Unique Ways to Use QR Codes

Is Your Restaurant Summer Ready?

Summer is officially here and the mercury is rocketing up thermometers across the country. Restaurants typically see a spike in summer traffic with many people eating out while on vacation, or simply avoiding cooking in a steamy kitchen. Is your establishment ready to stand out from the crowd and draw in customers during this busy time? Consider the following tips to bring in a bigger portion of the increased traffic:

Would you choose a restaurant with a faded marquee and burned out restaurant sign letters for your family? Probably not. If your signage has seen the bad side of a few too many winters, consider replacing it with an updated and fresh look. Loyal regulars will appreciate the  face-lift and out-of-towners will have a more favorable first impression of your restaurant.

If a full upgrade isn’t in the budget this year, create an updated look with window decals. Vinyl decals can be made in any shape and size, so let your imagination run with ideas for summer visuals. Decals are also an affordable solution for announcing new summer hours or special events.

Sandwich board signs are ideal for restaurants that receive a lot of foot traffic. Select a sign with a chalk board to highlight daily specials or have a custom sign made with your branding. Whether your restaurant is on Main Street or the boardwalk, having a sign on the sidewalk attracts a lot of pedestrian attention.

Promotional table top displays both indoors and out can be an effective way to upsell. Highlight a premium drink or entrée with a mouthwatering picture and description to entice diners into a more indulgent experience. Table tents are also a good place to inform guests about happy hours or other specials that may bring them back in again.

QR codes can also be used to bring in repeat guests. Place QR codes on window decals, menus, cups or napkins. A customer can scan the code and download a coupon for a free drink or dessert on their next visit. Make sure the coupon is easily sharable so they can let friends know about it as well!

With these visual communications tips it should be no sweat to increase your restaurant’s business this summer and throughout the rest of the year.

Universal Signage

FASTSIGNS has locations all over the world, so we know the importance of signs and symbols communicating clearly across language and cultural barriers. There are some symbols and images everyone understands, whether they communicate in Japanese, Arabic or sign language.

Creative Ways to Use Window Decals for Your Business

Today’s vinyl window graphics can promote a brand, provide essential information, announce sales or just provide a sense of fun. Prior to the widespread use of vinyl, businesses had to hire a window painter to create seasonal images and messages. These one-time use graphics chipped easily and were very messy to take off. Modern vinyl decals are not only easy to apply and remove; they can also be used multiple times if properly cared for. Window graphics are ideal for retail stores, commercial businesses, hospitals, showrooms, restaurants and hotels.

How to Create a Succession Plan for a Franchise Business

When Glenn and Martha Dodd opened their Fastsigns franchise in 1994 in Houston, their goal was not to create a family legacy. They expected that their children, Helen and Philip, would chart their own courses in life. But as the kids grew up and began working in the store after school and in the summertime, it dawned on the Dodds that Fastsigns might be a viable career path for the whole family.

Ties that bind: Fastsigns’ Glenn Dodd and his daughter, Helen Kutach.

“When we started, having a family business was not an objective,” says Glenn, who eventually opened a second Fastsigns franchise. “We wanted to find something we enjoyed doing, and Fastsigns was a really nice fit. I won’t say I was surprised when my children showed interest in the business. It just sort of evolved that way.”

Sharing a business can do much to strengthen familial bonds. But passing a family business from one generation to the next can be a complicated process. For various reasons–fear of mortality, or the inability to let go of an enterprise that was years in the making–the original owners often fail to discuss with their families a plan for what should happen if they die, become ill or take an early retirement.

Leaving succession plans up in the air is an almost certain death sentence for a family business. According to the International Franchise Association (IFA), only 30 percent of family-owned franchises make it to a second generation. That’s in part because, above and beyond any emotional issues related to succession, the franchisor has veto power and is the sole decider as to whether Junior is qualified to step in as boss.

“A few years ago this was a small issue,” says William Slater Vincent, a Georgia-based attorney and professor at Life University who co-authored the IFA’s handbook Franchise Succession Planning and Transfers. “But franchising has grown by leaps and bounds since 1980. Now we’ve got a full-force turnover going on, with so many people retiring or passing on. More and more children want to continue the family franchise.”

Although the desire is often there, few franchisees take the appropriate steps to make successful generational transfers. “As far as any real succession planning, I’d be surprised if 10 percent of franchisees do anything beyond lip service,” Vincent says. “With franchising, there’s a problem on top of that fundamental problem. I’ve worked with franchisees from over 100 systems, and every single franchise agreement I’ve seen clearly states that if the franchise owner dies, the franchisor has to approve the successor.”

While this may sound unfair, especially for franchisees who spend decades building equity in their businesses, the clause exists to protect the entire system. “Franchisors don’t want just anybody taking over their franchises,” Vincent says. “I don’t know how many times a husband dies and his wife takes over the business even though she was never involved before. Instead of being a viable business, it becomes an asset sale. Franchisors don’t want that.”

Every franchise has different requirements for succession. Some franchises have an informal system wherein a local rep simply signs off on the transfer. Others don’t seem to pay attention at all. Still others insist on asset and training requirements that are just as rigorous as the qualifications for new franchisees.

In the case of the Dodd family, the process was relatively painless. After working for much of their lives in their parents’ Fastsigns stores and taking ownership classes, the Dodd kids easily qualified for an ownership transfer. In 2006, Glenn Dodd gave his son a 25 percent stake in one store and his daughter the same stake in the other; he then allowed each to buy up to 75 percent ownership of the operation–including a mandatory 12 percent stake in their sibling’s store.

“The idea was to bind them together a little bit in terms of business planning and operations,” Dodd explains. “It encourages cooperation. The business has brought us all closer together, and we all value each other’s knowledge and experience.”

A Different Story
Franchisee Brent Upchurch had a different experience altogether. Raised, as he says, “with ketchup in his veins,” Upchurch watched his father run several McDonald’s outlets in South Florida. After college and a stint in the Marine Corps, he decided he wanted in on the family business. His father, Roger, agreed, but warned that it wouldn’t be an automatic handoff.

“My dad said, ‘There’s no easy way to do this. You have to learn from the ground up,'” recalls Upchurch, who did start at the bottom, working all the positions at his father’s restaurants for four years and eventually working for two more years as a manager. Only then did his father submit his name to McDonald’s for ownership approval. After that, there were two more years of training and evaluations.

In 2008, Upchurch was finally given the thumbs-up to own a franchise, but he didn’t get majority ownership in his first store until August 2011. “The onus is on you,” he says. “McDonald’s says, ‘Show me why you are an owner/operator.’ It’s your name on that lease you’re going to sign for 20 years. You have to be willing to go the extra mile, to make McDonald’s shine the way it should.”

Upchurch’s 11-year apprenticeship may seem extreme, but successful succession planning is often a 10- to 15-year process, according to Dana Telford, a consultant with Chicago-based Family Business Consulting Group. In fact, succession planning has become the cause du jour for franchisors, who have figured out that smooth transitions can allow them to focus on new units, instead of backtracking to fix or sell existing units where the handover process went awry.

“The best franchisors think through succession and how much control they have,” Telford says. “Succession really does affect their business, and if that goes wrong it creates huge headaches.”

Attorney Vincent agrees. “Quality franchisors will almost immediately start talking to you about your exit plan when you open your franchise,” he explains. “They want to know who will take your place if something happens in the short term, and what will happen in the long term. They will begin that dialogue right away.”

Seamless Succession
The key to a seamless succession is knowing exactly what the franchisor expects of the successor, then developing a plan to get the next generation ready to take over when the time comes. But getting to that point can be difficult.

“One of the biggest complexities is figuring out what mom and dad should say to the kids in the early days,” Telford says. “In the entrepreneurial world, there are a lot of discussions in short bursts. Dad grabs the kids to help him clean the store and says, ‘This can all be yours someday; we can work together.’ It’s an emotional outburst without much forethought. What often happens is he’s strapping the kids to the business with golden handcuffs, and that carries on into early adult life. That’s probably not what he meant to do, but that’s what the kids heard.”

Instead, Telford suggests parents broach the subject with an open discussion when the kids are teenagers. “They should say, ‘Look, this is the life we’ve created, and you can get involved. It’s our golden goose, and we like the golden eggs. We take it seriously, and if you guys want to get involved, we can talk about it as you get older,'” he says, noting the best-case scenario is that the children get an education, work outside the business, then come back once they’ve made an informed decision that the franchise is right for them.

Letting Go
Getting the kids onboard and enthusiastic about the business is one challenge. Another obstacle to succession is an owner who just can’t let go. For many franchisees, putting the business they worked so hard to build into someone else’s hands–even those of their own, well-trained offspring–is just too painful to contemplate. So, too often, they don’t.

One way to make the transition easier is to slowly hand over responsibility to the next generation, rather than relinquishing it all in one fell swoop. “Our dad laid a good foundation with everything he’s done,” says Glenn Dodd’s daughter, Helen Kutach, who points out that her father retains a 25 percent stake in the family’s Fastsigns operation. “He gets all the credit for that. We’re just prying his hands off the business finger by finger. Neither of us wanted to push him out before he was ready. This was his dream, and we still want him to have a great income but enjoy life a little more. We just want to do as good a job as he did.”

Whether Dodd’s Fastsigns business makes it to a third generation remains to be seen. “We plan on hanging on to it for a while, too,” Kutach says. “Our kids might have to pry our hands off as well. I’d give them that option, but if it’s not something they want to do, we won’t force them. Our daughter is 8 years old and says she’d like to be a part of Fastsigns. Hopefully, it will be there for her if she wants it.”

Get in Line
Putting a succession plan together is one of those things you should have done yesterday. Here are the steps to take now to make sure your hard work lasts long after you’ve left the business.

1. Get your house in order. There’s no use in trying to pass along your franchise if you haven’t handled your estate planning. In many cases, families are forced to sell a franchise simply to pay estate taxes–passing it on becomes a moot point. Consult a CPA to figure out what legal and tax vehicles make the most sense for your situation.

2. Put together a team. Passing on a franchise is easy if you have one child who has a passion for it. But what if you have multiple children, employees or other family members who want a piece of the pie? Working with family to set up the succession plan and bringing in the franchisor and legal experts can give you perspective and help you develop a plan that fulfills everyone’s goals.

3. Create a successor profile. Determine exactly what skills and experience you want your successor to have. Additionally, make sure you know what qualifications the franchisor requires.

4. Identify your successor. Who is the best person to run your company? Look at the profile you created and compare it to the interested parties. Maybe your daughter, who has always been lukewarm about the business and refuses to attend additional training sessions, is outshined by a passionate employee, or your well-trained son doesn’t have the organizational skills of his less-experienced brother.

5. Put them through the paces. Make sure your successors complete any training required by the franchisor. Then, make sure they know the business inside and out, and slowly hand them more responsibility. Even if you don’t expect to leave the business for years, your successor should be able to step in temporarily if you get sick, sidelined–or have an urgent desire to spend a quiet year on the beach.

This article was originally published in the December 2011 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Family Affair.

Everyone NEEDS a QR Code ;-D

A QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) first designed for the automotive industry. More recently, the system has become popular outside of the industry due to its fast readability and comparatively large storage capacity. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be made up of any kind of data (e.g., binary, alphanumeric, or Kanji symbols).

Created by Toyota subsidiary Denso Wave in 1994 ^[2] to track vehicles during the manufacturing process, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. It was designed to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

The technology has seen frequent use in Japan; the United Kingdom is the seventh-largest consumer of QR codes in the world.

Storage

The amount of data that can be stored in the QR code depends on the character set, version and error correction level. The maximum values for version 40 with error correction capacity level L are:

Numeric only Max. 7,089 characters

Alphanumeric Max. 4,296 characters

Binary (8 bits) Max. 2,953 bytes

Encoding

The format information records two things: the error correction level and the mask pattern used for the symbol. Masking is used to break up patterns in the data area that might confuse a scanner, such as large blank areas or misleading features that look like the locator marks. The mask patterns are defined on a 6×6 grid that is repeated as necessary to cover the whole symbol. Modules corresponding to the dark areas of the mask are inverted. The format information is protected from errors with a BCH code, and two complete copies are included in each QR symbol.

The message data is placed from right to left in a zigzag pattern, as shown below. In larger symbols, this is complicated by the presence of the alignment patterns and the use of multiple interleaved error-correction blocks.

License

The use of QR codes is free of any license. The QR code is clearly defined and published as an ISO standard. Denso Wave owns the patent rights on QR codes, but has chosen not to exercise them.

Uses

Although initially used to track parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR codes are now (as of 2011) used over a much wider range of applications, including commercial tracking, entertainment and transport ticketing, product marketing and in-store product labeling. Many of these applications target mobile-phone users (via mobile tagging). Users may receive text, add a vCard contact to their device, open a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), or compose an e-mail or text message after scanning QR codes.

They can generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several pay or free QR code-generating sites or apps. Google has a popular API to generate QR codes,and apps for scanning QR codes, such as ScanLife, can be found on nearly all smartphone devices.

Daylight Saving Time

Just as sunflowers turn their heads to catch every sunbeam, so too have we discovered a simple way to get more from our sun.

When we change our clocks

Most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and reverts to standard time on the first Sunday in November. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time.

In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It begins the last Sunday in March and ends the last Sunday in October. In the EU, all time zones change at the same moment.

Spring forward, Fall back

During DST, clocks are turned forward an hour, effectively moving an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening.

	United States			European Union
Year	DST Begins at 2 a.m.	DST Ends at 2 a.m.		Summertime period begins at 1 a.m. UT	Summertime period ends at 1 a.m. UT
2007	March 11	November 4		March 25	October 28
2008	March 9	November 2		March 30	October 26
2009	March 8	November 1		March 29	October 25
2010	March 14	November 7		March 28	October 31
2011	March 13	November 6		March 27	October 30
2012	March 11	November 4		March 25	October 28
2013	March 10	November 3		March 31	October 27
	March 9	November 2		March 30	October 26
US calculator valid 1976-2099; EU 1996-2099. Change with up/down key.

Spelling and grammar

The official spelling is Daylight Saving Time, not Daylight SavingS Time.

Saving is used here as a verbal adjective (a participle). It modifies time and tells us more about its nature; namely, that it is characterized by the activity of saving daylight. It is a saving daylight kind of time. Because of this, it would be more accurate to refer to DST as daylight-saving time. Similar examples would be a mind-expanding book or a man-eating tiger. Saving is used in the same way as saving a ball game, rather than as a savings account.

Nevertheless, many people feel the word savings (with an ‘s’) flows more mellifluously off the tongue. Daylight Savings Time is also in common usage, and can be found in dictionaries.

Adding to the confusion is that the phrase Daylight Saving Time is inaccurate, since no daylight is actually saved. Daylight Shifting Time would be better, and Daylight Time Shifting more accurate, but neither is politically desirable.

When in the morning?

In the U.S., clocks change at 2:00 a.m. local time. In spring, clocks spring forward from 1:59 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.; in fall, clocks fall back from 1:59 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. In the EU, clocks change at 1:00 a.m. Universal Time. In spring, clocks spring forward from 12:59 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.; in fall, clocks fall back from 1:59 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

In the United States, Daylight Saving Time commences at 2:00 a.m. to minimize disruption. However, many states restrict bars from serving alcohol between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. in the fall, however, the time switches back one hour. So, can bars serve alcohol for that additional hour? Some states claim that bars actually stop serving liquor at 1:59 a.m., so they have already stopped serving when the time reverts to Standard Time. Other states solve the problem by saying that liquor can be served until “two hours after midnight.” In practice, however, many establishments stay open an extra hour in the fall.

In the U.S., 2:00 a.m. was originally chosen as the changeover time because it was practical and minimized disruption. Most people were at home and this was the time when the fewest trains were running. It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants, and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. It is early enough that the entire continental U.S. switches by daybreak, and the changeover occurs before most early shift workers and early churchgoers are affected.

Some U.S. areas

For the U.S. and its territories, Daylight Saving Time is NOT observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Arizona. The Navajo Nation participates in the Daylight Saving Time policy, even in Arizona, due to its large size and location in three states.

A safety reminder

Many fire departments encourage people to change the batteries in their smoke detectors when they change their clocks because Daylight Saving Time provides a convenient reminder. “A working smoke detector more than doubles a person’s chances of surviving a home fire,” says William McNabb of the Troy Fire Department in Michigan. More than 90 percent of homes in the United States have smoke detectors, but one-third are estimated to have dead or missing batteries.

Incidents and Anecdotes

Throughout its long and fascinating history, daylight saving time has had a remarkable impact on a wide variety of unexpected areas–from Middle East terrorism to feuding twin cities, voter turnout to time-change riots, radio stations to trick-or-treaters, and opera performances to manslaughter charges.

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Draft Status, Vietnam War

A man, born just after 12:00 a.m. DST, circumvented the Vietnam War draft by using a daylight saving time loophole. When drafted, he argued that standard time, not DST, was the official time for recording births in his state of Delaware in the year of his birth. Thus, under official standard time he was actually born on the previous day–and that day had a much higher draft lottery number, allowing him to avoid the draft.

Bombing Thwarted

In September 1999, the West Bank was on Daylight Saving Time while Israel had just switched back to standard time. West Bank terrorists prepared time bombs and smuggled them to their Israeli counterparts, who misunderstood the time on the bombs. As the bombs were being planted, they exploded–one hour too early–killing three terrorists instead of the intended victims–two busloads of people.

Halloween Trick-or-Treaters

Through 2006, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. ended a few days before Halloween (October 31). Children’s pedestrian deaths are four times higher on Halloween than on any other night of the year. A new law to extend DST to the first Sunday in November took effect in 2007, with the purpose of providing trick-or-treaters more light and therefore more safety from traffic accidents. For decades, candy manufacturers lobbied for a Daylight Saving Time extension to Halloween, as many of the young trick-or-treaters gathering candy are not allowed out after dark, and thus an added hour of light means a big holiday treat for the candy industry. Anecdotally, the 2007 switch may not have had much effect, as it appeared that children simply waited until dark to go trick-or-treating.

Chaos of Non-Uniform DST

Widespread confusion was created during the 1950s and 1960s when each U.S. locality could start and end Daylight Saving Time as it desired. One year, 23 different pairs of DST start and end dates were used in Iowa alone. For exactly five weeks each year, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia were not on the same time as Washington D.C., Cleveland, or Baltimore–but Chicago was. And, on one Ohio to West Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles! The situation led to millions of dollars in costs to several industries, especially those involving transportation and communications. Extra railroad timetables alone cost the today’s equivalent of over $12 million per year.

Minneapolis-St. Paul

The Minnesota cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul once didn’t have twin perspectives with regard to the clock. These two large cities are adjacent at some points and separated only by the Mississippi River at others, and are considered a single metropolitan area. In 1965, St. Paul decided to begin its Daylight Saving Time period early to conform to most of the nation, while Minneapolis felt it should follow Minnesota’s state law, which stipulated a later start date. After intense inter-city negotiations and quarreling, the cities could not agree, and so the one-hour time difference went into effect, bringing a period of great time turmoil to the cities and surrounding areas.

Time Change Riots

Patrons of bars that stay open past 2:00 a.m. lose one hour of drinking time on the day when Daylight Saving Time springs forward one hour. This has led to annual problems in numerous locations, and sometimes even to riots. For example, at a “time disturbance” in Athens, Ohio, site of Ohio University, over 1,000 students and other late night partiers chanted “Freedom,” as they threw liquor bottles at the police attempting to control the riot.

Radio Stations

AM radio signals propagate much further at night than during the day. During daytime, more stations in neighboring areas can broadcast on the same frequency without interfering with each other. Because of this situation, there are hundreds of stations licensed to operate only in the daytime. Daylight Saving Time can affect the bottom line of these daytime-only radio stations: during parts of the year it can cause the stations to lose their most profitable time of day–the morning drive time. The gain of an hour of daylight – and thus broadcast time – in the evening does not fully compensate for the morning loss.

Voter Turnout in Elections

Through 2006, the Daylight Saving Time period has closed on the last Sunday October, about a week before Election Day, which is held the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The extension of Daylight Saving Time into November has been proposed as a way to encourage greater voter participation, the theory being that more people would go to the polls if it was still light when they returned home from work. The U.S. law taking effect in 2007 pushes the end of Daylight Saving Time to the first Sunday in November. In some years (2010, 2021, 2027, and 2032), this will fall after Election Day, giving researchers the opportunity to gauge its effect on voter turnout.

Amtrak

To keep to their published timetables, trains cannot leave a station before the scheduled time. So, when the clocks fall back one hour in October, all Amtrak trains in the U.S. that are running on time stop at 2:00 a.m. and wait one hour before resuming. Overnight passengers are often surprised to find their train at a dead stop and their travel time an hour longer than expected. At the spring Daylight Saving Time change, trains instantaneously become an hour behind schedule at 2:00 a.m., but they just keep going and do their best to make up the time.

Opera

Among the first institutions affected by Daylight Saving Time was the Berlin Opera, on April 30, 1916–the evening when the clocks in Germany were to be set forward for the first time. At 11:00 p.m., all German clocks were to be set to midnight. The Berlin Opera, with wonderful forethought, changed its schedule and began its performance of Die Meistersinger an hour earlier than usual. This allowed grateful audience members to be able to catch their customary trains home at the end of the performance. (All trains scheduled to depart between 11:00 p.m. and midnight were immediately behind schedule when 11:00 p.m. changed to midnight, and so left as soon as possible. And trains scheduled to depart after midnight left the equivalent of one hour early.

Violent Crime

A study by the U.S. Law Enforcement Assistance Administration found that crime was consistently less during periods of Daylight Saving Time than during comparable standard time periods. Data showed violent crime down 10 to 13 percent. It is clear that for most crimes where darkness is a factor, such as muggings, there are many more incidents after dusk than before dawn, so light in the evening is most welcome.

Antarctica

In Antarctica, there is no daylight in the winter and months of 24-hour daylight in the summer. But many of the research stations there still observe Daylight Saving Time anyway, to synchronize with their supply stations in Chile or New Zealand.

Manslaughter

In California, a Chevrolet Blazer packed with teenagers struck the median of a street and flipped over, tragically killing one teen and injuring several others. The teen driver, fighting charges of felony vehicular manslaughter, claimed that the street was dangerously wet and unsafe due a lawn sprinkler system. The landscaper responsible for the computerized sprinklers testified that the sprinklers were set to come on more than fifteen minutes after the fatal accident. The outcome hinged on whether the sprinklers’ timer had been adjusted for a recent Daylight Saving Time change, for without the DST adjustment, the sprinklers had close to 45 minutes to make the road slick.

Indiana

Indiana has long been a hotbed of Daylight Saving Time controversy. Historically, the state’s two western corners, which fall in the Central Time Zone, observed DST, while the remainder of the state, in the Eastern Time zone, followed year-round Standard Time. An additional complication was that five southeastern counties near Cincinnati and Louisville unofficially observed DST to keep in sync with those cities. Because of the longstanding feuds over DST, Indiana politicians often treated the subject gingerly. In 1996, gubernatorial candidate Rex Early firmly declared, “Some of my friends are for putting all of Indiana on Daylight Saving Time. Some are against it. And I always try to support my friends.”

In April 2005, Indiana legislators passed a law that implemented Daylight Saving Time statewide beginning on April 2, 2006.

Oil Conservation

Following the 1973 oil embargo, the U.S. Congress extended Daylight Saving Time to 8 months, rather than the normal six months. During that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation found that observing Daylight Saving Time in March and April saved the equivalent in energy of 10,000 barrels of oil each day – a total of 600,000 barrels in each of those two years.

Likewise, in 1986, Daylight Saving Time moved from the last Sunday in April to the first Sunday in April. No change was made to the ending date of the last Sunday in October. Adding the entire month of April to Daylight Saving Time is estimated to save the U.S. about 300,000 barrels of oil each year.

Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time commenced on the second Sunday in March and ended on the first Sunday in November, thereby saving even more oil.

Births and Birthdays

While twins born at 11:55 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. may have different birthdays, Daylight Saving Time can change birth order — on paper, anyway. During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

In November 2007, Laura Cirioli of North Carolina gave birth to Peter at 1:32 a.m. and, 34 minutes later, to Allison. However, because Daylight Saving Time reverted to Standard Time at 2:00 a.m., Allison was born at 1:06 a.m.

Amish Observance

Amish communities in the United States and Canada are divided about whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. Although the Amish are generally known for leading simple lives without modern conveniences, practices vary from community to community. Likewise, some Amish communities observe DST, while others do not. In one county in Ohio, approximately 10 of the 90 Amish church districts opt out of DST (known as “fast time” or “English time,” preferring to observe what they term “slow time.”

Stealing Time

As with the U.S., Great Britain has had a checkered past with Daylight Saving Time (or Summer Time, as it is known there). In the early part of the 20th century, citizens protested at the change, using the slogan, “Give us back our stolen hour.”

Daylight Saving Donut

In the U.S., Arizona doesn’t observe Daylight Saving Time, but the Navajo Nation (parts of which are in three states) does. However, the Hopi Reservation, which is entirely surrounded by the Navajo Nation, doesn’t observe DST. In effect, there is a donut-shaped area of Arizona that does observe DST, but the “hole” in the center does not.

Idea of Daylight Saving Time

The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin (portrait at right) during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, “An Economical Project.” Read more about Franklin’s essay.

Some of Franklin’s friends, inventors of a new kind of oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America.

The idea was first advocated seriously by London builder William Willett (1857-1915) in the pamphlet, “Waste of Daylight” (1907), that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays in April, and retarding them by the same amount on four Sundays in September. As he was taking an early morning a ride through Petts Wood, near Croydon, Willett was struck by the fact that the blinds of nearby houses were closed, even though the sun was fully risen. When questioned as to why he didn’t simply get up an hour earlier, Willett replied with typical British humor, “What?” In his pamphlet “The Waste of Daylight” he wrote:

“Everyone appreciates the long, light evenings. Everyone laments their shortage as Autumn approaches; and everyone has given utterance to regret that the clear, bright light of an early morning during Spring and Summer months is so seldom seen or used.”

Early adoption in law

Daylight Saving Time has been used in the U.S. and in many European countries since World War I. At that time, in an effort to conserve fuel needed to produce electric power, Germany and Austria took time by the forelock, and began saving daylight at 11:00 p.m. on April 30, 1916, by advancing the hands of the clock one hour until the following October. Other countries immediately adopted this 1916 action: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, and Tasmania. Nova Scotia and Manitoba adopted it as well, with Britain following suit three weeks later, on May 21, 1916. In 1917, Australia and Newfoundland began saving daylight.

The plan was not formally adopted in the U.S. until 1918. ‘An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States‘ was enacted on March 19, 1918. [See law]It both established standard time zones and set summer DST to begin on March 31, 1918. Daylight Saving Time was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919. After the War ended, the law proved so unpopular (mostly because people rose earlier and went to bed earlier than people do today) that it was repealed in 1919 with a Congressional override of President Wilson’s veto. Daylight Saving Time became a local option, and was continued in a few states, such as Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and in some cities, such as New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round Daylight Saving Time, called “War Time,” from February 9, 1942 to September 30, 1945. [See law] From 1945 to 1966, there was no federal law regarding Daylight Saving Time, so states and localities were free to choose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time and could choose when it began and ended. This understandably caused confusion, especially for the broadcasting industry, as well as for railways, airlines, and bus companies. Because of the different local customs and laws, radio and TV stations and the transportation companies had to publish new schedules every time a state or town began or ended Daylight Saving Time.

On January 4, 1974, President Nixon signed into law the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act of 1973. Then, beginning on January 6, 1974, implementing the Daylight Saving Time Energy Act, clocks were set ahead. On October 5, 1974, Congress amended the Act, and Standard Time returned on October 27, 1974. Daylight Saving Time resumed on February 23, 1975 and ended on October 26, 1975.

Overview of countries

While the adoption of Daylight Saving Time is almost always rife with controversy, most of the world (except for countries around the Equator) has implemented DST at one point or another. This map depicts countries that currently have DST, that previously had DST, and that never had DST.

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Worldwide daylight saving

Today, approximately 70 countries utilize Daylight Saving Time in at least a portion of the country. Japan, India, and China are the only major industrialized countries that do not observe some form of daylight saving.

Signs That Say What Everyone is Thinking

Signs and graphics are a great way to communicate many things. Whether your message is about safety, a sale or an upcoming event, signage is the perfect way to spread the word. But what about other messages you would like to share?

One man decided to take signs that look familiar to the “No Parking” signs that many of us are accustomed to seeing and use them to communicate his thoughts to the world. The result? Signs that say what everyone is thinking.

According to a story from CBS New York, Jason Shelowitz of the Metropolitan Etiquette Authority has been posting signs throughout New York reminding visitors and residents alike to do what is polite. Here are a few examples:

So, what do you think? Do these signs infringe on people’s freedom of choice and expression? Or do more cities need signs like these?

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/14/new-signs-remind-new-yorkers-visitors-about-etiquette/

http://laughingsquid.com/metropolitan-etiquette-authority-posts-prank-signs-in-new-york-city/

The 2011 MetamorphoSIGN Makeover Contest Winners

FASTSIGNS is excited to announce the winners of our first annual MetamorphoSIGN makeover contest! There were so many fantastic entries from businesses and organizations, of all shapes and sizes. We were happily overwhelmed by the hundreds of stories we received.

Our online world spoke and selected the first winner in Windsor, Ontario. Entry #32: L’atelier du Chocolat is who you chose to receive the first makeover!

The second winner, selected by an internal panel, is in Boynton Beach, Florida. Entry #171: The School House Children’s Museum & Learning Center will be receiving the second makeover!

As this was our first year and we were beside ourselves with excitement, we couldn’t resist adding a last-minute prize for an honorable mention. Entry #518: Little York Theatre, in York, PA, is receiving a makeover of up to $5,000!

Thank you very much to all who entered, as well as those who took the time to vote, and made our first MetamorphoSIGN contest a success. Please stay tuned for next year’s contest and to find out how these makeovers turn out!