Vol. 2, No. 1 | August 17, 2006   TABLE OF CONTENTS Industry News AgiLight's EON Exposed Triline EGS Partnership J&J Electronics' New Rep New Appointments Daktronics' New Sales Support Meetings and Events Sponsored Links This Month’s SBI Trivia Question Stumper: What is the atomic mass of neon? For the answer, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter.     Industry News [[HOT TOPIC]] SBI Update Marks One Year Anniversary Yes, time flies when you’re having fun. With this edition, SBI Update is officially one year old. That’s 365 days worth of informative and educational e-newsletters delivered to our subscribers. To celebrate, we thought we’d take a look back at some of the more insightful—and often controversial—viewpoints shared in our [[Hot Topic]] section. And of course, it wouldn’t be an anniversary without some flattery, direct from you, our readers: “In my 25 years of working in the sign industry, great people—such as the staff of Sign Builder Illustrated and SBI Update—have contributed much to my desire to learn. Their willingness to share, not only with me but with everyone in the industry, has made all of us better, wiser, and more efficient. Thank you SBI Update.” Mark Morehart Brady Sign Company Sandusky, Ohio Wow. Once you’ve finished drying your eyes, we invite you to stroll back with us through the past year, and remember some of the things that have been said—and the reactions they garnered—in our [[Hot Topic]] column: “We don’t see ourselves as the enemy, or as a replacement [for neon]. And it’s not our business to know and understand neon beyond what is necessary to recommend a replacement.” — Ron Wallace, director of sales and marketing at SloanLED “Look, I don’t want to bad-mouth LEDs. It’s good to have competition. But neon is old, it’s reliable, it’s a standard in the industry, and it won’t go away. The only people making it a war are the LED people trying to bad-mouth neon. You can’t replace neon.” — Tom Kerley, regional director for ISA, and author of The Neon Installation Guide “Tell your readers we’re not the anti-Christ.” — Gary Salomon, co-founder, president, and CEO of FASTSIGNS International Inc. “I find it rather funny that the independent sign shop vs. franchise argument is still out there. My immediate reaction is: What franchise?” — Butch “Superfrog” Anton, independent sign consultant “Digital printing is redefining the marketplace, but it’s particularly redefining the marketplace for the sign company because they deal so much with shorter runs and smaller run quantities.” — Michael Robertson, president and CEO of SGIA “If a person was to just go out and buy a digital printer and say ‘I am a sign maker,’ they’re fooling themselves and cheating their customer because they’re not doing the quality work that comes with having a background behind you of using other analog processes.” — Jerry Mathel, retired commercial sign shop owner “Will the hands-on, artistic end of the sign industry always be there? Yes, but I think it will be more of a novelty than a true production method, because I don’t think those guys can compete. — Chris Hanchette, vice president of sales at MultiCam “A sandblasted sign can look attractive, customer-friendly, and it can really draw people into a business because it has a lot of personality; whereas something that comes out of a CNC router can’t really do that. — Jerry Stephens, owner of Wood Signs “Wood, however, is its own worst enemy.” — John Meeks, operations manager at Everwood HDU “We’re not purposely trying to take advantage of the high oil prices affecting HDU, but it is an angle that is certainly intriguing.” — Cees Vansanten, of AllWood Sign Blanks And there you have it: a year’s worth of opinions, reactions, and often antagonistic theorizing that has kept the Hot Topic blazing. Many thanks to all our contributors, sponsors, and especially our readers. Stick around for another year of SBI Update, with improvements, additions, and new features that will surely keep you informed, educated, and intrigued! As always, we invite all comments and suggestions to cytuarte@sbpub.com. Expose Yourself! With AgiLight's EON AgiLight recently introduced the EON, a colossal full-color LED video display capable of providing the highest quality on-premise messaging to a captive audience. Whether it be advertising, informing, or entertaining, the EON will deliver the message in an explosion of fast-moving color images. The EON will play HD-quality video on a massive 16:9 display screen, and can showcase multiple data formats, including text, pictures, and video. It can update its content remotely and instantaneously using Windows-compatible, user-friendly software. The EON allows configuration for use in portrait or landscape formats at the time of set-up, and offers customized models for size, pitch, and indoor or outdoor use. AgiLight’s EON provides cost-effective advertising for any business. It can help increase company sales from 15-50% on daily-advertised items, and has shown to be six times more effective than traditional billboards. Finally, EON offers a larger display area, higher brightness, lower power consumption, a wider viewing angle, and a longer lifetime than traditional alternatives, including LCD and plasma screens. Triline EGS Announces Exclusive Partnership with Triline International Triline EGS of San Francisco, California, announced an exclusive agreement to import and distribute Triline®, a modular sign system. The Bay Area based company will distribute Triline® through authorized dealers. Triline® is a versatile, modular and ADA compliant sign system which will meet the needs of any business or institution seeking a communication, identification or wayfinding solution. “The building boom and transient nature of the workforce has greatly expanded the use of versatile wayfinding and communication systems in the United States. While there are a few sign systems on the market today, there is not a complete solution engineered like Triline®,” stated Seth Wiles, president of Triline EGS. Triline EGS will focus on wayfinding, communication and identification and offer their products through sign companies, architects, and designers. Triline® is supplied as a semi-finished or finished product. Wiles goes on to state, “We realize it’s important to meet the needs of those who want to apply finishes on their own, as well as a clear anodized option. We also realize its imperative to offer solutions for customers with smaller shops that may not wish to finish the product on their own.” Triline EGS has a fabrication facility and almost any finish can be applied to the face profiles including digital prints, vinyl, paint, Braille, etc. The sliding face profiles hold a variety of materials to create a truly flexible and easily changeable sign system. “I’ve been in the sign industry for over 15 years on the custom fabrication side and have never seen such an easy to work with and versatile system,” says Ernie Wright, director of operations. Over the next several months, Triline EGS will launch a suite of services to enhance the customer experience. “At the end of the day we want to make it very easy for sign professionals, architects and designers to do business with us. We will use the efficiencies of the Internet to bring a variety of applications that will enhance the experience of our customers.” For more information, check out www.TrilineEGS. J&J Electronics Appoints Rep Firm for Southeastern U.S. J&J Electronics Inc., an LED lighting products design and manufacturing company based in Irvine, California, recently appointed Tehan & Company as the Southeastern USA region manufacturer’s representative for signage, exhibit and display customers. Tehan & Company is headquartered in Sarasota, Florida and traces its history as a sales organization back to its 1916 founding by Harry Tehan’s grandfather. “We are pleased to add an established firm like Tehan & Company to our ColorGlo sales channel," said Mark Lombardo, vice president of ILD Sales. "Harry Tehan is well known in the Southeastern region and we look forward to having him and his company representing us. J&J Electronics has the ability to provide off-the-shelf and custom ColorGlo LED lighting solutions for small to large scale projects, as well as providing its easy-to-install Channel Letter Modular Sign Lighting System. Key ColorGlo products include: Channel Letter and Power Channel Letter LED lighting systems, PowerPlus high output RGB and WWA fixtures, par 30 and 64 RGB LED decorative display down lighting lamps, monochromatic and RGB LED light strips, LED border lighting (neon replacement), IntelliGlo DMX and non-DMX controllers, along with the full complement of accessories for a complete system. J&J Electronics’ U.S.-based design and engineering team expedites custom product development. ColorGlo products have been used in a wide range of installations including world renowned venues. For more information on ColorGlo, PowerPlus and IntelliGlo lighting and control solutions, visit www.colorgloledlighting.com. New Appointments Daktronics Inc., of Brookings, South Dakota, increased its before-, during- and after-the-sale support for sign companies by naming Bob Messier and Greg Wilson to serve at the New England and Mid-Atlantic Daktronics Sales & Service offices. Messier will serve as a Daktronics account executive in the New England area, focusing on Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont and Connecticut. Wilson joins Daktronics' DSS office team in Philadelphia to focus on supporting sign company professionals in Pennsylvania, Delaware and upstate New York. Meetings and Events AUGUST Aug. 9 - 13: SIGN-A-RAMA's World Expo 2006. Marriott River Center Hotel, San Antonio, Texas. 561/640-5570 x1466; www.2006worldexpo.com. SEPTEMBER Sept. 26 - 29: SGIA '06 Specialty Printing & Imaging Expo. Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada. www.sgia.org/sgia06/attendees.cfm. Sponsored Links M2 Lighting Solutions, LLC -- NEW epoxy-encapsulated UL recognized LED channel letter lighting system that will stay bright even in your most challenging conditions. www.M2Lighting.com Elliott Equipment Corporation -- Award-winning HiReach & BoomTruck aerial-workplatforms and cranes. Elliott products increase your productivity, and give you the highest ROI available. Do more with Elliott. www.elliottequip.com This Month's Trivia Answer: 20.1797 amu (whatever that means...)   For in-depth coverage of these topics and other sign industry topics, check out www.signshop.com ATTENTION ADVERTISERS and SUBSCRIBERS: Coming up in the September 2006 SGIA '06 issue of Sign Builder Illustrated, feature articles on: Digital Printing Hardware Dimensional Sign Blanks LED Message Centers Vinyl Magnets Routers/Engravers Screen Printing Vinyl Vehicle Graphics ATTENTION ADVERTISERS and SUBSCRIBERS: Coming up in the October 2006 issue of Sign Builder Illustrated, feature articles on: Dimensional Sandblasting Gold Leaf LED Displays Neon Lighting Painting Sign Blanks Fabrication Tools Vinyl Banners Contact your ad sales representative to reserve your space today. As we shape SBI Update into the premier e-newsletter for the sign industry, we encourage our readers to send us feedback on what you like, what you'd like to see, and any other comments you might have. To do so, send an e-mail to Associate Editor Chris Ytuarte at cytuarte@sbpub.com.   © 2006 Simmons-Boardman Publishing 345 Hudson St., 12th Floor • New York, NY 10014 212-620-7200 AgiLight has always offered the highest quality LED lighting products available. With the introduction of the EON, we are ready to provide you with high resolution LED video displays as well. Click on the AgiLight logo above to visit the Web site and find out what AgiLight’s exciting array of premium LED products can do for you!   Adding a MultiCam to your shop will decrease job times and increase profits! Use our machines to cut a wide variety of materials, including aluminum, acrylic, and wood, to create dimensional signage and to finish digital prints. www.multicam.com. Click on the Multicam logo above to visit the Web site.   Sign Builder Illustrated has gone digital! With live hyperlinks to video clips, advertiser information, and other features, SBI Digital offers the newest online technology with the familiar layout and page turning of a regular issue. To view an example, click on the cover image above, and stay tuned for subscription and advertising opportunities!   Don't be limited by prefabricated cookie cutter letters. Dwayne Clein Signs' wide selection of wholesale channel letter styles and colors give you the flexibility to be creative. Call Dwayne Clein Signs at 800-655-1655.   Sign Builder Illustrated is the "How-To" magazine for the sign industry. With step-by-step instructional features, columns penned by industry experts, and news spanning the signage landscape, Sign Builder Illustrated has the answers. For subscription information, click on the magazine cover above.   Sign Builder Illustrated: The How-to Book Vol. 1 Learn secrets to fabricating neon, illuminating with LED, sandblasting signs, applying paints, cutting and printing vinyl and more in this 288-page, full-color reprinting of Sign Builder Illustrated's how-to articles. To visit the How-to Book Web site, click on the image above.     Sign Builder Illustrated values your privacy and will not sell or share your email with third parties. To unsubscribe, please click unsubscribe.