IN THE INDUSTRY
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lexandria, Virginia—The ISA International Sign Expo transformed into an online experience this past April 7-9. This year’s ISA Sign Expo® 2021 – Virtual event offered up over seventy education sessions, seventy-plus interactive virtual booths, and plenty of opportunities for networking over the three-day period. The all-virtual experience brought more than 7,500 attendees—a figure that blew past the projections and industry averages for these types of events.“People were skeptical that any virtual event could come close to replicating the excitement of an in-person [Expo], but those who participated told us we came pretty darn close,” says ISA President and CEO Lori Anderson. “In fact, more than 2,000
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Sign Builder Illustrated
May 2021
[people] signed up after the event began. While some of those were probably people who procrastinated, I believe others got an email or heard from a colleague how valuable they were finding the event. “One attendee said he ‘took an idea he learned in one of the peer groups and connected that to something that he heard in a Women Leading the Industry (WLI) education session and has already pulled his team together to see if they can make this change in his company.” (https://bit.ly/3s9RsYs) In all, some seventy-five suppliers and manufacturers were present on the Expo floor, and most reported a tremendous level of engagement from signs, graphics, print, and visual communications companies who were ready to buy and invest.
Other notable highlights of ISA Sign Expo 2021 – Virtual included: Game Changer Session. Futurist Sheryl Connelly shared her thoughts on the factors that will affect the future and your business. Connelly pointed out that a company’s strengths aren’t owned by them—they are determined by the market, which can be fickle. “The only way to predict the future is to create it,” she urged. When looking to add people to your company, Connelly said to focus on diversity, multidisciplinary candidates, and passionate/creative types. In fact, according to a paper from Michigan State University, Nobel Prize-winning scientists are 2.85 times more likely than the average scientist to have an artistic or signshop.com
Shutterstock/ Eakrin Rasadonyindee
ISA INTERNAT A IONAL AT SIGN EXPO 2021 VIRTUAL RECAP
