The pictures in the SEANG montage give some indication of what a convivial affair, the inaugural meeting of the new South East Asia Newspapers Group was.
It was my priivilege to be invited, along with a handful of other representatives of the industry in Australia. And yes, we ate a lot in sumptuous venues, drank beer from the local German brewery ... and talked about newspaper production.
Stephan Peters, whose ‘baby’ the project was, not only drove the success of the occasion – organising and cajoling local and regional vendors, and delegates – but was my host for some of the days between the IfraExpo and the SEANG gathering. It was a memorable stay, including the elephants (and jawdropping prices) in the ’burbs, the restaurant we never quite got to because the river was already in the car park ... and the boundless enthusiasm of my host and his Thai wife Nichanan.
When I got home, I read of political unrest and, as GXpress was going to press, protestors blocking the vast new airport (not the one the prime minister had already relocated his offices to!)
No doubt if I had read the warnings, I would have been advised not to travel there, but the reality I encountered in this country of kind and gentle people, was somewhat different to the one I read about.
The trip to IfraExpo and then across to Hoekstra Boom in Emeloord put me back into contact with Peter Selby, the Goss (and previously Creusot-Loire) sales representative with whom I had worked on projects for the family publishing business I helped run in the UK.
On the 100 km bus trip to the Goss FPS site, we reminisced about when Selby and I visited single-width Gazette sites including the ‘International Herald-Tribune’ in Paris, a book printer in Maury, and presses Milan and Bologna (yes, where the pasta sauce comes from). Each connecting train or flight seemed to have been caught by a narrower margin.
It fell to Selby to talk his way through a move to Goss and then his new employer’s acquisition of the remains of a bankrupt Creusot-Loire press division, now the base of Goss’s Nantes assembly plant. For myself ... I bought another Community.
Selby incidentally, has a special interest in the Hoekstra Boom site, having closed the deal on both their double-width Creusot-Loire Visa and Goss Universal presses, and warmed the pan for the FPS sale before taking on another area.
Elsewhere at the show, I called on Peter Tkachuk of Baldwin’s Sydney office, just as he was having his own ‘blast from the past’ moment. Visiting his stand was Fujifilm newspaper business development manager John Marriott who – as a a Herts County league referee – scored the rare distinction of sending Tkachuk off when he was a promising Sandridge Rovers footballer.
A ‘special edition’ of Tasmania’s ‘Huon Valley News’ marked managing editor Maureen Oates’ 40 years with the company, now part of the same group as the Yeates family’s ‘Bairnsdale Advertiser’.
Oates, who joined the newspaper straight from Grade 10 in November 1967, was lauded by 40 guests at function in new press room, hosted by managing director Bob Yeates. Among them was recently-resigned premier Paul Lennon.
The special issue – printed on the recently-upgraded Goss Community – was produced during the evening, and featured pictures of guests.
Steve Packham (yes, of the pear family) has put together an impressive presentation on the subject of perceptions, which he uses in his role as DIC Australia’s web technical services manager, to show that printed colours are not always seem.
He was in action again at the inaugural SEANG meeting in Bangkok ... 100 thought-provoking slides (and videos) in half as many minutes. Later, as we waited for our respective flights at the new international airport, conversation turned to passions for music ... mine for roots and country, his preference for techno sounds.
“I’d never have picked you for a country music fan,” he remarked.
And we agreed it was all about perceptions – the popular idea that it’s all bootscooting and Slim Dusty ... and a reality which includes the likes of Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin and local talent Kasey Chambers.
Griffin has been back to Australia a couple of times recently, convinced by sellout concerts that Australian audiences were much more receptive than she expected. That also says something about perceptions.
Incidentally Williams – who was Chambers’ inspiration – is finally expected back in Australia for Byron Bay’s Easter blues and roots event having being frightened off after 9/11. She may also change some ideas about the genre.
Believing in the opportunity, rather than the threat, we’ve tried to be upbeat about present economic uncertainties while other – including sadly, some regular advertisers – have taken a more pessimistic view.
As we go to press, the OECD reckons Australia will be one of a very few countries to avoid a recission and Katie Paige (Gerry Harvey’s missus) is saying Christmas trading will be “OK”.
As if to reinforce the point, ‘the [Sydney] magazine’ in the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’ is a thumping 148 pages, plus a four-page Qantas supplement on stock which must be upwards of 130 gsm.
At least somebody’s got the message!
