Roland Heroes judges announced ahead of big winner reveal

Roland DG is happy to announce Christian Duyckaerts and Beth Kempton will be judges of Roland Hero 2018, the inaugural awards programme that recognises the incredible members of the Roland community across the EMEA region.

Since launching in April this year, the search for Roland Heroes has uncovered exceptional stories from Roland equipment users, stories of love and family, accounts of conquering adversity including illness and fire, inspiring tales of entrepreneurship, innovation and talent and more.

Entries will be accepted until 31^st December 2018. The judges for Roland Heroes will review every story and choose one individual who embodies what it means to be a Roland user. The judges announced include FESPA’s President, Christian Duyckaerts, the Head of Marketing at Roland DG EMEA Gillian Montanaro and the Beth Kempton, a best-selling author and award-winning entrepreneur.

Christian Duyckaerts has been in the printing industry for over 20 years and was inaugurated as the President of FESPA in May 2017. Christian is also the Managing Director of Retail Communicators, a print production service that specialises in office interior decoration and rebranding in Belgium.

Christian comments: "During my two decades in the print industry I have experienced the shift from analogue to digital in wide format printing and as a result am a firm believer in the unlimited possibilities that digital wide format can offer. At FESPA, our mission is to educate the community and the Roland Hero awards are a fantastic way to share incredible stories of print businesses with the global community. It's a wonderful initiative and I'm delighted to join the judging panel."

Beth Kempton is a motivational speaker and entrepreneur who founded Do What You Love and co-founded Make Art That Sells and Make It In Design. She currently run all three businesses simultaneously and is an author and specialist in Japan and Japanese. This year, Beth has released her latest book "Wabi Sabi: Japanese Wisdom for a Perfectly Imperfect Life”. In addition, Beth is a judging veteran and a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Beyond Sport Awards and a co-founder of the Lilla Rogers Studio Global Talent Search.

Beth comments: “It is such an honour to receive an invitation to judge the Roland Hero awards. I know how fantastic these kinds of competitions can be for all those involved. I really love helping to bring dreams to life and am delighted to discover the first Roland Hero."
 
Gillian Montanaro is Head of Marketing at Roland DG EMEA and will be the third judge at the event in Belgium on 10^th January 2019. The event will be hosted by the President of Roland DG EMEA, Gregory Bilsen.

Gillian comments: “I am excited to welcome both Beth and Christian to the judging panel for Roland Hero – what a fantastic way to start to 2019! They will each offer something different to the table and while it will no doubt be a difficult decision given all the wonderful entries, I'm sure we'll find the most deserving recipient of the Roland Hero crown. Whoever wins will have showed what it really means to be a member of the innovative and vibrant Roland community."

For Roland customers interested in taking part, this is their last chance to enter to have the chance to win the Roland Hero 2018 title and an unforgettable holiday. The closing date is 31^st December 2018.