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by jeff wooten
April 2012, Vol. 26, No. 202
Questions of the Day— Answered?
Sign Builder Illustrated (ISSN 0895-0555) print, (ISSN 2161-0709) digital is published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corporation executive offices
President and Chairman Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. Publisher Arthur J. sutley
Some questions really are worth asking.
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very now and then, my mind will sometime wanders, and I start pondering questions where any answer seems maddening. For example: What existed before the start of time and how long did this period exactly last? Another good one: If the grammar reminder is “i” before “e” except after “c,” then how do you explain “neighbor?” Or “weird?” And maybe the best: How do you respond when your wife or girlfriend asks for an honest opinion about “does this outfit make me look fat?” (Then again, maybe this isn’t such a maddeningly perplex answer after all!) Then there are those questions that should have a logical answer but take some effort to arrive at them. For example, I saw a sign by the front door in a restaurant stating that “Braille menus are available by request.” However there was no Braille on this sign. Why not? Elsewhere, starting at the end of this month (April 30), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is slated to require about six million private-sector businesses to post an 11-by-17inch employees rights notice posters in their facilities to, among other things, inform workers of their right to join (or not join) a union. And as you might expect from having this subject brought up here, a number of these businesses are going to be sign companies. The first “logical answer somewhere” question that must be asked: Why? And then: Does the NLRB really have the authority to enforce this rule? A federal court recently judged that, yes, the NLRB does have authority to do so based on actions set by Congress, but it did dismiss a couple of severe penalties, such as an automatic
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Sign Builder Illustrated // April 2012
violation of the NLRA for failure to post this notice. Instead charges of unfair labor practices for failing to do so will be on a case-by-case basis. The International Sign Association (ISA) joined a coalition of manufacturing trade associations to oppose the then-proposed rule last year and is still doing so after this federal court ruling. Its statement: “The NLRB lacks the authority to require the notice or impose any penalties, and will be seeking further remedy in order to protect its members, perhaps even through legal avenues.” (Note: For more information about this matter, contact ISA’s David Hickey at david.hickey@signs.org.) Currently contributor Jim Hingst is working on an article about how the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) might affect you, so legislation appears to be a hot topic these days. Which leads to another question: Because of this court decision, will the NLRB feel entitled to enact more rules of this type? Not sure of the answer...yet. But it’s there somewhere. But fortunately there are some questions that are easy to answer, which we address this month. For example: What do you need to know about the appeal of wallcoverings (pictured, above)? Today tools and materials allow you to customize and transform rooms, lobbies, and hallways with high-definition images, paintings, and/ or photographs. On page 37, we offer solutions on how to market and install these graphics. See? Sometimes there are questions with easy answers! (And check out our informative articles about custom-routing, LED display content, and why handcrafted signage still matters.)
345 Hudson Street, 12th floor New York, NY 10014 212/620-7247; fax: 212/633-1863 editorial editor
Jeff Wooten
323 Clifton Street, Suite #7 Greenville, NC 27858 252/355-5806; fax: 252/355-5690 jwooten@sbpub.com associate editor
Ashley Bray
345 Hudson Street, 12th Floor New York, NY 10014 401/722-5919; fax: 212/633-1863 abray@sbpub.com contributing writers
Butch “superfrog” Anton, Mike Antoniak, Jan Fletcher, Jim hingst, Peter Perszyk, Mark roberts, lori shridhare, randy Wright art
Corporate Art Director Wendy Williams Associate Art Director Phil Desiere production
Corporate Production Director Mary Conyers circulation
Circulation Director Maureen Cooney advertising sales east coast regional sales director
Jeff sutley 212/620-7233; fax: 212/633-1863 jeffsutley@sbpub.com west & midwest regional sales manager
Kim noa
212/620-7221; fax: 212/633-1863 knoa@sbpub.com
For reprint information contact Art Sutley 345 Hudson St 12 Floor New York, NY 10014 212/620-7247; fax: 212/633-1863 Circulation Dept. 800/895-4389
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