My name is Chuck Gose and I'm a MediaTile employee -- and a former customer.

Companies are discovering every day that it's critical to keep employees informed and up to date. An engaged and educated workforce is a productive workforce. And with the challenge of competing messages adding to the clutter, how do your employee communications rise above it?

In this blog I will discuss how to install your very own MediaTile digital signage network for your company and how to integrate digital signage into your communication tool belt. We hope to help you understand how to best use the technology, including digital signage hardware and digital signage software, to engage your workforce and enhance your internal communications and corporate communications activities. If the blog helps, great. If it doesn't, let me know. You're free to use the comment sections after each posting to contribute your own ideas.

I started writing this post in the morning to provide a preview but it's now almost mid-day.

At last night's cocktail hour (that lasted two), I was pleased by the amount of interest in digital signage for internal communications. I think the previous day's speakers raised some important eyebrows about how to best use the technology to advance corporate communications.

• This afternoon, I'm looking forward to hearing a case study from the the Houston Airport System. The session is set to provide best practices, know-hows and strategies. I'm confident that many will apply to employee communications networks.
• And right before lunch is a session titled, "The Future of Digital Signage." (For some reason, this reminds me of the Conan O'Brien "Year 2000" sketches.)
• After lunch, Bill Gerba from Wirespring leads a discussion titled "Fail to plan and plan to fail." I'm interested to hear what he and the attendees have to say because I'm sure there are quite a few horror stories in the audience, both from a software and hardware standpoint.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, MediaTile has a large presence at Strategy Institute's Building Your Digital Signage Business Summit this year. And a lot of the session conversations has revolved around digital signs in the retail environment.

Lunch, however, was a pleasant surprise. I sat at a table with individuals who are either interested in a corp comm network or already have one in place to help corporate communications. Two people from a VA hospital in Kansas City, MO, installed a network to help get messages to employees first and then families and patients second. One of the screen locations they've found that works best is right dead center between two elevators that employees use. The screen sits right above the up/down button.

Genius. But what's most amazing (and frightening) about this group is that they developed the solution themselves. They did not know that digital signage solutions existed!

AAAAAHHHHHHH! Stop the insansity!!! (Yes, that's Susan Powter.)

I hope this blog helps reach this particular audience to let them know that there's an easy digital signage software and hardware solution out there.

We discussed how difficult it is to measure digital signage ROI in internal communications. Employee surveys are a solid route to go, but the data isn't as reliable as what's found in the retail environment. Defined data can be a sticking point for those requesting it, but we discussed that engagement numbers seem to tell the best story for any ROI "calculation."

Stay tuned sports fans. If anything else comes up, I'll drop in a quick post.

Chicago isn't exactly my most favorite city. . . especially once the thermometer dips below 32 degrees. But I'll be there the next few days to attend the fourth annual Building Your Digital Signage Business summit put on by the Strategy Institute.

Our very own Keith Kelsen, MediaTile's Executive Chairman, is chairing the event. Keith is still on his crusade for content so I'm hoping for some great conversation and discussion around the importance of it. No matter what the installation environment (corporate communications, retail, banking, etc.), we're all trying to do the same thing -- draw attention to the signage.

This year’s summit does not particularly cater toward internal communications applications though, but it should be valuable because many of the industry leaders presenting will address the impact of the weakened economy on the adoption and growth of digital signage in 2009

Maybe we'll see you there?

Of course, I'm a believer that digital signage is an undervalued tool in the internal communications world. I've drank the Kool-Aid (so to speak). The technology combines the strengths of the other vehicles you use into one powerful network. Easy to update, broadcast everywhere, reach disconnected workers, yada yada yada. You've "heard" the story.

So with regards to digital signage, when is a turn off really a turn on?

One of the useful features MediaTile's Digital Sign in a Box provides is the ability to schedule your screens to turn on and off on a daily schedule. Let's say you work in a place where your coworkers leave at 6 pm and do not return until 7 am. In our Broadcast Portal, you can schedule to have your screens turn off once your coworkers leave and then turn back on at the designated time.

Scheduling the display to turn off does three things for you:

1. Extends your screen life by not running them when you don't need to
2. Shows you're not wasting electricity by powering your digital signage overnight
3. Demonstrates to your employees that you're paying attention to your network

And even though your screens are turned off, you still have the ability to download content to them, update schedules and so forth.

Turn on your audience by turning off your screens when no one's watching.

Open enrollment time is one of those "events" that nearly every company goes through, and can be a royal pain for internal communications. Benefits in and of themselves are confusing even -- for even the most hardened HR professionals. Now you factor in that employees are having to learn about them and make important decisions for their families, along with costs skyrocketing. . . yikes.

I read a Newsday article about a firm who's using a blog to communicate benefits news, which I think is a really good idea. But what if you work for a company that has employees who can't access a blog or other technology -- factory line workers, janitors, contractors, etc. Digital signage can really help you out by embedding your content in your employees' local environment.

Open enrollment is one of those times of year when companies rely more and more on employee communications professionals to help spread the important message. If you have "disconnected" employees, you are likely printing thousands of dollars worth of materials to help reach them. A network of digital signs can bridge the gap and save you a few bucks (along with several trees.)

With so many companies eliminating offices and going to an open office environment (i.e. Cubicle World), noise in the workplace can be an issue. It's already distracting enough to hear coworkers personal phone calls and conversations, must they now also listen to your digital signage network?

Sound is something you absolutely must consider when installing a employee communications network. There are two ways sound, or lack thereof, can be your enemy.

I would not want to be the employee your coworkers give evil looks to because you're pumping sound into an already noisy environment. I would also hate to be the guy or gal who spent thousands of dollars (if not more) installing a network without sound capability and then have a CEO say, "Hey you corp comms person, I like to hear myself talk. Play this video for everyone at noon so that we interrupt their lunch hour. They love me."

You will get requests "similar" to that, so you need to be prepared to offer sound, but I recommend that your daily content not have any need for sound. This way, even if you're putting it in areas where sound is okay, like break areas, cafeterias and possibly lobbies, your content will play the same everywhere.

The MediaTile Digital Sign in a Box technology has a variety of sound options for you. Our 19", 26" and 32" DSBs automatically come with speakers. But just because they come with them, doesn't mean you need to use them. Speakers are optional on our larger 42" and 47" DSBs, but I recommend to anyone get the speakers anyway just in case.

And then, if that CEO asks you to play his favorite video, your digital signage system can comply. . . though possibly at the angst of your fellow coworkers.

And now enjoy Simon and Garfunkel's "Sound of silence." Because the sound of silence may be your ally.

In 2007, the top baby boy names were Jacob, Michael and Ethan, and Emily, Isabella and Emma for the baby girls. Why is this important? It's not, but sometimes I think that people spend more time coming up with a name for the digital signage network than they do their own children.

Sure, it's important to properly brand your network in context with your other internal communications vehicles so that your audience doesn't call it "those TVs" or "that thing."

When I was at Rolls-Royce, I inherited the name RRTV -- not overly clever but the point gets across. I was determined to change it when we installed the new MediaTile cellular digital signage but then realized it was a worthless effort. Employees were used to calling it RRTV and were going to still call it RRTV no matter what I did.

Think back to when you rebranded a newsletter or launched an intranet site. I'm sure you can remember the amount of time spent on simply coming up with a catchy name. How important is the name now compared to the actual content contained?

So I guess I'm suggesting that it's definitely worth naming your digital signage solution so that people know how to refer to it, but please don't pull together a focus group to brainstorm "clever" names. If you're taking it that far, ask them the important stuff:

• What information would like to see on the digital signs?
• How often should it be updated?
• Who owns the information/content?
• How do we keep IT's collective hands out of the communications cookie jar?

It's okay to think of your digital signage as your baby (in fact we'd appreciate it), but please don't spend as much time naming it as you did your first born. In the classic 80's movie WarGames, the computer's name was Joshua. I don't see why you couldn't name your network Jacob or Isabella. Clearly people like those names. It might be kind of creepy but your employees likely wouldn't forget it.

"Would you like to play a game?"

The headline is borrowed from an REM song, but it relates to a question I get asked quite often from fellow corporate communicators.

You've heard from me at least a bazillion times that content is what will determine if your digital signage network is a success or a failure. But great content is not enough; you must also keep the content fresh. Stale, old content will turn away an audience just as quick as irrelevant or boring content.

So, how often should you update your digital signs with new and up-to-date content? The easy answer is every day. Several times a day in fact. But given the usual corporate communicator's schedule, this is an impossible dream.

At a bare minimum, you should be pumping out to new messages to your network at least twice a week. You know what happens when you neglect your intranet or your newsletter. You need to treat your digital signs no different than any other employee communications vehicle.

And there are a few tricks you can employ, using RSS and other automated varieties of content (like weather reports) that keep your network's content fresh without you having to mind the controls.

On a side point, there are many networks out there that get neglected and I don't think it's because of a lack of time or commitment though. I think the dirty little secret out there is that so many digital signage software packages stink. They are awful.(There are probably more colorful words that many would users would offer up but I'm trying to keep it clean for the kiddos.) And many times require you to take your existing content and transfer/transform/convert it into their proprietary format.

It's simply not necessary, especially with MediaTile's Broadcast Portal and "No IT" signage solution. By keeping your content in its native format, it's much easier for you to push it out to your network.

Back when I managed my own network, I made the commitment of updating my screens at least twice a week. Sometimes, it was just that, while other weeks I'd have more time to spend. But even on the most routine of weeks, I spent an hour a week on content to reach 4,000+ employees.

How much time do you spend on your newsletters and other employee communications activities?

MediaTile would like to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween.

David Trounstine, our director of creative services, created the fantastic artwork below as part of October's content for our Media-Moments subscription service.

For customers who subscribe, you receive monthly themed content delivered right to your Broadcast Portal's content directory for you to play on your digital signage network.

I absolutely love it when I come up with clever headlines like that, even if I am the only one amused.

Anybody who watches cable news programs knows how much the news directors love tickers on the broadcasts. It's a dizzying array of multiple colors, varying speeds, and different fonts at both the top and bottom of your television. And we're not even talking about their (at times) cartoonish graphics. It's enough to send viewers into a full-on seizure.

That being said, should you have tickers on your digital signage network? Yes. Should you copy what the cable news programs do? Dear. God. No. You can use tickers in a way to complement your content or you can use them to distract your audience. I would choose the former. You do not need your coworkers to suffer from sensory overload.

Here are three ways to make sure your tickers are a "treat" and not a "fright" on your digital signage system:

• Mind your speed: If you have your tickers on a crawl, make sure they are fast enough that your coworkers aren't bored, but also slow enough that they can catch up to the message on the screen.
• One is the perfect number: On our Broadcast Portal, you have the ability to choose multiple screen layouts, including one with two tickers. I, however, recommend sticking to just one. It may be the loneliest number but it's the right choice.
• Content wins: You have some choices when it comes to content. You can subscribe to RSS feeds, which is hands-off content for you. You may also simply type in your own text for quick updates. And you can even pop in the weather report. (For those outside the sun belt, the weather is a big deal.)

There are two kinds of people int his world -- those that like Neil Diamond and those that don't. There are also people who like tickers and people who don't. Which one are you? Use tickers the right way and your internal communications can and will benefit from them.

Coming from my internal communications background, I try to make as much use of social networking sites as humanly possible. I spend quite a bit of time (but not too much) on LinkedIn and Facebook and have started MediaTile groups on each one.

If you're on either site, please check us out:

• LinkedIn group
• Facebook page

The goal is to use the sites' services to help spread the good word of what we're doing in the digital signage marketplace to our customers, both present and future. The Facebook page is especialy helpful because it allows me to include some of artists' great work, as well as any news updates and photos from events.

And if you're wanting to connect on LinkedIn, here's my profile.

MediaTile's lovely and talented customer support manager Jessica Helick emails out weekly tips to our customer base, providing basic how-tos and reminders to make sure it is using our digital signage software (Broadcast Portal) to the very fullest.

Last week's email focused on five tips for successfully scheduling content to your MediaTile network.

1. An Instant Playback command overrides a scheduled event. If an Instant Playback is issued to a display or group of displays, that content will play until another Instant Playback is issued, or the next scheduled event begins.
   
2. Content should be scheduled around the clock. If your displays are scheduled to power off at night, for instance, be sure to schedule content to resume playing in the morning. Otherwise, the display will remain powered off until the next scheduled event or Instant Playback is issued.
   
3. Scheduled events take place at a future date and time, and schedules cannot retroactively begin playing content.  For example, if at 3:10pm you create a schedule to begin at 3:00pm, that content will not begin playing until 3:00pm rolls around the next day. If content must begin playing at once, issue an Instant Playback.
   
4. Schedules can run back-to-back, and do not require “time buffers” between events.
   
5. Remember to create and populate your display group before creating schedules. Unlike Instant Playback, which can be issued to a single display, Schedules can only be created for display groups.

I know that some of these items are very particular to the MediaTile digital signage solution, but I wanted the blog world and my six readers to see an example of how we communicate to our customer base. We take care of our customers and love them a whole lot. . . much more than the other guys. It's true.

Throughout my career, the bureaucracy controlling the almighty corporate lobby has amused me. The pictures. The music. The fancy desk. Whatever it may be, someone "owns" that environment and they are damn proud of it. If you're thinking of installing a screen from your digital signage network in the lobby, you will need to get their permission or face the consequences.

So what role does digital signage play in the lobby?

Done the right way, it can enhance the visitor/guest/employee experience. You can put together dynamic playlists of your corporate video and welcoming messages, along with other non-business critical information like weather, local news tickers and so forth.

But the topic that always seems to trip people up is, "Do you show in the lobby what you're showing employees on their own network?"

Many say no. I say yes. Because you do not know who is looking at the lobby digital signage, use them as a educational tool to let your visitors know what you're talking to your employees about. Your internal communications messages can be a valuable asset in winning over new customers or new hires -- two audiences who would be watching in the lobby with a few idle moments. Not all messages may be necessary (benefits for example), but I think you'll find you can get more bang for your buck by re-showing most in the lobby.

Let's say you have a big customer or influential visitor popping by, you'd typically let your employees know about it. Well, let the customer know that you let your employees know about the visit. Imagine the impression left on the visitor.

And with our cellular approach, you can appease the lobby "owner" with a nice, clean look without all the hassles of running cables and wires.

The official release went out this morning but I thought I'd use this space to publicly congratulate Simon Wilson (pictured right) as the new CEO of MediaTile and a member of the board of directors. Simon joined MediaTile just this past January as the COO and has improved our manufacturing and customer delivery programs to meet the growing demand for our technology.

Our former CEO Keith Kelsen (on the left) is still very much involved with the company and will remain as the executive chairman of the board. This will free up Keith's time to spread the good word of MediaTile through various speaking engagements and associations. Keith currently serves as the chairperson of the Content Best Practices committee for the Digital Signage Association. 

For additional details on the announcement and transition, check out the full announcement.

Launching even the simplest digital signage network at one location can seem daunting to even the most hardened corporate communications professional. But what if you're asked to build one that crosses state lines or even country borders?

Using "traditional" means of networking, building a network from scratch can become very problematic, especially when IT gets involved and starts preaching network security. But with our cellular digital signage, it's a no-brainer.

Our cellular-enabled Digital Sign in a Box product can be placed anywhere in the world there's a cellular signal. All you need to provide is power and you're ready to go. Simply put, you can install LCDs as communication tools exactly where you want them without having to worry about IT limitations or restrictions.

I was in Toronto yesterday meeting with MediaTile Canada to discuss several corporate communications projects they are working on. (Special shout-out to Lou and Murray.) If your company is looking to use digital signage for global communications, we have distributors set up around the world to help out. In addition to Canada, we have distributors set up in Europe and Africa for example. And with our solution, you can manage a global network from one seat or permit local contributors to own their piece.

The video below is a special flashback to the USA For Africa's "We are the World," back when Michael Jackson and Kenny Rogers looked like Michael Jackson and Kenny Rogers. Not at all related to digital signs but definitely amusing.

If you've ever been through an OSHA audit at your workplace, I feel your pain. I've been there. One of the many things they evaluate, including your various safety procedures and guidelines, is how you're communicating health and safety information to your employees. "Are you keeping employees aware of potential hazards and issues?" That sort of thing.

Companies are "required" by law to put up various posters and fliers that are often times 5-10 years out of date and include aged photos and clip art. Plus, cheesy headlines like mine above are the centerpiece.

The problem is that they become such a part of the environment that employees stop noticing. Nothing changes and nothing is up to date. Health and safety communication should be much more than just a "check in the box" because you're really talking about life and death in some cases.

If you currently use a digital signage network for employee communications, are you pumping it with various health and safety messages? If not, you're missing out. Again, it's much more than just an audit victory. You're delivering vital, up-to-date information right where employees work.

And you can get much more creative about it than just static messages. Have employees create videos demonstrating proper safety behavior. Get them involved in the act and employees will be much more likely to watch and take notice. Make them the stars!

Continental Airlines is a MediaTile customer and they use their digital signs to deliver a considerable amount of health and safety information. And, better yet, they have data to support it. Since installing the network, they've seen a 30% reduction in safety incidents.

30%! That's huge! This data means more and more employees are now safer in the workplace and are returning home to their families.

There's simply no dollar figure or investment greater than one that keeps employees safe and healthy.

We closed out a successful appearance at this year's Kioskcom and Digital Signage Show in New York City. Aside from poor cell phone reception on the floor, it was a great event. There wasn't a large presence of corporations looking for employee communications support (at least not what I saw), but we did get to meet with quite a few retailers and financial institutions looking for digital signage software and hardware solutions.

I snapped a few photos of our hardware in the IBM booth -- our Kiosk in a Box that features both digital signage and an integrated touch screen.

As MediaTile attends future events, I'll be sure to use this blog to keep you in the loop, just in case you're in the area. The next Kioskcom / Digital Signage Show takes place May 6-7, 2009 in Las Vegas.

Yesterday, I visited one our clients to check in to see how their install was going. It's our largest digital signage install to date dedicated to employee communications.

In doing the walkaround, we began talking about the ideal places to put new screens based on employee behavior and traffic. For example, putting them in a lobby looks great and has high traffic, but rarely do employees hang out in the lobby, unless they are meeting coworkers for lunch or something. If you're considering putting a digital sign in a lobby, focus it more toward guests, visitors and customers.

This is why cafeterias and break rooms are important real estate. You have a captive audience, often times either just zoning out or looking for something to read/watch. An example was one break room we saw where an employee was heating up his lunch, a Hot Pocket perhaps. While he was waiting for his tasty treat, he was checking out the MediaTile 32" Digital Sign in a Box on the wall. It replaced an old, dusty CRT monitor so the eye was naturally drawn to the bright, vibrant message.

So when you begin thinking about places to install your digital signage network, consider what employees will be doing in the area. Vending machines, coffee pots, microwaves and copy machines are are draws for employees, where they typically spend some time waiting. Mail rooms as a location? People tend duck in and out quickly -- not the most ideal spot for a digital sign.

Who knew that Hot Pockets and paper jams would improve your internal communications activities?!

For those in the New York City area, we will be at the Kioskcom Self-Service Expo / The Digital Signage Show Wednesday, October 15, and Thursday, October 16. This year's event is being held at the Javitz Convention Center.

MediaTile is pleased to have a presence in the IBM booth (#413).

The idea of self-service in the internal communications world is nothing new, but it has always been a bit clumsy in my opinion. For some reason or another, the "kiosk" has always received mixed reviews. I can remember researching them myself and not exactly being enamored with the idea.

Just like with any digital signage, the ultimate deciding factor in its success is the content. If your content isn't insightful and vital that employees dig through layers of content to get answers, then I wouldn't employ a touch display. Many intranets are considered to be self-service, which not everyone is happy with either.

But if your content is engaging and dynamic (and maybe your employees can have some fun with it), then it could be for you. I've always thought that kiosks would be great collection point for recognition programs - a common "thorn" for employee communications.

If you're in the area, swing on by. It's a great way to test out a variety of technology platforms all in one spot.