ISA announce UK partnership with the BSGA
American sign organisation, the International Sign Association (ISA) has today announced a new partnership with the British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA), to form ISA-UK.
Thursday, 23 Aug 2018 15:34 GMT
ISA president Lori Anderson and chief operating officer Brandon Hensley join the BSGA Council
The BSGA’s new name will be ISA-UK, powered by the BSGA, so that members can still see the connection. It will remain autonomous and will deal with UK-centric issues on its own, but issues that are shared across the Atlantic will be dealt with together.
The announcement follows a year of talks between the two associations where similarities were identified. Both organisations are working to grow, strengthen and educate the sign, graphics and visual communications industry and today have announced they will work together to achieve those goals.
Lori Anderson, president of the ISA says: “This is a synergistic opportunity to bring together the outstanding resources on both sides of the Atlantic. The end result? We will have a co-ordinated effort to tackle some of the most pressing problems facing our members and we will have an opportunity to tackle the problems that are facing the overall industry.”
This is a synergistic opportunity to bring together the outstanding resources on both sides of the Atlantic”
David Catanach, director of the BGSA says there are already similarities between the two organisations in how they approach issues and share resources. Catanach says: “In the US, they have local planners who control whether signs are permitted and built. We have the same problems over here in the UK.
“The ISA works to educate these planners whereas what we do is something similar, but it’s more adversarial. We want to move away from that and help them to understand the needs and the requirements of signs. We can share resources and expertise, not only in the education that we provide for these planners, but also in the strategies that have been employed successfully by the ISA. Ultimately, the goal is to help planners understand how signs can contribute to vibrant communities. That is the same in North America and in the UK.”
ISA has invested over six figures into an online learning management system that will be shared with BSGA members who can utilise relevant resources. ISA will be supporting the British Sign Awards on November 8th where sign-makers across the UK are celebrated for their skills.
What do you think of the new partnership? Email your views to summer@linkpublishing.co.uk or follow us on Twitter and have your say.
