Have the Presidential political ads on both sides driven you crazy? The fact-checking groups are fact-checking the fact-checking groups. In contrast, here are two absolute truths: Signs benefit businesses, and there is zero correlation between electronic message centers (EMCs) and traffic accidents. You know it, and I know it. But how can we prove it to skeptical city officials?
By attending the National Signage Research & Education Conference (NSREC) at the Kingsgate Marriott, adjacent to the University of Cincinnati (UC) campus, October 10-11. Or, better yet, bring your city officials and/or customers come with you. Pay their way if you must. It will be worth it. You’ll hear, firsthand:
• Professors from the UC’s schools of planning and architecture (two disciplines often at odds with the sign industry) talk about the UC research department’s survey of end users about the economic value of signs, along with several specific case histories.
• Texas A&M University will present the results of its just-completed study that examined traffic-accident data before and after EMCs were erected. There is no correlation between the two.
• The University of Oklahoma will present an evidence-based sign code. Too often, sign codes aren’t understood by city officials, so they’re often tempted to rubber-stamp another town’s code. Because of communities’ inherent differences, this makes no sense. But here’s one based on rational thought, not subjectivity that you can share.
None of this would be possible without the Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI), a non-profit research organization that abides by its mission to explain and disseminate the education, research and philanthropic purposes of on-premise signage. Much more will be presented, and all attendees receive a conference notebook that recounts the proceedings. SFI will continue to produce such research going forward. For all of the conference details, click this link.