May 29, 2002 -- Westmont, Illinois -- PowerPrinters, the MAN Roland press users group that was launched in North America earlier this year, has attracted nearly 400 registered members and is accelerating its activities. The group recently held its fifth training course, hosting pressroom crews from mega printer St Ives, and it assembled and sponsored a team in a recent ice hockey tournament held in Brampton, Ontario. "PowerPrinters is more than your traditional user group," notes Christian Cerfontaine, Director of Marketing at MAN Roland. "We want to partner with our members on a variety of levels, and that includes social gatherings like the hockey team, as well as advanced training." Cerfontaine says of his 400 members, 10 % are from the west, 16% from the south, 23% from in the east and central regions, and 28% are from Canada. "That's why we decided to sponsor the Canadians with a PowerPrinters hockey team," he explains. The team recently battled 11 other graphic arts-based squads in the 4th Annual Heidelberg Charity Hockey Tournament. In its first three games, the PowerPrinters were victorious against teams from Media Vision, Coast Paper and PrintAction, propelling them into the finals. The hard-fought championship round resulted in a team from Advertek placing first and the PowerPrinters taking second place in the overall tournament. The PowerPrinters’ skating stars, their affiliation and their performance are listed here: Dallas Beam Ellis Packaging 5 goals Curtis Green Quality Offset Printers 1 goal John Daponte MAN Roland 1 goal John Baldi Ellis Packaging strong defense Marty Cauchon Candz Print 3 goals Peter Zaharias Candz Print 3 goals Victor Choquette Delta Printing great defender Mike Way Delta Printing 2 goals Eric Brussels Somerville Packaging shot stopper John Blasko Goalie Al Quinn Delta Printing 1 goal Joe Maley Candz Printing 4 goals The PowerPrinters training course is a week-long offering that delves into the special automated features of MAN Roland presses. The hands-on classes are conducted at MAN Roland’s Graphic/Training Center, outside of Chicago, on the latest equipment with focus on the PECOM press operating and networking system. "The idea is that a certified PowerPrinter will be able to make full use of all the technological advances we built into our presses," Cerfontaine explains. "We bring them to our Graphic/Training Center to immerse them in that technology."