ISA Suppiers and Distributors Conference

The ISA held its 3rd annual Suppliers and Distributors Conference last month in Bloomingdale, IL. The purpose of this event is for manufactures and distributors to get together and discuss industry related topics.

As you can imagine, the economy was the topic of many discussions and presentations. Green was also discussed and certainly stirred up some interesting conversations.

Unfortunately I think that with the economy the way it has been for the first two quarters this year, many people of the distribution and supply side are not as focused on green or environmental issues as one would like. The lack of enthusiasm toward these initiatives was disappointing, but on the positive side, those of us that are trying to push the green envelope gained some insight what others in the industry thought.

Most people are really uninformed about what green means and what it has to do with the sign industry. Many people are not very familiar with what is going on in the design community and in the building industry - the things that are going on around us that ultimately impact our businesses. At Nova we have been trying to get people to understand that signage is part of a bigger entity and that outside forces ultimately impacts us.

I believe there is hope for significant change in the material and processes that define the sign industry but it will take a committed effort to get it done. Industry events such as the Supplier/Distributors conference are valuable ways to spend time with peers and discuss real topics that are occurring. These are the types of events that help push people and let's them see what other around them are successfully doing.

The ISA along with the SEGD have a lot of influence with their members. Industries look to the trade organizations for leadership and direction into where the industry is going. Both the ISA and SEGD have taken steps towards promoting environmental efforts and need to continually lead the way for their members by providing relevant resources and information while working together to ensure that the design, fabrication and manufactures are all working together towards the same end goal.