Michael Fairley Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award

ANTALYA, Turkey—The 2009 Label Industry Global Awards announced that the winner of the R. Stanton Avery Lifetime Achievement Award is label consultant, Michael Fairley. He was selected as the overall winner by the international label industry judging panel at the FINAT/ESD Congress in Antalya following a review of the online votes against the criteria. The award is sponsored by Avery Dennison.

Mike Fairley has been writing and talking about labels for more than 30 years. As both the founder of Labels & Labeling and the Cowise International Publishing Group (now part of Tarsus Group) and a successful industry consultant, he has been at the forefront of introducing the latest innovations in label materials, technology, markets and applications, as well as helping label industry supplier and converter companies to implement their education, training and marketing strategies.

He has written or contributed to many label technical and market reports, including those for Frost & Sullivan, Economist Intelligence Unit, Info Trends and PIRA, as well as for his own consultancy company, and has been a regular speaker at label industry and association conferences, summits and congresses throughout Europe, as well as in North America, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, Japan, China and Turkey.

Chairman of the judging panel, Helmut Schreiner, commented: “The entire judging panel felt honored to have the opportunity to recognize Michael's lifetime achievement. In our opinion he has been building bridges for several decades between suppliers and converters, between countries and their people, and between the present and the future to new market segments, niches, technical materials and, perhaps most importantly, a new way of thinking. There is no large and powerful company standing behind Michael. This particular award is given strictly to an individual and his personal achievement. We look forward to celebrating with Michael and the rest of the industry at the Awards evening on the first night of Labelexpo Europe 2009.”