Creativity

March 30, 2017

Creativity [kree-ay-tiv-i-tee]—the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.

This issue of BoxScore is dedicated to the theme of “Value Added,” and while it is very broad on the surface, I appreciate how it fits into yet another pillar of my company’s success—namely, CREATIVITY.

We certainly do not have the corner on the creativity market, as evidenced by the amazing designs that are consistently entered into AICC’s design competitions or the incredible innovations that many of our associate members put out year after year.

However, we at Lawrence Paper Company’s American Packaging Division developed a deeper meaning of creativity. Namely:

“The spirited exploration of intelligent results that WOW!”

This speaks not only to developing great packaging designs, but also to how everyone within the company is encouraged and empowered to troubleshoot circumstances that ultimately result in happy customers. In addition, we strive to find opportunities where we may creatively add to the customer’s experience so that they ultimately feel good about doing business with us.

As independents, we are constantly challenged to differentiate ourselves from the status quo. In fact, many of us can pin our success on providing creative solutions to “what they have always done.” For us, much of this wisdom has been gained through our involvement with AICC and its many networking opportunities, where we may learn from general and associate members alike.

Time is definitely flying, and it is hard to imagine that it has been over four months since I assumed the role as your Chair. Since then, I have had the extreme pleasure of meeting some of you at various events, such as Region Four’s Digital Symposium in the Dallas area, the amazing ICPF New York event, as well as the West Coast Ski Meeting. I certainly look forward to the meetings that are forthcoming—not the least of which is the Spring Meeting in Austin, Texas. This meeting is certainly packed not only with content, but also with plenty of networking opportunities, and I sincerely hope to see you there and learn about your creativity!