Atlantic City

Atlantic City reminds me a lot of Las Vegas. Although there are far fewer the lights here they are also very bright. The attraction for those who like this kind of city is the night life and the excitement of the crowds.

After three days on the east coast it is time for me to head south, back to Trinidad for the consulting on the last major construction. I hear plenty has been done since I left, less than two weeks ago. The push is to get the concrete work finished this trip and all of the ground shaping done so the landscaping can begin at last. After the cool temps of the east coast I'm ready to thaw out once again on a beautiful tropical island - even if it is a construction site!

My hero, Bill Riedel

I am currently in Atlantic City, New Jersey at the USSC Sign World conference for a few days. I have the honour of doing three presentations during the trade show. Attending this east coast conference is also a wonderful opportunity to spend a little time with many sign friends whom I don't get to see very often. Today I was absolutely delighted to spend a little time with a very special hero of mine... Bill Riedel from Hackensack, New Jersey. Bill is one of the biggest (and oldest) inspirations in the sign industry. He's been a fixture at every Wall Dog and Letterhead meet I've attended through the years and like me, everyone in the industry looks up to him in a big way. Bill is an incredibly talented artist and yet down to earth and humble. He is always willing and eager to share his knowledge with anyone interested in our craft. Although long past normal retirement age, it hasn't slowed him down in the least. Thanks for the inspiration Bill!

A change in direction

In 1998 our company was growing at it's fastest pace ever. We had well over twenty employees working on three large projects in three cities - a thousand miles apart. It was a fast paced schedule with Peter managing one of the projects and me managing two. The crew were fabulous and talented and hard working but I was suddenly doing a job I never imagined I would have to do. The bulk of my time was spent managing people rather than creating fun projects. I missed working with my hands. At this point we decided to purposely change the direction of our company. From this time on we would be driven by projects we loved rather than sales. Over the next year we gradually downsized the number of crew and started being much more selective about the projects we would take on. I would miss the 'dream team' we had gathered but in the process I would get to do more of what I loved most. It was a business lesson I will never forget.