San Francisco – In a move designed to reflect its increasingly expanded membership base, The Printing Industries of Northern California has formally changed its name to the Visual Media Alliance. PINC's Board of Directors voted to make the change last fall and subsequently worked with
a naming consultant and an identity design expert to select an appropriate new name and logo.

Visual Media Alliance President, Dan Nelson, describes the rebranding effort as a shift in scope. As the Alliance's new tag line – Support for creative, web, marketing and print businesses – suggests, in addition to printers and related trade services, the following industry segments will be part of VMA's expanded membership:
- Public Relations and Marketing Communications companies
- Publishers
- Graphic Design Firms
- Web Developers
- Creatives (Illustrators, Photographers)

"In fact, we already have strong ties to these segments," Nelson says. "Some 25% of our membership is already from one of more of them."

Nelson points out that the big picture reveals that all of these segments are morphing into one another.  For example, prepress houses are now heavily into producing images for web and print delivery. That can be said for graphic design and creative firms as well.  Publishers, once considered a print-only medium, are using new methods of electronic delivery. Printers are offering services like Web-to-Print ordering and fulfillment, data analytics, and campaign management.

"All of our print specific programs continue, including Printing Industries of America and NAPL. No benefits, discounts, services or insurance opportunities change. "In fact, some of these programs will actually increase in quality with the expanded base, like new discount programs, for example," he concludes.