Chicago, September 18, 2007 - Affinity Express Inc., the leading provider of outsourced graphic and design services for the newspaper, direct mail, commercial printing, retail/quick printing and promotional products industries, announced the appointment of Kristen S. Meidell as operations manager and Michael T. (Mick) Berryman as project manager.  Both bring extensive newspaper industry experience to the Affinity Express Media Division, which is dedicated to providing ad production services to newspapers and direct mail companies.  In these roles, Ms. Meidell and Mr. Berryman will report to Senior Vice President of Operations Michael Santamaria.
Ms. Meidell is charged with managing a team of supervisors and graphic designers who support a multi-million dollar ad creation and prepress project.  She is responsible for the overall production performance of the onsite and offsite teams, as well as ensuring ongoing client satisfaction, continuous quality improvement and proactive communication.
Mr. Berryman will manage the implementation of ad production services for new clients, including requirements gathering, documentation and reporting.  He will also hire new supervisors and other team members, provide technical support and training to designers and interface with clients.
According to Mr. Santamaria, “The industry is in a state of flux and reviewing options for ad production is a priority at this time for a high percentage of publishers, ranging from major groups to small community newspapers.  With the leadership and expertise of Kristin and Mick, Affinity Express will be able to continue delivering top-notch quality to existing clients as we build relationships and lead others through an examination of outsourcing for ad production.”
David McTarnaghan, president of the Affinity Express Media Division, noted:  “As a pioneer in this field, it is critical that our processes, methodology and response mechanisms set the standards.  That is why we’ve made significant investments in technology, processes and people—hiring only the best with the strongest backgrounds.  I’m confident that Kristin and Mick will compliment our existing team and we are all excited to welcome them to Affinity Express.”
Ms. Meidell is an executive with over 20 years experience in prepress and general management for newspaper and commercial printing environments.  Previously, she was vice president of prepress for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, where she selected and installed various advertising/prepress systems such as CTP conversion, ad management, online proofing and electronic tear-sheets.  Prior to that, she was general manager for Lithographic Communications, LLC.  In this role, she had responsibility for running daily operations, purchasing of new technology and restructuring to utilize CTP technology.  She also established the prepress department as a commercial service bureau.  Ms. Meidell spent 14 years as prepress manager for Midwest Suburban Publishing Co.  Among many other notable accomplishments, she transitioned the prepress departments of several newspapers into a single prepress department utilizing state-of-the-art technology and yielding annual savings of more than $1.5 million.
Prior to joining Affinity Express, Mr. Berryman was a facility manager for American Color.  His duties included overseeing the ad service and color departments, the electronic file delivery desk, creative close and downtown proof on demand, in addition to leading the quality leadership team.  He joined the company when his former employer, the Houston Chronicle, outsourced its service department.  At the newspaper, Mr. Berryman was the service department manager and handled over $350 million in advertising per year.  He achieved this status after 21 years with the publisher, during which time he was promoted numerous times and credited with significant improvements to quality and productivity through system upgrades, new technology purchases and troubleshooting.