February 3, 2016
It was standing-room only for Michigan State and other visiting packaging and graphic design students in the teleconference broadcast auditorium. An additional 15–19 campuses and more than 300 students participate remotely each year in the two-hour interactive ICPF broadcast.
This February, ICPF will conduct its 17th annual live Careers in Corrugated Packaging & Displays Teleconference. An estimated 400–500 packaging, graphic design, marketing and sales, supply chain management, business, and other students and faculty from 17 colleges and universities are expected to participate. This event is not a webcast, but a live video conference utilizing professional WKAR TV personnel and TV broadcast equipment in the public television studios for two-way interactivity. Campuses that are planning to participate in this year’s teleconference include Appalachian State University, Bowling Green State University, California Polytechnic State University–Graphic Communications & Packaging, Clemson University–Graphic Communications & Packaging, Dunwoody College of Technology, Indiana State University, Illinois State University, Lewis-Clark State College, Michigan State University, Millersville University, North Carolina A & T University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, University of Florida, University of Texas–Arlington, University of Wisconsin–Stout, and Virginia Tech.
The topic, “The Business of Corrugated Packaging & Display,” will be addressed by Billy Medof (president of Corrugated Packaging at Georgia Pacific) and Guy Sanders (vice president of packaging at Smurfit Kappa Bates). Co-moderators will include Maggie McGuire (Illinois State) and Sarah Niezabytowski (MSU), who served as student interns in the corrugated packaging industry this past summer and participated this past February in ICPF’s Student Dialogue Dinner and Teleconference. The co-moderators acquired their
student internships through ICPF. The panel presentation will be followed by a round of live questions remotely directed to the panelists from each of the participating campuses.
The two-hour teleconference grand finale will include ICPF’s annual “Best of the Best” student design presentation competition. Three student teams from UT–A and University of Wisconsin–Stout that earlier placed in AICC’s 2015 design competition will be tasked to show, tell, and sell their winning entries by explaining the objective, the research conducted, design, and other background information. The student teams will be competing for cash prizes.
Richard M. Flaherty is president of the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation. Flaherty can be reached at 703-549-8580 or rflaherty@icpfbox.org. For more information about the International Corrugated Packaging Foundation visit www.careersincorrugated.org.
