Signs of Life : Human Directionals Work at Being Another Roadside Attraction

Maybe you have seen them hanging around suburban street corners, fully clad in white, grinning incessantly and twirling oversized arrow signs toward the latest subdivisions like members of some odd real estate pep squad.

In Southern California’s intensely scrappy home sales market, these “human directionals” have become a hot gimmick from Simi Valley to San Diego--so much so that dozens of entrepreneurs are vying to compete with the handful of firms now supplying the hucksters.

But standing in the sun for hours as a smiley-face shill, swinging a cumbersome sign as the cars flash by demands the energy of a Richard Simmons, the patience of Job and the disposition of Kathie Lee Gifford.

People like that aren’t easy to come by: The top companies use rigid training techniques to make sure their human signs don’t look stiff or bored.

And they don’t come cheap: The biggest suppliers dish out up to $18 an hour for “the stars” of the fledgling field, some of whom go on to teach others their unusual tricks of the trade.

“These people are professionals,” said Joanne Williams of Costain Homes, which uses human directionals at its Summit development in Thousand Oaks, among other sites. “They always smile, they give off enthusiasm and they have a whole arsenal of moves.”

They need every move. If their energy flags or their smile fades, human directionals risk losing their job.

Like many other builders, Williams has come to rely on Eventz Extraordinaire, an Irvine-based company that claims to have invented the real estate cheerleaders seven years ago.

Regarded by developers as one of the classier providers of human directionals, Eventz Extraordinaire is also the biggest, with several hundred employees in California, Nevada and Arizona.

The key to success? It’s simple, according to company President Phil Ramsden: quality control.

To ensure that everybody is looking chipper and twirling with gusto, Eventz Extraordinaire employs an inspector for every 12 human directionals out in the field. The inspectors--usually former twirlers themselves--drive around all day, paying surprise visits to the troops.

In addition, the company pays dozens of standbys to be ready in case someone slacks off, walks off the job or fails to show up at all. And of course, the stars impart their hard-earned knowledge to the rookies.

“They are by far the best,” Williams said of Eventz Extraordinaire. “I tried another company once and the workers were lazy, they would sit down. Sometimes we would drive by and they wouldn’t even be there. They’d say, ‘It was too hot.’ ”

Like all businesses which come up with a good thing, however, Eventz Extraordinaire is increasingly facing stiff competition. It often comes from providers of clowns, mimes, giant hot dogs and other forms of human signage, or from traditional sign makers looking to expand.

Randy Rock is one of those looking for a bigger slice of the action with his human directional company, Streetside Motion.

A thespian and modern dancer with years of experience in Orange County, Rock said he brought a quirky new element to human directionals--out-of-work actors and performers--after starting his business two years ago.

“We take the theater to the roadside,” Rock said. “We know how to play to a crowd, and that in and of itself may not sell a home. But it will get people to take a look, and the sales people can take over from there.”

Rock’s business is still small, employing only about five human directionals a week--himself included--at several home sites including West Venture Homes in Simi Valley. However, he’s carving out a niche, he said.

When Rock first started as a human directional, working for one of his current competitors, he said, he felt a little stifled by convention: spinning and twirling the sign, wearing all white--it just wasn’t his forte.

“I was going through the motions,” Rock said. “It wasn’t working. But once I started playing off people, dancing, getting into the act, I clicked. I don’t mean to sound religious, but it was like an epiphany.”

With Streetside Motion, Rock has shed the white outfits in favor of more casual gear, and cut down on sign movement. His band of actors, dancers and comedians--about 30 in all--relies on each person’s unique talents to get the job done. In Rock’s case, that means Russian splits, ballet moves, jazz dance--even some techniques he copped from Martha Graham.

“When the traffic light’s red, and all eyes are fixed on you--that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “That’s when you’ve got to hit them with your best move.”

Part of the reason human directionals have become so popular is that many Southern California cities have adopted restrictive sign ordinances, said Janet Kemmerer, marketing manager for Kaufman & Broad’s coastal division.

Human directionals are a way to respectfully get around those laws, she said.

“I can put human directionals at major intersections or freeway offramps in communities where off-site signage is extremely limited,” Kemmerer said. “That’s where human directionals really come in handy. And when they’re done, they can walk away. They don’t leave anything in the ground.”

But they do seem to leave an impression. Adam Miner, a 20-year-old student at UC Santa Barbara, has been working one year for Eventz Extraordinaire, and his bosses say he’s a rising star. From Ventura to Sherman Oaks to Beverly Hills, every time Miner has been transferred from one subdivision to another, the sales staff has complained about losing him.

“It’s pretty simple: I stand here all day and twirl a sign,” Miner said, downplaying the intensity that has brought him countless honks of approval at his current location, the corner of Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley near Kaufman & Broad’s California Greenbriar development. “But I like working out here, the cars going by. I feel like an entertainer.”

The situation is a little different down the road in Thousand Oaks, where Mark Lee of Simi Valley points the way to Costain Homes’ Summit development in Lang Ranch.

The traffic is light, and the weather next to Westlake Canyon is unbearably hot. But as Lee is quick to point out, he would get a humdrum office job if that was what he wanted.

“If you ask me, standing outside all day, listening to headphones and spinning a sign is a pretty good job,” he said. “It’s hard to beat this.”