By Patrick Henry March 10, 2005 -- Five leading lights of printing, publishing, advertising, technology, and volunteer leadership have been selected to receive "Power of Communication" awards at the Franklin Event of the Association of Graphic Communications (AGC) on May 24. To honored in the printing category is Roy Grossman, president and CEO, Sandy Alexander Inc.; in publishing, Kevin Mullan, senior vice president, manufacturing, production and distribution, Primedia; in advertising, Eve Asbury, executive vice president/director print and digital production, Saatchi & Saatchi; in technology, Benzion (Benny) Landa, strategic advisor to the CEO and member of strategic technology advisory board, Hewlett-Packard Co.; and in the new category of special achievement, Edward Saturn, vice president, sales, Seven Worldwide. AGC announced the names of the honorees at a March 1 reception hosted by Xerox at its Park Avenue learning center in Manhattan. The May 24 Franklin event—the largest affair of its kind in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region represented by AGC—will take place in The Lighthouse at Chelsea Pier on the Hudson River waterfront. “Passion” Personified Presented annually by AGC for more than 50 years, the Franklin Event celebrates exceptional professional accomplishment by members and friends of the association, which is the largest affiliate of Printing Industries of America in the Northeast. Introducing the 2005 Power of Communication recipients, AGC chairman Diane Romano (Seven Worldwide) said that they “exemplify a passion for educating, leading, training, and setting an example for our industry.” Four of the five were on hand for the announcement at Xerox. (Biographies of all of the recipients follow.) Formal bestowal of the awards will highlight the 53rd edition of the Franklin Event, which has the earned the support of nearly two dozen corporate sponsors to date and is expected to draw a standing-room-only attendance. Its planning and execution are the work of an AGC committee co-chaired by Joseph Brocato (Sandy Alexander), Gary Dolgins (Citiplate), and Gary Marron (Agfa). Platinum sponsors are Agfa, C&B Consulting, Creo, FLM Graphics, H.A. Metzger Co., Heidelberg USA Inc., Hewlett-Packard, Ink Systems, International Paper, Kodak Polychrome Graphics, L. P. Thebault Company, Pantone, Pictorial Offset , Pitman, Sandy Alexander, Seven Worldwide, Superior Printing Ink Co., TanaSeybert, UNIMAC Graphics, and Xerox Corp. Sponsors at the Gold level include American Color, Citiplate, and Utica National Insurance Co. For information about attending or sponsoring AGC’s 53rd Annual Franklin Event, contact Vicki Keenan, executive vice president of AGC, at (212) 279-2100, X108, or e-mail [email protected]. Biographical sketches Roy Grossman (Power of Communication Award for Printing) is the president and CEO of Sandy Alexander, Inc., the country’s largest independently held, high end commercial printing company. He began his professional career in 1974 with Procter and Gamble Co. after graduating with a BA degree from Bucknell University. From 1977 to 1991 Grossman served as vice chairman of Laurel Printing. In 1991, he joined Sandy Alexander as a managing director. Grossman serves on the executive board of the Print Council, an industry initiative to promote the greater use of print. He is a former director and past chairman of AGC and the recipient of the 2002 Florence B. & Leo H. Joachim Award for outstanding contribution to the printing industry. Kevin Mullan (Power of Communication Award for Publishing) is vice president of manufacturing, production and distribution at Primedia, a leading print and Internet publishing company. He entered the field at Wenner Media where, as director of magazine manufacturing and production, he supervised the launch of Men’s Journal and Family Life and oversaw the operations of Rolling Stone and Us. His six years as vice president, manufacturing and production for Disney Publishing saw him in charge of production of the unit's four monthly titles as well as its juvenile and trade book publishing groups. At Disney, he also directed the launch of ESPN the Magazine. Mullan, who became Primedia’s top production executive in 2001, oversees all manufacturing and distribution operations for the company’s 120 titles. Eve Asbury (Power of Communication Award for Advertising) has spearheaded many technology initiatives at Saatchi & Saatchi since she joined the organization in 1997. As executive vice president/director print and digital production for the global advertising firm, she has helped to pioneer the adoption of soft proofing, digital asset management, digital distribution of advertising, and other aspects of integrated electronic workflow. Born in England, she began her graphic arts career as a data analyst for a manufacturer of production systems. In 1983, she moved to South Africa where she worked for Linotype-Hell and other prepress companies. Arriving in the U.S. in 1992, Asbury worked for several years as a publishing consultant before joining Saatchi & Saatchi. Her extensive record of industry service includes membership in the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Seybold Advisory Board, Specifications for Web Offset Publications (SWOP), IDEAlliance, and the board of New York University’s Center for Graphic Communications Management and Technology. She is a regular contributor to trade and professional magazines, a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and the holder of many awards including the 2000 Luminaire Award from Women in Production. Asbury also is an inductee into the Advertising Hall of Fame (1998). Benzion (Benny) Landa (Power of Communication Award for Innovation & Technology) currently is strategic advisor to the CEO and a member of the strategic technology advisory board, Hewlett-Packard Co. He is the founder and former chairman and CEO of the Israeli company Indigo, developer of the world’s first digital offset color printing press. Indigo was acquired by HP in 2002. The holder of more than 500 patents worldwide, including over 150 in the U.S., Landa is the industry’s, as well as Israel’s, most prolific inventor. His numerous honors include the Edwin H. Land Medal, awarded by the Optical Society of America and the Society of Imaging Science and Technology; the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation’s Robert F. Reed Technology Medal; and the Gold Medal of the Institute of Printing, which has said that Landa’s work represents “the most significant technological innovations in our industry since the development of offset printing more than 100 years ago.” He has also received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Ben Gurion University. Edward Saturn vice president of sales, Seven Worldwide (Special AGC Award for Industry Achievement) will become the first person to be recognized by AGC “for professional achievement and generous contribution of commitment and knowledge to our Association and the industry it represents.” Saturn entered the field at Benton & Bowles Advertising in 1975 as a producer of ad campaigns and large commercial print projects. He moved to Rogers Graphics in 1979 as a sales representative and went to Quality House of Graphics three years later, becoming vice president and sales manager soon after his arrival. In 1999 Saturn accepted his present position with Seven Worldwide, where he supervises the production of high profile campaigns for advertising agencies. Dedicated to voluntary service on the industry’s behalf, he has served as the Chairman of the Board of AGC and as a member of the Board of Directors of PIA. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Advertising Production Club of New York and on the Joseph Sisti Memorial Bill Coughlin Scholarship Fund Committee, which awards academic scholarships to college students pursuing studies in graphic communications. He is also co-chair of the AGC Graphic Communications Day committee and a member of the AGC Franklin Event Committee. Saturn is a graduate of Brooklyn College (CUNY).