Scan this code to watch “ISA 2023 – Dale & Rick in Vegas Baby!” which chronicles the pair’s adventures at last year’s show.
THE OTHER MONTH here in Central Florida, the ISA International Sign Expo took place at the Orange County Convention Center. The Media 1 Wrap This crew has been attending the Orlando show every year that it’s held here, for decades. If you’ve never been to an ISA show, you absolutely must make solid plans to attend one as soon as you can.
I know some local signshop friends who say, “I don’t go ’cause I don’t need to buy any new equipment.” But there is so much more to the event than buying stuff. We rarely go to buy anything on the spot, but we do go to discover what is out there that could help us offer more and better products to our clients. So don’t use that excuse. This is your industry and you owe it to yourself to see all the amazing offerings out there!
This year, Rick and I took Steve, our custom sign fabricator, and Tim, our operations guy to the show on Thursday afternoon to explore for a few hours before the infamous Glantz Howl Party. For years Glantz has bought out the International Drive (major tourist strip) location of Howl at the Moon — a massive dueling pianos bar that cannot help but serve up the most enjoyable party experience there is. Let me tell you, everyone loves that party, so if you ever have the chance to attend a Glantz party, you’d better jump on it.
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But the next day, we returned to reality to finish the last day of the ISA show. All the M1/WT crew arrived at work Friday morning. But there would be no work today, no sir!
We shut the shop down, jumped on a party bus, took everyone out for breakfast, and then we invaded the show floor with 30 employees dressed in new, matching Media 1 T-shirts featuring cartoon versions of Rick and me promoting our YouTube reality show. (Of course, we kept everyone on the clock, so no one missed their pay for the day.)
Out of 30 people, half of them had never been to an ISA show, and they were absolutely blown away. It’s awesome for them to see exactly how giant this industry is! This isn’t just little Media 1 painting signs in Florida. This is a worldwide, massive industry, and to see their reactions when they realize that is priceless. They left completely jazzed and motivated to keep growing within this rewarding industry. You can’t help but leave with a feeling of awe at all the glitz and glamor this show reveals, excited to get back to work and make things happen!
Make it a priority next time to attend with as many of your crew as possible. It is epically worth it!
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