Vol. 1, No. 12 | July 18, 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Month’s SBI Trivia Question Stumper:
In 2005, the amount of money spent on total outdoor advertising (billboards, street furniture, transit posters, etc.) in the U.S. was $6.3 million. What was the amount spent on total outdoor advertising in 1970?
For the answer, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter.
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Industry News
[[HOT TOPIC]] Sign Builder Illustrated Goes Digital
Always at the forefront of sign technology, Sign Builder Illustrated now offers its readers the newest publishing innovation with Sign Builder Illustrated Digital. Starting in September, in addition to our regular issue, the
How-To Magazine for the sign industry will be available in a fully-interactive, digital format. Click on the July 2006 issue below to experience a sample of SBI Digital. Turn up your volume and listen to the pages rustle as you browse this sample issue, and keep an eye out for subscription opportunities starting with our September issue. Please e-mail any comments you might have to cytuarte@sbpub.com. We'd love to hear your feedback.
China to Invest $44 million in LED Development
The Chinese government recently announced it is taking a big step into the LED pool by investing 350 million yuan (about $43.8 million) to push the nation’s development and
manufacturing of LED products.
According to a report in DigiTimes.com, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology plans to establish five LED manufacturing centers in Chinese cities such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Dalian. The Ministry will also support LED technology partnerships between local and international companies, including corporations from Taiwan and Hong Kong.
DigiTimes.com culled their information for this story from the Chinese-language Economic
Daily News.
AgiLight Celebrates Anniversary With UK Supplier
In July 2005, AgiLight, a Texas-based company which specializes in providing state-of-the-art energy efficient lighting at competitive prices, appointed LED Solutions the
exclusive UK distributor for its top of the line LED products. One year hence, Gary Iley, managing director of LED Solutions, reflects on his decision to join forces with AgiLight.
According to Iley, regardless of the size of any given project, success requires more than just top quality LEDs. “Many LED suppliers have a very good knowledge of lighting, but we also have extensive experience in sign systems and that’s an asset which is a major benefit for customers. When someone tells us
they need to produce a certain sign and are planning to do it in such a way, we can advise whether its possible and if not, we know what works well and can put them on the right track.”
Since Iley has been involved with signmaking “since birth,” he has extensive experience in the trade, ranging from hands-on fabrication and installation to management. He had already been using LEDs for a few years when he discovered AgiLight.
“I was so impressed by AgiLight’s LED products that I
went over to the company’s site in the States to find out more and was blown away by how good they actually are,” he says. “I knew that if LED Solutions, with all our sign knowledge, was a distributor for AgiLight, we’d be offering an unbeatable combination.”
A year as AgiLight’s UK distributor has only increased the Iley’s enthusiasm for the partnership and today all of LED Solutions’ LED lines are supplied by AgiLight.
According to Iley, “customers love AgiLight, it just sells
itself. Whether it’s SideWinder for custom channel letters or BrightStrip, a revolutionary product targeted at the replacement of fluorescent tubes, people are amazed and delighted with the end results.”
“AgiLight LEDs are incredibly bright and energy efficient. A big advantage is that, unlike many other LED light sources, they don’t need to have metal substrate behind to dissipate heat. They are also robust, extremely durable and well-managed.”
As a manufacturer, AgiLight offers
a two year guarantee on its products, whereas many competitors provide only 6-12 month guarantees.
Easy installation and reduced labor time is another advantage AgiLight’s products offer. For applications requiring face and halo illumination, the SideWinder LED system utilizes high brightness side-illuminating LED modules mounted to side return. This saves the trouble of having to place lights pointing both to the face and back of a letter to provide direct light, as is required by most
traditional LED systems.
“Just last week, I was at a customer’s site, demonstrating how to install AgiLight LEDs into channel letters. At the same time, one of the company’s operators happened to be putting traditional LEDs into the same seven letter word. I finished all seven letters before he had completed one. That’s how much installation time AgiLight saves,” says Gary Iley.
“Our product prices are mid range but because of dramatically reduced installation times, they give
tremendous savings on labor costs and, in total, can actually cost less than cheaper offerings, while being far superior.”
LED Solutions’ stand at Sign UK 2006 was designed specifically to illustrate just how bright AgiLight LEDs are. According to Iley, “we chose a white background for our stand, which is a bit unusual when showing LEDs, to demonstrate how bright AgiLight is. Even against the white background, the lights still shone out.”
Nielsen to Rate Billboards Like TV Shows
Nielsen Media Research, the company whose ratings system has American television networks constantly clamoring for viewers to tune in, will now bring its monitoring technology to
the world of outdoor signage to qualify how many people are seeing what signs.
According to a report by the Technology Marketing Corporation, billboards and outdoor signage in Southern California are about the get the same treatment as an episode of CSI: Miami, giving sign owners a chance to find out who’s watching, and—more importantly—where.
Hundreds of volunteers working for Nielsen have begun carrying company-issued Npods—small Global Positioning System devices about
the size of a cell phone—which track every move the volunteers make. By following this collection of everyday citizens, Nielsen can see what areas of Los Angeles are most frequented and what signage is in that area, thereby giving sign owners the best idea as to where their products would receive the most viewings. Nielsen will sell this coveted information to interested advertising companies. A New York company, Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement, is ramping up a similar
project.
The Nielsen tracking devices were handed out to 1,100 volunteers in Los Angeles for 10 days, and logged every bus shelter within 200 feet of a person, as well as every billboard within 1,000 feet. The speed at which a pedestrian passes a sign was recorded as well. Preliminary results of the study will be released this fall.
Lighthouse Technologies On Display at the 2006 NBA Draft
For those of you who sat glued to the television on June 28th, staring at ESPN to find out whether your favorite NBA team would pick the next LeBron James in the
2006 NBA Draft, you may not have gotten your wish—but you did see two of Lighthouse Technologies’ newest LED screens showing your team’s logo throughout the night.
The NBA utilized two R6-III LED screens from Lighthouse, its latest generation 6mm LED modular display, to show the live crowd and television viewers vibrant animations of NBA team logos as each organization made its selection in the draft. The two Lighthouse screens, in a 10.5’ by 3.5’ format, highlighted NBA Commissioner
David Stern’s podium during his announcement of each pick. Throughout the night, ANC Sports Enterprises operated the displays using its VisionSOFT program, the first 3D interface capable of operating multiple display technologies in real-time through one console.
“We’re thrilled at being a part of this very exciting event,” said Mark Chan, managing director for Lighthouse Technologies Ltd. “The R6-III is perfect for on-camera use because it maintains good contrast ratio for the cameras
to read, even when the brightness level is adjusted for ambient lighting.”
Lighthouse Technologies’ R6-III LED screen has a brightness of 3,000 nits, a 140-degree viewing angle, 14-bit processing depth, and video frame rate at 50/60 frames per second.
New Appointments
Cambridge Display Technologies, a pioneer in the research, development, and commercialization of polymer light emitting diode technology (P-OLED), announced the resignation of chief financial officer Daniel Abrams, effective
as of June 30. Current Vice President of Finance Michael Black will assume Abrams' responsibilities in the positions of principal accounting officer and principal financial officer.
Epilog Laser, of Golden Colorado, is announcing the hiring of Kim Dreiling as public relations speciallist. She joins the company shortly after graduating in May 2006 with a communications degree from Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina. Epilog Laser is an industry leader in the design of laser engraving,
cutting and marking systems. Products include the Epilog Mini, Helix, and Legend EXT series of laser systems.
FASTSIGNS International, Inc., a sign and graphics franchisor with nearly 500 locations worldwide, has promoted Raj Croager, formerly the company’s vice president of information technology, to a newly created position of chief information officer. In his new role, Croager will be a key player in providing strategic
direction for technology initiatives that take place within FASTSIGNS International’s corporate office and throughout the franchise network. He reports to Mary Ryan, the company’s chief financial officer.
Meetings and Events
JULY
July 13 - 15: Rollin' on the River," the Mid South Sig Association's 2006 Annual Summer Convention, will take place at the Marriott Shoal Spa and Hotel in Florence, Alabama. For additional information, call 901/452-6444,
or log-on to www.midsouthsign.org.
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:
$260,000*
*According to the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA).
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For in-depth coverage of these topics and other sign industry topics, check out
www.signshop.com
ATTENTION SUBSCRIBERS:
Coming up in the August 2006 issue of
Sign Builder Illustrated,
feature articles on:
Architectural Letters
Awnings
Gold Leaf
LED Channel Letters and Sign Cabinets
Neon Schools
Vehicle Graphic
Paints
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
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.
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© 2006 Simmons-Boardman Publishing
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Join the specialty imaging community and explore the newest technologies, the latest innovations, and the most exciting developments in the graphics world. SGIA ’06 will be home to more than 500 leading suppliers launching products and showing their freshest approaches to your markets. Register by July 15 and receive a Free Expo Pass. For more information, click on the SGIA logo above.
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The How-to Book Vol. 1
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China Invests in LED