Sign Biz Network News Reunion Recap! April 2008 In this issue :: Best in Show: Brickett battles for the best! :: New Member Welcome! :: The Peters "honored" by their Sign Biz Family! Signtek earns Don Quijote Award! :: Milestone and Sales Awards! Dear Sign Bizzer,   It was great seeing you in Orlando!   We all had an amazing time. And now that you're all rested up, it's time for a Reunion Recap. We'll give you the down and dirty on who won what, what happened and introduce you to the very newest stores to join our Sign Biz family!  Enjoy!    PS. Keep your eyes open for the Reunion Review Survey arriving in your email inboxes soon! There's a chance to win $250 worth of Georgia Printco Product! Teresa M. Young, Pres/CEO

Best In Show! Brickett Battles for the Best   This year the theme was "your most creative and effective marketing efforts". We received 8 entries,  and the attending stores voted on the winner.   $85 in 9 volt batteries nabs Brickett $120,000  Steve Brickett of Magellan Signs grabbed the Grand prize with his great entry: He created a simple letter reminding his customers to change out their smoke detector batteries. He included a 9 volt battery along with the mailing. This little battery generated a three phase project sale totaling approximately $120,000.  Also, $7K in channel letters so far. Steve already has Magellan signed up for the EVIP Tech support services year-round,  so he took the Flexi Designer instead.     Peter Donates His Prize  Peter Wolf came in a very close second with his great Youtube video "Building Code Sign Disaster".     Peter proved that it's not just about winning and garnering all the amazing prizes and the screaming adulation of other Network members.   He graciously opted to give his EVIP Tech Support prize to the amazing Kim Rassmussen, who has taken over for her hubby running their shop!   All of the amazing entries and their descriptions are loaded on your Reunion USB bracelets for your review.     Get Ready for Next Year.... We had such positive feedback from this year that we're searching for new entries already... Watch for more info to come!   New Member Welcome! Give a warm welcome to all the new stores that have joined our family this year!    All of them have a fresh outlook and many of them are already contributing in a big way to help make the Network stronger! Let's hear it for the "newbies"!     Paul Rojeski Cornerstone Signs & Graphics Aurora IL     Anthony & Tina Pugh Zigns from Tennessee               Don and Debbie Smith Imagination Signworks McKinney TX           Curt Difurio All American Signs & Promotions Hatboro, PA              Marek & Barbara Mika & daughter Jessica Diamond Signs & Design Centennial, CO     John Credindino and Debra Sussman Sign Central Inc Marrietta GA           Jim Krynski Sign Studio Trappe PA     Justin & Michael Seibert The Sign Brothers Athens GA        Shanti Hill & Les Kurtz Elk Grove, CA Elk Grove Signs & Grafix       Chuck, Anne & Lauren Williams Sign Systems Technology Lawrenceville GA     John Merz Impressive Signs & Graphics WA            Bill & Cherie Brooks Prism Sign Group Plano TX              Scott Nelson Nelson Sign Group Duluth GA                Doug & Carla Pierce     Don't forget your piles of handouts!   The Sign Biz Reunion went Green(er) this year.  We included all of the handouts and take-aways on USB bracelets This is a lot of great information!   Just to use one example, one of our Silver Sponsors, Georgia Printco, has provided a complete 22-page catalog, an amazing estimator tool, a blank banner special for the Perpetual Blank Banner Blowout, plus a 10-page document of Policies, Forms and Helpful Documents! That is 35 pages for this one company!   No more lugging around reams of paper through airport security! All the materials for your classes are on these cool little doohickeys- so fish em' out of your luggage and load their contents onto your computer for review! We're saving trees here!     Workshops Extraordinaire! The next newsletter will highlight the astonishing line-up of workshops and topics - but in the meantime, catch the fever here: Heard at the Reunion A Family Reunion! THIS is what it's all about, folks! When Bill speaks, the Network listens. Special Events!!!  -The Sign Biz Cocktail Party is always "Top Shelf!" -Time to learn! Workshops by the dozens, and special guest Speaker, Stan Fellerman!   -Peter Wolf is "honored" by their Sign Biz Family   This year Peter Wolf got his just desserts... That's right, a "Toot Your Own Horn Award" presented by the loving Sign Biz Collective, for his efforts to always be on the look-out for an opportunity for self promotion.... Peter was tickled pink with his new award and enlightened the rest of the ceremonies with the beautiful sound of a bicycle horn.   ... and now for something more serious!   SIGNTEK achieves 2007 Don Quijote Award!   Elvis is in the Building!!! The award being presented to company owners, Richard Weaver and Elvis Campos.   The Don Quijote Awards is the premier event of the Hispanic community in Central Florida. The awards are presented every year to Hispanic entrepreneurs and leaders whose efforts have translated into success, including extraordinary ability in their fields and through their volunteer community service.  This year's selection committee reviewed more than 130 nominations. Want to read more? visit our pressroom!   All sorts of Awards! Milestone, Sales consultants and Rising Stars- Plus: a Bahamian Invasion!   2 MILLION DOLLAR MILESTONES!   By the way, Peter & Carolyn & Ryan Meyer of the awe- inspiring Wolfpack also received an award for the 2 MILLION dollar mark this year- hmmmmm, maybe it's about time for you to toot your own horn?      Clyde and Keith Willis of BXI/Artguild in Virginia have been putting in some hard work making it to a 2 MILLION dollar milestone of their own!         Want to see some of our other million dollar plus stores? Check out the Million Dollar Club on signbiz.com.       3/4 MILLION DOLLAR MILESTONE   $ Sue Callinan of Sign Age, Inc just hit the  750,000 mark this year and is proud of it!       1/2 MILLION DOLLAR MILESTONE   Steve Brickett of Magellan Signs is going strong with the 1/2 MILLION Dollar Milestone Award! (in addition to his other wins.. This "newbie" is one to watch!       Jeff Chercia of Compass Signs reached his1/2 MILLION Dollar Milestone for annual sales of $514,000 this year! Way to go Jeff!         Sam Tilford and Pete Thomas of Distinctive Signs just hit their own 1/2 MILLION Dollar mark with annual sales of $518,000 this year!     Matt & Sue Jordan of Signs Your Way earned their 1/2 MILLION Dollar Milestone this year!!!       THE CENTURY CLUB MILESTONE Sales exceeding $100,000 in a month     Gary and Karyn Grantham of ALLPRO Sign and Banner Company weighed in with the Century Club Milestone award for sales in one month of $101,539. Gary's session on getting government contracts was a real hit as well (and their skills probably played into their Milestone!)     Sam Tilford and Pete Thomas of Distinctive Signs also hit their own Century Club Milestone this year.     Matt & Sue Jordan of Signs Your Way earned their own Century Club Kudos for sales of $153,263 in one month!     Steve Brickett and his excellent team at  Magellan Signs achieved their own Century Club award for sales of $104,569 in one month! Go Steve!       Sales Consultant of the Year And yet another of the feared Wolfpack is on the road to world domination: Wesley E. "Ted" Harrington IV (Pictured as the Sales Newbie of the year in 2006) took over the Position of Sales consultant of the Year 2007 with Sales totaling in excess of one million dollars!!       Bahamian Sales Invasion!!! Peter Bates' team also carried away many of the New Sales awards. Peter brought many of his team en masse to the 2008 Reunion- sparking rumors of a not-so-hostile Bahamian takeover.   Norman Reiach was honored as the New Sales Consultant of the year.             Jonathan Thronebury was one of the Network's Rising Stars- his top grossing month was $36,365 with absolutely no training!         Elena deSouza was another of Peter's Rising Stars- achieving $22,815 in her top grossing month.