February 23, 2004 -- The annual PrintWeek banquets held in Austin and San Antonio every January continue to attract a crowd and were considered a rousing success this past January. Austin’s banquet was held on January 14 at the Hyatt Regency and had over 150 in attendance. The event was very well attended by the Austin print community, as the printing companies in attendance each recognize an outstanding employee. This year 10 individuals were recognized by their employers as their outstanding employee for 2003. Each person was presented a certificate and was placed in a drawing for a $250 cash gift provided by the Austin Litho Club. This year’s winner of the cash prize was Marie Alston with Thompson Supply. A special thanks goes to the industry suppliers who were sponsors for the event and helped underwrite the cost of the banquet. The 2004 sponsors were: Heidelberg USA, Balcones Recycling, Thompson Supply, Fuji Film, Unisource and Olmsted Kirk Paper Company. The following week saw another 120 celebrate PrintWeek in San Antonio. This event was held on Friday January 23 and recognized the outstanding high school students studying printing in the San Antonio area. Over $10,000 in prizes and scholarships were awarded at the program, which recognized outstanding graphic arts students from seven high schools. They were: Brackenridge High School, Churchill High School, Fox Technical & Academic High School, Lanier High School, McCollum High School, South San Antonio High School, and Southwest High School. The keynote speaker for the event was Dr. Jesus Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who was born in San Antonio and is a graduate of Lanier High School, is now the chair of the Printing Technology program at Pittsburg State University, in Pittsburg, Kansas. Over the past several years, the San Antonio printing industry has provided over $20,000 in scholarships to the San Antonio graphic arts high school students.