Take a group of printing industry personalities, mix with a new venue, sprinkle a little Julia Morris over the top and you have a recipe for a great night out - the hallmark of the 2011 Employers Mutual Printing Industries Craftsmanship Awards presentation dinner held on Friday 11 November.

Almost 400 people attended the Grand Ballroom of the Sofitel Wentworth Sydney to enjoy a night with the printing industry's finest. Even the NSW Premier was represented by the NSW Minister for Fair Trading, the Hon. Anthony Roberts MP.

A total of 39 gold, 44 silver and 34 bronze awards were made. In addition a record 47 companies achieved Long Term Membership awards for 10, 25 and 50 years continuous membership.

The night featured a mixture of some well known entrants doing well and some newcomers coming to the fore. Offset Alpine scooped the pool winning 25 awards including 10 gold, four silver and seven bronze medals in the print awards categories and in the Business Excellence categories three gold and one silver award.

Their success was enough to see them achieve the NSW Printer of the Year award for the second successive year. First time entrants Fairfax Regional Printers in Dubbo took out the gold for OH&S in the small business Occupational Health and Safety Initiatives category and another first timer, Ulladulla Printing Service, snapped up the silver Environmental Initiatives award for small business and TAFEDA the Gold medal for Embellishment.

Printing Industries CEO Bill Healey said he believed the NSW printing industry had again demonstrated industry resilience in difficult times.

"In spite of difficult trading conditions and the loss of companies to our industry during the past 12 months, PICA attracted entries from a greater number of companies this year, although the actual number of entries fell marginally on last year's figure from 359 to 344." he said.

"This underscores the value of achieving a PICA medal at any level as acknowledgement of production product quality and as a point of difference in a very competitive marketplace.

"I was very impressed with the night. It was a tribute to Sydney staff who put it together."

Mr Healey also commended MC Julia Morris for her management of the presentations and her very natural interaction with award recipients and the audience overall.

"Our new venue was great, the organisation was great, Julia was great and my feedback thus far is that people had a great time, so I'm happy." he said. Thanks for joining us in celebrating the craftsmanship and achievements of our industry on this night of nights, by submitting your best work for one or more of this year's award categories.

Remember, all gold winners from each category are entered into the National Print Awards which is now a best-of-the-best competition. This is the only way companies can enter the NPA.