Signage Foundation, Inc.

5^th Annual National Signage Research & Education Conference (NSREC) to focus on "Signage as Advertising"

Everyone associated with the signage industry is encouraged to participate in the 5th Annual National Signage Research & Education Conference (NSREC) at the University of Cincinnati (UC), October 9-10, 2013, which is sponsored by the Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI), in collaboration with the UC Colleges of Business and Design, Architecture, Art and Planning (DAAP). The two-day event takes place at the Kingsgate Marriott adjacent to the UC campus. SFI is pleased to welcome the membership of the Midwest Sign Association to NSREC; the association will host its annual fall conference in conjunction with NSREC.

Who should attend? Sign makers and their suppliers, businesses that need signage, elected officials and planning board members, planners, urban designers, marketing/branding specialists, architects, engineers, designers, appraisers and those students and faculty who study signage and its impact on the business, social and visual environments will all greatly benefit by attending.

What NSREC is. The conference provides an important venue where all interested constituencies can discuss on-premise signage issues and concerns in positive, non-confrontational and research-driven dialogue. UC is uniquely 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, established through donations from Jim and Sharon Weinel, Gemini, Inc., 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.

What NSREC is not. It is not an industry tradeshow or expo. The conference is sponsored by SFI, which was established in 2002 as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to documenting, through research and distribution, the educational, economic, societal and philanthropic purposes and benefits of on-premise signage.

What are NSREC’s deliverables? The focus of the 2013 NSREC, “Signage as Advertising,” will address topical research on the third of four key areas that impact signage: Science, Technology, Art/Advertising and Regulation (S.T.A.R. initiative). Each of these four topical areas will/has annually serve(d) as the focus for NSREC.

Business Makeover Case Study: by Jeff Rexhausen, Associate Director of Research-UC Economics Center
Economic Value of Signs Research 1997-2012: An Overview by Kevin Stotmeister, President/CEO—Federal Heath
Visual Blight and Sign Regulations: How far can a city go to prescribe aesthetics? by Dr. Dawn Jourdan, Associate Professor and Division Director of City and Regional Planning, University of Oklahoma
Roundtable Discussion on Dr. Jourdan’s Presentation
Planning and Implementing an Urban Wayfinding Project by Sapna Budev, Director, Strategic Initiatives, ISA and Craig Berger, Fashion Institute of Technology and Craig Berger Management Consulting
Illuminated vs. Non-Illuminated Signage—The Economic Impact of Illumination
A CEO’s Perspective of Signage in Rebranding
Signage as Art and Creativity
Longitudinal Analysis of Signage Communication Evidence from the BrandSpark/Better Homes and Gardens American Shoppers Study by Dr. James J. Kellaris, James S. Womack/Gemini Chair of Signage and Visual Marketing, University of Cincinnati, Lindner College of Business

All conference materials will be available in a single, bound document for ease of reference. Several sessions have been approved by APA for certification maintenance units for planners. Early registration (until September 23, 2013) 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.

The Challenge
On-premise signage is one of the backbones of commerce. Centuries before the advent of the printing press and today’s modern graphic and electronic communication media, signage played a significant role in advertising the availability of goods and services. And signage, in all its various forms, is no less important a communication medium now than it was then. Despite its many contributions to retail vibrancy in our economy, questions are continually being raised about the value of signage and its social and economic impact and value. Until recently, there has been no single organization on the national level devoted solely to the development of peer-reviewed research and education that addresses on-premise signage for all concerned constituencies. That is where The Signage Foundation Inc. comes in.

The Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI) works to promote signage in the societal sense, educating the public about its social, economic and aesthetic value to the at-large society, emphasizing to users how to maximize their communication effectiveness. The Foundation focuses on bringing education to sign users and to those who interact with sign users, including advertising agencies, lenders, appraisers, attorneys, regulators, business form franchisers and small businesses.

SFI works to develop the most effective means possible to deliver information on the economic, social and communication value of on-premise signage to the end-using public and those who regulate it.

The Foundation builds relationships with academic and governmental organizations to develop and enunciate public policy for on-premise signs. The Foundation develops basic research on the social, economic and aesthetic benefits of on-premise signage. The resounding message throughout the work of the Signage Foundation, Inc. is the goal of establishing full and unconditional acceptance and endorsement of the time, place and manner focus as a commitment to storefront signage.