It was good to be back in Kona for the Ironman this year. I'd been away for more than a decade. Previously, the race had been an annual pilgrimage for me, starting in October 1982 when I arrived on the Big Island to cover the event for the inaugural edition of Triathlon magazine (now Triathlete) and for my own publication Running & Triathlon News. For the next 20 years or so I returned each fall, as a journalist, as the Ironman finish line announcer and event emcee, as a media consultant, and, just once, a competitor.  

The town of Kailua-Kona hasn't changed much. It's grown, but at a leisurely pace.  There's a Walmart now, and a Home Depot. But the airport looks the same as it did 30 years ago, let alone 10, and if the names on the hotels have changed, the buildings themselves have not. In any other place you might say they seem a bit tired.  In Kona, though, they just look homey and almost achingly familiar. 

Of course I was there this year in an entirely new capacity. We had a gratifyingly large number of clients at the pre-race expo, and there was business to be done with the companies in attendance that weren't clients, but were at least willing to consider the possibility of becoming one. I pretty much talked myself into the ground for three days, stopping only when I figured that if I made the rounds at the expo one more time folks were going to start throwing things at me. 

One cool thing - one of the best parts of the week for someone in the signage business: I'd been looking at sponsor banners hanging on the buildings along Alii Drive in Kailua since 1982. For the first time ever, those banners belonged to MPA clients.  They had our name on them. Why that should be such a huge deal to me, I don't know. But it was. It was indeed. 

Mike Plant

Redesigned MPA Website Takes a Bow  

We print a lot of mesh banner fabric for a variety of uses, including large building banners, start and finish line truss signage, and digital print fence scrim. But a project we did recently for commercial real estate developer Cushman & Wakefield highlighted the imaging capacity of this versatile material and took the concept of construction fencing to a whole new level. Not too many folks even attempt this level of work with mesh.  The client was stoked and I think even we were pleasantly surprised at the result.  

Finished fence scrim as installed (left) and detail

Learn more about our digital print mesh fencing >>

We started working with the San Diego-based Competitor Group in 2013, producing signage for two national tours: the Tri-Rock Series & and Women's Running Series, plus the Nation's Triathlon in Washington, D.C.   Bounded by San Diego Bay on one side and the city's convention center on the other, the Tri-Rock venue in San Diego this year was a stunner. And the weather was as good as it gets. The signage package, which included tents, printed fencing, an inflatable arch and lots of Coroplast signs and vinyl banners, looked great too.  

HITS Endurance, producer of the HITS Triathlon Series, became an MPA client in 2013, and we were happy to produce a great-looking inflatable arch for the recently launched multi-city, multi-distance HITS Running Festival series.  Horizontal and angled tubes are digitally printed.  Verticals are easily replaceable vinyl banners with Velcro.  

Learn more about our inflatable arch structures >>

This photograph of two recently produced canopies for Boardman Bikes is instructive.  Most folks spend a lot of time thinking about the design of the canopy peaks, leaving valances to pretty much fend for themselves. The peaks are important, of course, since they offer a lot of raw, visual real estate, but valances can supply a high level of branding when used correctly. In this night shot looking across a harshly lit parking lot, the Boardman wordmark on the valances is clearly visible from a significant distance. Moral of the story: don't be shy or too design-y with this very important visual element.  If you want to be seen, big and bold valance copy is a good thing. 

View examples of our digital print tents >>

MPA became the Official Event Signage Supplier to Innovative Timing Systems LLC in September, allowing the two companies to work together at Interbike in Las Vegas that same month. ITS was a prominent sponsor at the Outdoor Demo portion of the show at Bootleg Canyon near Boulder City, NV on Sept 16-17, and used tents, flags and other signage produced by MPA under the terms of the agreement. 

The partnership makes sense for both organizations. ITS has positioned its Jaguar timing system as a top-of-the-line technology solution; its new event wardrobe helps bring that high-end promise to life. And for its part, MPA has partner-level access to more than 350 Jaguar licensees, producing more than 5,000 races annually. 

Read the official press release >>

Innovative Timing tents at the 2013 Interbike pre-show, Outdoor Demo.