They don’t understand you. They don’t trust you. They don’t like you.”
John Strahan’s “they” is typical government officials. He says the sign industry has allowed outside entities to form the sign industry’s identity.
John, a retired lawyer, has a very important volunteer job. He’s chairman of the Eminent Domain and Land Use Committee, part of the Legal Resources Group of the TRB, which is part of the National Academies, whose job it is to “address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.” It’s where Congress goes for answers.
It’s easy to get excited that people like John plan to attend the International Sign Assn.’s (ISA) Signage Symposium in Las Vegas on March 30, prior to the Sign Expo ’05. But John cautions, “I am not a representative of the Transportation Research Board. I am the chairman of one of the committees in the legal section of TRB. I represent only myself, not the TRB.”
John admits he doesn’t know much about signs, but he knows enough to know how much more there is to find out: “Signs are very interesting. They’re a unique aspect of real estate. The nature of signs crosses virtually everything our committee does. I’m not for or against signs. I need to understand them more.”
John’s committee examines “specific problems involving the legal basis and processes of land acquisition for highway purposes and control of roadside land use, and the techniques of using the results of legal research in condemnation, purchase and regulation of land for highway purposes.”
Gene Hawkins, like John, chairs a TRB committee (Traffic Control Devices). Unlike John, he’s attended the previous two Symposiums, although scheduling may preclude his participation this year.
Gene says the Symposium has been “really helpful. It brings together a broad spectrum of backgrounds: legal, marketing, business value and visibility.”
Frank Schieber, a professor at the University of South Dakota, chairs the TRB’s Visibility Committee, which focuses on “relevant human, vehicular and environmental considerations, as well as safety, economics and energy conservation.”
Frank, an experimental psychologist, researches, studies and teaches how people process information. His particular niche is how people do so visually. He decided to attend the Symposium after having met Dr. Jim Claus and having read The Signage Sourcebook. Frank said he hadn’t previously thought of signs in terms of their value, marketing function and legal status. He’s also curious as to what the “other side” has to say about signs.
Frank said he doubts the sign industry has “matured enough to go beyond letter size and contrast” regarding visibility. His interest is “higher factors,” such as “the ability of signs to attract attention.” And then he wonders at what point signage would surpass attraction and begin demanding attention, thus becoming a distraction. Frank believes he can contribute.
As usual, Jim, the sign industry’s guide within academic circles, is the catalyst for Frank and John’s Symposium attendance. That’s why the sign industry even has a chance to provide research compelling enough to receive TRB endorsement and dissemination. It’s done enough to attract Gene, Frank and John.
The TRB held its 84th annual convention in January. Gene’s committee sponsored one session, which included presentation of five papers, the most intriguing of which (for the sign industry) was “Legibility Distances of Smaller Letter Light-Emitting-Diode Changeable Message Signs.”
Unfortunately, the most relevant group of sign-related papers, bundled under “Research of Highway Advertising, Variable Message Signs and Static Signs,” were relegated to “poster status.” They weren’t actually presented to TRB committee members, but rather, were displayed on corkboard in a tradeshow-type hall, and interested people could talk with the papers’ authors. But definitely the cheap seats.
At TRB’s 2004 convention, Claus presided over a workshop entitled “Regulating On-Premise Signs: The Emerging Role of the Transportation Engineer ” (see ST, December 2003, page 168), which emphasized the safety aspect of adequate roadside signage. Ideally, information presented at this year’s Symposium might be compelling enough to warrant presentation at the TRB’s 85th annual convention in January 2006. For more information, go to www.trb.org.
I was intrigued because all three TRB committee chairmen responded to me the same day I queried them. All were intellectually excited about learning more about signs. And, most importantly, given the sentiment expressed at the beginning of this editorial, all seem to really want to know the truth. The sign industry can’t ask for more than that.