We’re thrilled to end our 40th Anniversary year on a high note by setting a record for the most funds we’ve ever raised through our Annual Awards & Charities Gala. Thanks to the generous support from our sponsors, advertising partners, and industry colleagues and friends, we raised $215,000 to establish the Marie Cusumano Endowed Scholarship at Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in memory of Frank’s sister. I struggle to find the right words to express how much this means to our family. Losing someone so dear to us has been heartbreaking, but we are comforted knowing that through this scholarship, her kind and caring spirit will continue to inspire and support medical students for years to come.
We have always donated every dollar raised to our Gala’s beneficiary, and the only way we can achieve that is through the support of our generous sponsors. There aren’t enough ways to thank Hytec Dealer Services and Eric Auman, and ConnectWise and John Schweizer for serving as official sponsors of our Gala. Their sponsorship is part of the foundation of our event, and we are tremendously grateful to them. I also want to welcome and thank new sponsors HP and Tami Beach (Cocktail Party sponsor), and Xerox and Mike Pietrunti, and Chris Polek of Polek & Polek (After Party sponsors) for their generosity.
We always challenge ourselves to host an event that will be bigger and better than the year before. We did that this year and are confident we can do that again in 2023. We are excited that Mariano Rivera will join us at our 38th Annual Awards & Charities Gala on Thursday, November 2, 2023, which will benefit The Mariano Rivera Foundation and its “Print, Design and Packaging Development” training program. There is tremendous support throughout the industry for this initiative, including from Larry Weiss of Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office, EFI, Konica Minolta, and Ricoh, among others, and it’s our honor to help contribute to its success.
We hope this issue conveys the excitement guests had shaking it up this year with us. We want to keep shaking it up with this, our first-ever flip cover issue that features two individual sections—our Watchlist preview and our 2022 Gala spotlight—plus a back cover that becomes a second front cover when turned upside down. We always aim to innovate, as we know the entire industry does, and we plan to shake it up with more exciting innovations in both print and digital in 2023.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
