Gathering inspiration and sharing information.

This past week has gone by in a blur. Wednesday morning, early, I was on a plane bound for Atlantic City, New Jersey. My task was to present three seminars at the United States Sign Council's annual International Trade Show and Conference. I talked about designing, building and marketing three dimensional signs. The classes were well attended and folks were enthusiastic about the information and images I shared. It was a wonderful opportunity to see what was new in the sign industry, meet with many east coat friends and also meet lots of new folks whom I have admired for many years.

But I also took the time to look around me constantly, gathering new ideas at every opportunity. The fact is that everywhere I go creative people are doing things in new and exciting ways. My camera, which I carry in a pouch on my belt was out often, snapping photos of what I saw.

I started as soon as I got off the plane. The airport in Philadelphia has wonderful signs. All were the same size and shape, but whoever designed and crafted them didn't miss a chance to be creative. The brackets were part of the sign and not an afterthought. A CNC router was most likely the tool of choice.

In the evening I visited with my sign making friends. We travelled to the famous boardwalk for our supper. I didn't spend any time putting my money into the many slot machines but instead had my camera out snapping pictures of what I saw - all idea fodder for possible future projects down the road. The colorful truss structure of the Bally's sign was but one of the many ideas I saw. Everything here was larger than life.

Now, I'm back in transit back to our shop in little old Yarrow. I'm anxious to return to family and home. It will be an exciting and busy week. Sean Kirsch, the head tech at MultiCam in Texas will arrive Tuesday afternoon to start assembling and setting up our new four axis MultiCam router. A whole new chapter  in our exciting adventure is about to begin.

Stay tuned...

-dan