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.”
Most recently Fairley has been the author of the best selling Encyclopedia of Labels and Label Technology, editor of the RFID Smart Labels ‘How to…’ guide, and co-author of a new “Encyclopedia of Brand Protection and Security Printing Technology.” In total he has written or contributed to some 10 technical and reference books on labels, printing and packaging.
He is currently director of strategic development for the Labels Group at Tarsus Exhibitions and Publishing and is a Fellow of both the Institute of Printing and the Institute of Packaging. The panel of international judges also announced the finalists in the other awards categories. The winners will be revealed at the award ceremony and gala dinner at the Albert Hall in Brussels, on the evening of the 23 September, the opening day of Labelexpo Europe 2009.
For further information about the Global Label Industry Awards, or other Labelexpo events, please call +44 (0)20 8846 2731 or email chancock@labelexpo.com.