EDITOR’S COLUMN
AGENDA
BY JEFF WOOTEN
Note: Due to COVID-19 concerns, all events listed below are subject to change. Please check each show’s Web site for any cancellations or reschedulings that may have taken place after press time.
MARCH 2021 MARCH 23-25:
LabelExpo/Brand Print Americas 2021 is rescheduled to commence at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. (brandprint-americas.com)
APRIL 2021
Year in Review: A New World
APRIL 7-9:
The International Sign Association’s ISA International Sign Expo is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas, Nevada. (signexpo.org)
Out of the past and into the future.
4
Sign Builder Illustrated
and the sign industry was no different. In a year that many would probably like to forget, this year’s Yearbook recap will focus on how sign makers, graphics providers, and manufacturers and suppliers responded to whole-new measures like “essential business,” “social distancing,” and “Paycheck Protection Programs.” Yet it’s still important to remember there were still some non-pandemicrelated highlights of note over the past year. We’ve placed a few of these into a special sidebar in the Yearbook section. Other year-in-review items of interest that I figured would be a nice place to highlight here were Canon’s Print for Action survey finding that personalization was a key trend being favored by consumers, as 30 percent of graphics professionals responded that they highly value personalization in print materials (see our February 2020 issue); interior design elements increased in popularity within the industry (March 2020); and digital signage was used more to create immersive experiences (June/July). Here’s hoping that, when it comes to next year’s Yearbook special, we’re back to spotlighting the projects you’re creating and installing as you successfully embrace being the best sign-making Buck Rogers possible.
JEFF WOOTEN Editor, jwooten@sbpub.com
December 2020
JULY 2021 JULY 21-24:
The Mid-South Sign Association’s SignConnexion event will be occurring at the Ross Bridge Golf Resort in Birmingham, Alabama. (midsouthsign.org)
OCTOBER 2021 OCTOBER 6-8: PRINTING United Alliance, which brings together the largest and most diverse audience in the printing industry, will be taking place in Orlando, Florida. (printingunited.com)
OCTOBER 25-29:
Photo: Shutterstock.com/PixDeluxe.
D
oes anyone out there remember the pulp novel-comic strip-movie serial-TV series character Buck Rogers, the action-oriented hero who fell into a state of suspended animation in the twentieth century only to wake up 500 years later? One of the big selling points with this classic character was that he found himself having to adjust to new technologies, new threats, and new ways of life while still managing to keep his twentieth century know-how with him. If you’re not familiar with Buck Rogers, the concept can practically be summed up as a sciencefiction version of Rip Van Winkle. One can be forgiven if you start relating a little bit to Buck Rogers here at the end of what can probably be described as a very stressing year—only the past 365 days doesn’t literally count as 500 years (no matter how it much it probably feels like it). Yet similar to Buck Rogers, sign makers have had to adapt to servicing a whole new world with the same tools and materials that you’ve already been using. The reason I bring up the Buck Rogers analogy this month is that we’re presenting our annual Yearbook article on page 18. We typically use this piece as a look-back at the best projects that graced our pages over the past year. But like I just mentioned—it’s a whole new world out there. COVID-19 pretty much dictated the course of the entire year for everyone in North America starting back in March,
The 2021 LightFair architectural and commercial lighting conference and tradeshow, which will be incorporating new safety protocols and specific mitigration measures, has now been rescheduled to occur on these new dates at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City, New York. (lightfair.com)
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