The Australian Society of Old Friends

In London at the turn of the last Century, a small group of booksellers and publishers used to meet in the City at Anderton’s Hotel. They called themselves “The Odd Lots”. In 1909 this group became "The Society of Old Friends"

ASOOF is one of those unique organisations that has one foot planted in our history - the other planted firmly in our future.

The printing industry - like many trades - was built on the idea of apprenticeships. You'd meet at an early age, during which relationships were formed, which often lasted a lifetime - and then you'd retire and lose contact.

ASOOF is the Sydney chapter and we continue to provide a forum or meeting place, four times a year, when ''printing industry elders'' come together and share their experiences and memories thus provide an ongoing connection to our industry's heritage.

We've recently embarked on some projects to reinforce this commitment, one being to form an alliance with the Penrith Museum of Printing (PMOP): another is to record the stories of as many people as we can, so as to save, in their words the history of the Australian graphic art industry.

Not all of our views are through the rear-vision mirror, however, as many of our members are retired CEOs and managing directors, notorious for their enquiring minds, and deep passion for our industry. Each year for example, we visited various high-tech printing companies around Sydney and continue to be involved with the industry at-large.