Meeting with Mayor Kim Driscoll

On February 27, 2012  I met with Mayor Kim Driscoll at Salem City Hall.  Even though I was still a bit "out of sorts" due to Marcio's recent passing, I enjoyed our meeting regardless.   She was very interested in MWS project and wanted to know all about it.  A city council woman had mentioned the project to her and she had seen some of the pr materials around town.

I began by telling her about the layout/format of the book and what the introduction will say.  Of course some of you know that Jac's "words of wisdom" will be a part of the intro. (if you don't know the story, you will have to wait until the book comes out :}).  When I told her about Jac's life long observance of how Salem seems to "choose or repel" people...she clapped her hands and said, "oh my gosh, I have never heard it put so well!" The ending sentence,  "So come to Salem and see if Salem chooses you" seemed to delight our City's Mayor and she confessed that this is exactly what happened to her.  After graduating from Salem State, she just never left...Salem chose her for sure and I for one am happy she was chosen.  I do not know about the hot topics and issues of the City, as my entire life revolves in and around the University, that being a world of it's own.  However, it seems to me that Mayor Kim is a perfect fit for our City.

One of my main goals is to have this book in the tourist center, here in Salem....easily available to the thousands of tourists that descend upon our city at various times during the year.  Because of this meeting, I am sure that this goal will be met due to the contacts that Mayor Kim gave me.  She wants me to keep her updated as MWS grows and matures, especially the closer we get to publication release date(s).  She offered to link MWS with Destination Salem (a city run publication/pr tool) as we approach release.

After a full hour of jam packed conversation and information exchange, I can tell you all that the Mayor  was very supportive and an endless source of information and contacts, for me as a photographer and for  The Mystic Women of Salem.

Thanks Mayor Kim...it was a real pleasure!  :} 

SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY ENTERS MWS POSTER IN COMPETITION!





2011 MWS Poster

 


 Rose Cooke, Supervisor, Copy Shop, SSU and  Rebecca Fox, Photographer
"I was really  impressed when I saw the Mystic Women of Salem poster, because of the detail, high level of excellence, and visual beauty.  When the photographer returned to the Copy Shop I asked her if she would consider allowing the University to enter her poster in a national competition hosted by InPlant Graphics,"  stated Rose. 

Of course I was so excited and honored to even be considered by the University for participation in the contest... I JUMPED at the chance! 

 In 2006 Salem State Copy Center won 2 Gold awards in this competition.  One (created by an SSU student) in the non-offset calendar division and the second (in-house creation) in the poster/flyer division for the theater production of The Snow Queen.  So, the University has a history of participation and wins in this competition.  We should all be very proud and happy whether we win or not, I am certainly feeling honored, right now.

I have had numerous conversations with the MWS ladies about the technical aspect of their portraits, and believe me when I tell you this poster will be judged to the "inth" degree by the selected judges of this competition and it will be VERY technical (even down to a speck of dust can cause disqualification!).  Below is more information about the contest, their mission statement, the judges and more.  

Mission Statement:  Founded in 1964, the In-Plant Printing/Mailing Association is the only professional association dedicated exclusively to the needs of in-house corporate publishing, printing, and distribution professionals.

"The contest has a reputation as being one of the toughest contests to win in the printing business.  That's because the quality of in-plant printing is so high.  As a result, our judges have traditionally spent alot of time analyzing each printed piece.  Our panel of judges this year consists of:  Chris Anderson, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators - Dr. James Sours, Department of Graphics and Imaging Technologies, Pittsburg State University - Mark McCarty, Missouri State Univsersity - Jerry Chisam, University of Kansas Medical Center - and Larry Clements, Redlands Community College.  One Best of Show winner will be selected from the winners in the offset categories and another Best of Shaw winner will be picked from the non-offset categories.  Winners' will be revealed at the awards dinner during IPMA's conference, taking place June 24-28 in Kansas City.  Judges will consider the degree of difficulty required to print a job, design and letter spacing;lines of text;fuzzy photos, holes/missing dots in solids possibily due to a speck of dust, spots and specks, ink coverage, mottling, centered images, any marks on page, color consistency and the darkness of toner." In-Plant contest information as stated on website. 

These are just a few of the judging criteria.

Winners will receive elegant plaques and trophies during the IPMA Awards Banquet in the summer of 2012. 

Here are just a few of the past winners -

Conoco Phillips, Boeing, USAA, Hitachi, Phillips Petroleum, Brigham Young Univsersity, University of Delaware and the University of Missouri. 

The contest is sponsored by the International Publishing Management Association and In-Plant.

I hope all the MWS ladies are as excited as the Team is, and I will certainly keep you all posted!  Wish us LUCK!
:}

Maria!

Some of Maria's shots are ready for viewing on the Smugmug site...click on the Gallery to your right and see an extraordinary woman, and extraordinary shots!

:}