Convention-al Wisdom

Yeah, I’m still going back through old issues of ST. It’s addictive. The latest article that really caught my eye, published in our March 1946 issue, was titled “Trade Associations – Basic to the American Industrial System.” The author was Milton Smith, the assistant manager of the Trade Association Dept. of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. (I called the U. S. Chamber; no such department exists today.)
Smith begins by referencing Alexis de Tocqueville’s 1835 book, Democracy in America, and his lavish praise for American trade associations. One sentence particularly struck me: “The American trade association, which even today continues to amaze foreigners unaccustomed to voluntary cooperative effort, could not have survived depressions and wars had it not been both a democratic institution and an economic necessity” (emphasis added). He also says the American trade association “has persisted through vicissitudes, and is more vigorous today than ever, adapted to the conditions of our times” (emphasis added).
In 1946, the International Sign Assn. (ISA), originally known as the National Electric Sign Assn. (NESA), was only two years old, and the U. S. sign industry was still struggling to find materials and labor to get back to full strength after World War II. The circumstances today are completely different, but the general mindset of recovery and uncertainties seems quite similar.
As I write this, unemployment has crept into double digits, and small business has been hardest hit, with recovery seemingly relegated to larger companies.
But a new year has dawned, and I see things slowly turning around. The bottom has already been hit. It’s time to come out of the storm cellar (think Wizard of Oz) and get back to business. Survival is no longer acceptable; acceleration, however slight, is paramount. It’s not the speed, but the direction, that’s critical.
By the time your read this, the United States Sign Council’s Sign World show in Atlantic City will be a memory, but, as I write this, it’s a few weeks away. Its pre-show floor plan evidences continuing uncertainty, especially at the 11th hour of a most discouraging year. I hope I’m wrong.
But ISA’s Sign Expo 2010 is still five months away. I think every sign company should attend. It’s time for individual companies to determine their own fates. Companies can act like corks in the ocean, with their directions determined by the prevailing winds, or instead chart their own courses.
Scary? Perhaps, but what’s the alternative, a wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth? It’s time to go for it on 4th and 1. Some huge companies were conspicuous in their absence at 2009 tradeshows, but I seriously doubt such decisions will be repeated in 2010. It’s time to find out about the latest materials and equipment, and apply them to making signs for companies that similarly realize it’s time to put the pedal to the metal.
Recessions and depressions are extreme versions of the business world’s natural selection, so the wheat has been separated from the chaff, although some wheat fell victim as well.
Although the tradeshow may be the most conspicuous aspect of a trade association, it’s not the only component. Here’s more from Milton Smith: “The head of a typical ‘small business’ establishment sometimes does not understand that his welfare may be largely dependent on cooperative effort with his fellow businessmen. He may not appreciate that, in fact, his survival in our complex present economy may be dependent on representation and services which he may secure only through a trade association.”
And the same cooperative tenets should hold true for the trade associations themselves. The March 1944 ST reported, in the NESA column, “The committee for cooperation with other organizations, with D. R. Swormstedt [my grandfather, I’m proud to say] as chairman, has established cordial relations with the American Highway Sign Association, Fluorescent Lighting Association, Outdoor Advertising Association of America and the Porcelain Enamel Institute. The officers and staff members of those organizations whom NESA representatives contacted were extremely cordial and sincerely demonstrated their willingness to cooperate in every way possible.”
I was pleased about the many NSREC speakers who acknowledged USSC’s extensive legislative efforts. I wish USSC had been an active participant, but I’m glad ISA and USSC are cordial toward each other.
Remember junior high school, when Mary told Susie she couldn’t be her friend because Susie was friends with Julie? (Maybe it was kindergarten.) Wouldn’t it be ironic to expect competing companies to join your association, and cooperate, while simultaneously admonishing those who associate with your own competitor?