Everyone associated with the signage industry is invited to participate in the 2nd Annual National Signage Research and Education Conference (NSREC) at the University of Cincinnati (UC), October 13-14, sponsored by the Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI) in collaboration with the UC Colleges of Business and Design, Architecture, Art and Planning. The two-day event takes place at the Kingsgate Marriott adjacent to the UC campus.
Those who should attend the conference if interested include sign makers and their suppliers, businesses that need signage, elected officials and planning board members, planners, urban designers, marketing and branding specialists, architects, engineers, designers, appraisers, and those students and faculty who study signage and its impact on the business, social, and visual environments.
The NSREC conference will provide an important venue for all interested constituencies to discuss on-premise signage issues and concerns in positive, non-confrontational, and research-driven dialogue. The UC is qualified to participate in these discussions due to the establishment of the James S. Womack/Gemini Chair of Signage and Visual Communications and the Terence M. Fruth/Gemini Chair of Signage Design and Community Planning. Both chairs were established through donations from Jim and Sharon Weinel, Gemini, Inc., and are part of the nation’s first center for signage.
Peer-reviewed research will be presented at the conference with numerous opportunities to interact with researchers on specific topics and their implications.
The NSREC is not an industry trade show or expo. The conference is sponsored by SFI, established in 2002 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the educational, research, and philanthropic purposes of on-premise signage.
The 2010 NSREC will provide topical research and presentations in four key areas impacting signage: Science, Technology, Art/Advertising, and Regulation (S.T.A.R. initiative). Each of these four topical areas will serve as the focus for NSREC for the next four years.
•The Science of Signage: Parallels Between Traffic Signs and Business Signs by H. Gene Hawkins, Jr., Ph.D, P.E., Associate Professor, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M; Research Engineer, Texas Transportation Institute
•The Technology of Signage: Electronic Paper, LED Illumination, and Teleportation: Fact or Fiction in 2010 and Beyond by Jason Heikenfeld, Associate Professor, Director, Novel Devices Laboratory, Elec. & Comp. Engin. Department, University of Cincinnati
•On-Premise Signs as Marketing Devices: Measuring the Value to the Business Enterprise in Takings Case by Charles R. Taylor, Ph.D., John A. Murphy Professor of Marketing, Villanova School of Business
•The Regulation of Signage: Guidelines for Local Regulation of Digital On-Premise Signs by Alan Weinstein, Associate Professor of Law and Urban Studies, Cleveland State University and Menelaos Triantafillou, Associate Professor, School of Planning, University of Cincinnati
•Signage as a Catalyst to Business Development Keynote Address
•Report and Video Journal of the Sign Industry’s First Planning Intern at North Shore Sign Company by Duane Laska and Cody Meyer
•The NSREC attendees will participate in interactive sessions on “Critical Issues Impacting Signage.” Ten small groups will address a critical issue and compile findings from the discussions. The discussions for each topic will be facilitated by a lead facilitator and a student facilitator. The student facilitator for each group will report to the full NSREC audience.
All conference materials will be available in a single-bound document for ease of reference.
Early registration for the conference is $225.
Accommodations are at the Kingsgate Marriott located adjacent to the UC campus. To register, arrange for housing or for the complete NSREC agenda, visit the conference website at: www.thesignagefoundation.org.
