Reston, Va-- The Graphic Arts Show Company (GASC), has announced the appointment of Hal Hinderliter, principal of Hal Hinderliter Consulting Services, as the new program coordinator for the annual Must See ‘Ems product and technology recognition awards program.  Presented each year since 1999 as part of the pre-show “Executive Outlook” conference at Graph Expo,  the Must See ‘Ems have become an industry-wide” roadmap” to the most compelling new print production technology and products exhibited on the show floor.

Hinderliter was chosen to administer the Must See ‘Ems program following an intensive search and selection process led by GASC. Best known as a prolific author, Hinderliter is a contributing editor to Quick Printing magazine and previously wrote for American Printer, Graphic Arts Monthly and Printing News. He has published more than 120 published magazine articles and six textbooks.  A knowledgeable speaker on prepress and workflow topics, Hinderliter has delivered seminars at numerous industry tradeshows in addition to GRAPH EXPO and PRINT including MacWorld, Seybold, Gutenberg, COMDEX and many others. In his former role as director of the Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly State University, he created custom training programs for industry vendors and managed public workshops. Hinderliter was also the first director of the Center for Imaging Excellence at the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation and served on the Advisory Board to the National Council on Skills Standards in Graphic Communications.

Among the goals Hinderliter has set for the 2012 Must See ‘Ems program are to expand the pool of judges and also implement an online judging system that will make it easier for them to participate. Similarly, a new web-based application process will make it easier for exhibitors to submit their entries and to include supplementary explanatory images, videos and presentations.  Additionally, the awards will be categorized to more closely align with the interests of potential equipment buyers.

Lastly, the “Encore” awards and “Worth a Look” recognition category will be discontinued in favor of two new recognitions: a “Best of Category” Award-from within each Must See ‘Ems category, and an annual “Legacy Award” to salute one past Must See ‘Ems winner whose technology or product has made a lasting impact on the printing industry.