An ERA for EMCs

Three years ago, the International Sign Assn. (ISA) operated a tradeshow booth at the American Planning Assn. (APA) annual meeting in Chicago. David Jones, who serves as an attorney for Young Electric Sign Co. (headquartered in Salt Lake City, but David works from the Phoenix office), was asked to help man the booth and answer any questions, especially legal ones. Jones, as veteran ST readers will recall, formerly wrote an ST column called "Legislative Matters," and he’s written extensively about sign codes for numerous groups.

Jones recalled, "I was approached by several planners, at separate times, who inquired about the regulation of electronic signs. They saw them coming as a more prevalent form of signage, but they didn’t understand enough about the technology, or how they could be controlled, so they could regulate them. They saw some operations of these signs that were objectionable, but others that they thought were perfectly acceptable for their community."

When the next ISA Sign Expo convened in Las Vegas, in 2003, several electronic-message-center (EMC) manufacturers gathered at YESCO’s local branch office to discuss a model code that focused on EMCs, and perhaps some ancillary EMC information could be compiled. Primarily assisted by Daktronics Inc.’s (Brookings, SD) Jeremy Johnson, Jones devised a model code that he "tested" in Mesa, Gilbert and Bullhead City, AZ, and Jones said, "All three adopted some form of it."Daktronics Inc.

By the time the ISA Sign Expo rolled around last year, the project had produced three tangible entities: an eight-page, photo-laden brochure that explains the benefits of EMCs and includes numerous FAQs; a 16-page brochure that outlines EMCs’ history and their regulation, a discussion of traffic-safety issues, a model code and definitions; and a 17-minute DVD that combines the two brochures. Each brochure carries the title "Signs of Success." (Note: The publication refers to such signs as electronic messages displays, or EMDs.)

By the end of the month, the Electronic Display Manufacturers Assn. was formally incorporated, and, soon after, the name was changed to Electronic Display Educational Research Assn. (EDERA). Jones cited its mission statement: "to provide educational assistance to state and local government with respect to the operation and regulation of electronic-message-center signage."

EDERA is still evolving. Currently, there’s no office, website or e-mail address. The board of directors includes Jones, Johnson, Chris Olinger (Adaptive Micro Systems, Milwaukee, WI) and Mitch Spencer (Electronic Display Systems, Grand Island, NE). The EDERA isn’t affiliated with ISA or the United States Sign Council (USSC), but Johnson said EDERA has had discussions with both. ISA reviewed the "Signs of Success" information, and USSC helped distribute copies of it.

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Johnson explained that the association, in its embryonic stages, isn’t looking for sign-company members. Rather, he hopes all EMC manufacturers will join. They would then pool their resources to produce materials that document EMCs’ value, and then disseminate this information to sign companies.

For example, 2,000 copies of the "Signs of Success" package were distributed over a five-month period. A second printing is slated to be completed by the end of this month. Copies will be available through EDERA member companies.

Spencer said Signs of Success "is directed toward educating municipalities and planners. There’s no better resource for addressing electronic-display regulatory issues. When communities are properly educated, and recognize electronic displays as part of helping them accomplish their goals, I find very little resistance to obtaining permits."

Ideally, the EDERA would like to generate EMC research. ST recently published information about the USSC study (conducted by Penn State’s Transportation Institute) of EMCs, but its conclusion was basically inconclusive on the #1 EMC issue: traffic safety (see ST, December 2005, page 114).

EDERA’s 16-page brochure devotes five pages to a discussion of EMCs and traffic safety, and much of it analyzes the exhaustive, but nonetheless inconclusive, 1980 Federal Highway Administration study. It also cites information on the Small Business Administration (SBA) website about post-1980 EMC research, mentions a 2003 study from Tantala Consulting Engineers (available through USSC), and notes a 1997 article written by Villanova professor Charles R. Taylor, all of which conclude there’s no link between EMCs and traffic hazards. Taylor, as you may recall, more recently authored On-premise Signs as Storefront Marketing Devices and Systems, which was published jointly by the SBA and the Signage Foundation for Communication Excellence (see ST, December 2005, page 184).

"We want to arm sign companies with the information they need to take to city planners," Johnson explained.

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EMCs are both blessed and cursed because they work; some city officials may consider Amber Alerts dangerous and distracting.