and to exchange ideas about the time before, during and also in the future after Corona. The event was a lot of fun.”
These are the new IOP members:
Cologne-based sourc-e GmbH was also able to win over the IOP members with its know-how and was unanimously accepted. sourc-e offers a platform that digitises the purchase of individual print products and thus makes print calculation possible in seconds. This simplifies processes and makes them more efficient for both printers and buyers. “For us, membership of the IOP is a logical step. This is where the innovators of the industry meet and we are a little proud to have become part of this community,” says Lucas Scherer – Managing Director of sourc-e GmbH.
As a former founding member of the IOP, André Hausmann from Be.Beyond GmbH was able to score points with his renewed presentation to the members’ meeting and was once again warmly welcomed to the IOP. The agency from Willich specialises in web-to-print systems and consulting, web development as well as forms and user interfaces. “You might find it hard to believe, but we are a founding member of the IOP. However, we left the IOP a few years ago because we had a different focus internally and could only contribute a little. After years of building up Be.Beyond – we are now in a position to get involved again – and we would like to do so in the IOP,” says André Hausmann, Managing Director of Be.Beyond GmbH.
Bernecker MediaWare AG, based in Melsungen near Kassel, is a printer, specialist in pharmaceutical printing and publisher at the same time. Managing director Conrad Fischer is looking forward to the coming period as an IOP member: “I have been friends with Bernd Zipper for over 30 years and share a common joy in pioneering entrepreneurial achievements. The IOP is a meeting place for lateral thinkers who have a passion for the medium of print. Developing new things and sharing thoughts is simply fun. We are looking forward to being part of it.”
Wilhelm Soll is, of course, known to all IOP members and was unanimously accepted into the IOP as a management consultant in the field of online print by the IOP general meeting with WAS Consulting.
“Since the beginning of the initiative and the association, I have been part of the IOP as a representative of digital print and PrintPlanet and also a board member with Bernd and Thomas. I have left the operational business of PrintPlanet in 2019, but would like to continue to help shape and organise. That’s why I’m now directly involved – as WAS Consulting – and look forward to continuing the proven team and board work and more great events and topics around online printing,” says Wilhelm Soll.
Board elections
Last but not least: In the board elections, all previous board members, Bernd Zipper, Thomas Masselink and Wilhelm Soll were confirmed and re-elected.
“We are pleased about the confidence in our work as board members, which was expressed by the unanimous re-election. We are happy to contribute our expertise and know-how to the IOP as a team and as individuals,” said board member Thomas Masselink and managing director of QUBUS media GmbH.
Disclaimer: For optical reasons, the mouth and nose protection was removed for the photos. All persons in the respective photos have positioned themselves with masks and disinfected themselves beforehand.