The International Sign Association’s (ISA’s) Sign Expo kicked off on March 22, 2012 and ended on March 24, 2012 in Orlando, FL. 540 exhibitors populated the show floor to display new products and services to the graphic arts community.

87 of those exhibitors were new to the ISA community. The show was ten percent larger than the last time it was held in Orlando, FL two years ago. The number of attendees reached 16,200.

Join the Conversation

Similar to last year, attendees were encouraged to tweet throughout the show by including the hashtag #isa2012expo. Those that did found their messages on flat screen monitors at ISA’s booth.

New to this year’s trade show was a daily networking event—a designated happy hour, a mobile application to help attendees navigate the show floor, and text voting for Best New Product and Best Green Product at the show.

Those interested in participating in the best product awards were invited to visit ISA’s booth to get a list of nominated companies. Each company and its product had a specific number associated with it, attendees texted this number from the day the show opened until noon on Saturday March 24th.

The winner of the Best New Product award is Optiva’s SpellBrite Signage System. The solution offers interlocking letters that allow changeable messaging in LED lights. Best Green Product is the beBrite Induction Sign Lighter, distributed by N. Glantz Son. beBrite uses magnets on the exterior of fully enclosed lamps rather than electrodes on the end of lamps. This extends lamp life up to 10,000 hours.

New Products

Of note, several new devices were introduced in Orlando, FL. These include the Rho P10 Series of printers from Durst Image Technology US LLC, EFI’s R3225 UV roll-to-roll printer, the SureColor S30670 from Epson, Mimaki USA, Inc.’s JV400 series of printers, and the Océ North America Arizona 318 GL printer. Fujifilm North America Corporation announced its partnership with Visual Magnetics LP to offer the company’s magnetic solution.

See You Next Year