Wednesday morning I jump on plane and head out to Atlantic City for the United States Sign Council International Conference and trade show. I was invited last year to give three presentations. I must have had decent reviews for I was invited back this year to present three more seminars.

This year I decided to address three statements I often hear that irk me. The three statements are... 'I could never designs signs like that.' 'I could never build signs like that.' and the final being 'I could never sell signs like that in my town.' In my talks I hope to show just how I have managed to do these three things. I want to peel back the mystery of just how it is done.

The design talk will show how I find my unique ideas, how I puts the designs together from the first basic scribble through to the finished concepts, and how I has developed proven techniques for not only clever designs, but also how to present and sell these ideas to a prospective customer.

The marketing presentation will deal with how we get the word out about the unique product we create. I'll deal with how to pick a business name, develop an image, design and build a storefront, why to fill the store with samples, how we do our web marketing and how to build a name and reputation of doing work that grabs attention for our customers.

It is one thing to dream up a three-dimensional sign like the ones we are known for, but quite another to actually build them. In the last presentation I will show what is behind and underneath the three dimensional skin of our projects using step-by-step pictures as well as detailed descriptions of how a series of various sized projects came together - from the inside out.

I'm looking forward to the sessions and meeting with many of my sign making friends from the east coast and beyond. If you are going to be at the USSC conference I hope to meet you there too! Look for me at the Seminars or around the MultiCam or EnRoute booths.

-dan