11th Annual Treadaway Print Leadership Forum

April 10, 2016

11th annual Treadaway Forum, Spring 2016.

Written by Paige Reckert

Last week, we had the pleasure of attending the 11th Annual Treadaway Print Leadership Forum followed by the 2016 Honors & Awards Banquet. What a wonderful opportunity it was.

At the Treadaway Leadership Forum, students within the Department of Graphic Communications were encouraged to attend one of three sessions as upwards of 200 students, faculty and industry professionals gathered at the Self Auditorium at the Stropm Thurmond Institute on Clemson University’s campus. A total of four speakers were on hand to present at this year’s Forum. The first to take the stage were two young entrepreneurs, Mr. Charles Frank and Mr. Andrew Hutcheson. Charles and Andrew are the founding members of a filmmaking collective called, Voyager Studios located in Brooklyn, New York. They specialize in documentary work and short form storytelling. What a treat it was to have these two young entrepreneurs speak to our students, faculty and industry gusts about what it takes to be exceptional.

Following Charles and Frank was Mr. Eric Ferguson, North American Business Development Manager for DataLase. His experience includes working as a packaging professional for over 16 years with experience in consumer goods packaging. Mr. Ferguson has also worked at HAVI Global Solutions, MacDermid and Esko. Eric has an abundance of knowledge in production workflows for graphics, and identification of business objectives that align with quality and efficiency improvements.

Lastly, Mr. Bill Ruddy of CCL Label took that stage. At CCL, Mr. Ruddy is the Vice President of the Global Supply Chain. His company is known to be the largest label printer in the world! He has had over 30 years of experience within this industry and loves continuous personal development.

From an undergraduate’s point of view, I felt it was insightful to hear what all four of our guest speakers had to share at the Treadaway Forum last week. They’re all highly involved in our industry and it was neat to hear from them about their past experiences.

Following the Treadaway forum, the annual Graphic Communications Honors & Awards Banquet took place at the Madren Conference Center. The night was dedicated to a wonderful man, Mr. Pat Rose, who has worked within our program for many years. Mr. Rose is one of the smartest men I’ve ever met. I think he may even be smarter than my own MAC operating system. He knows how to fix ANYTHING. I’m very thankful for his time here at Clemson and am happy I was able to take one of his courses!

Many received awards and recognition throughout the night for artwork that was submitted to (PICA) The Print Industry of the Carolinas, along with outstanding academic performances from Graphics students, corporate recognitions–and even faculty awards.

Overall, 2015-16 was a great year within the Clemson Department of Graphic Communications. We can’t wait to see what is in store for 2016-17!