We put a lot of work into our blog (and I hope those that read it find our posts helpful). I thought I'd go back and find the top eight most-read blog posts from the past year. Why eight? Because it was a crazy year.
Rather than bother everybody's Twitter stream with updates, I thought it would be better to provide presentation thoughts here (and serves as good note-taking for me).
Guenther Scherelis and Tommi Paris, Volkswagen Group of America: “Building a New Plant with New People in a New Place: The Role of Internal Communications at Volkswagen Chattanooga”
Many don't know that the Volkswagen brand family includes Audio, Bentley, Lamborghini and Bugatti. In 2010, Volkswagen was third internationally in vehicle sales.
Volkswagen closed a US plant in 1988 due to poor internal communications. Opened a new factory in Chattanooga, TN, in 2011.
2,000 jobs were available when the factory opened but Volkswagen received more than 85,000 applications.
Internal communications' purpose is to strive toward serving as the company voice, support a positive employee relations strategy and improve company efficiency and performance.
The strategy is to supplement supervisor communication, highlight team contributions, enhance team member experience and utilize communication tools that DO NOT accentuate the divide between hourly & salaried.
VIN (Volkswagen Information Network) is a digital signage network the company uses to deliver dynamic communication. Also includes printed communication boards. The key here is to blend dynamic and static. Their network is updated on a weekly basis.
Interesting that Volkswagen doesn't have digital signage to support global communication.
Great to see that the company still relies on printed communication for many of their communication updates.
Volkswagen still mails newsletters (quarterly) to employees' homes. Many companies have cut this practice to eliminate cost.
The culture at Volkswagen is "Passion for detail." Their group theme is "Think Blue. Factory." (i.e. beyond just environmental)
There are unique challenges for companies opening up a brand new factory versus those that are working in a dated facility.
Glad to see they are citing a difference between language (German vs American) and culture.
The key to success is finding the middle point between what management wants to say and what employees want to hear.
Surprised that Volkswagen hasn't yet surveyed their employees to know what their preferred communication methods are and really aren't doing any measurement either.
All this month, we've been sharing 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. And given the rather spooky month October is, we thought it was a great time to share this information. It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun.
We know it can be intimidating launching a network, but that's why we're here. We try to take as much fear out of the equation as possible through education and awareness (hence, this blog). We are open to having as many conversations or demos as needed to help you get your project off the ground.
So in case you missed any of our 31 reasons or want to stroll through memory lane, here they all are:
In light of October being a rather scary month, we thought we would highlight 31 reasons not to be afraid of digital signage. We hope you enjoy them.
Reason #22: Security
Without a doubt, having the proper security in place for your digital signage network is vital. And if you work with us, we've done that for you. Whether you are connecting your network over cellular, Wi-Fi or LAN, we've hardened our devices and only allow permitted communication to take place. Our platform is a "pull" technology so there's no way for anybody else to "push" content onto your network.
We've shown why security is important on a past blog post, but here are security tips we provide to our customers:
Audit your user list regularly; make sure that former employees or contractors are removed from the system, and that those who are active only have access to what they should.
Use role-based separation; enforce a work flow process by way of internal procedure. Only allow the content producers to upload content; the digital sign network operators should review and approve content for scheduling - don't allow one person to perform both functions if you want an opportunity to review content before it goes live.
Require password changes; enforce a password rotation policy for MediaCast logins. Prohibit users from using their web browser to 'remember' the login for the site! Any laptop with a remembered password that gets stolen automatically grants the thief access to your digital signage network. (Note: this is a real security risk, but it might incite panic - what do the marketing folks think?)
Require strong passwords; passwords should include upper and lower case letters, numbers, even symbols from the keyboard, and should be at least 8 characters long. Users should be discouraged from using something that's too simple, or something they routinely use for other logins around the Internet.
Don't use email; email is a notoriously insecure method of communication is a preferred method for hackers to sniff out usernames and passwords to systems that they shouldn't have access to. If you need to send a login to someone, pick up the phone!
Digital signs are valuable; don't tell too many “interested” people where all your signs are located. If they want to see one, select a couple flagship locations to send prospectives to check them out. you never know who might be looking to take advantage of you for an easy score. (Again, something we want to mention? maybe it's over-stating the obvious, but I think a lot of people in business just think about business and don't take a step back and think about reality...)
Beware of URL Files; though the MediaCast system supports URL Files which can be automatically retrieved and displayed on your signs, be certain that you trust the source of the content and whoever has access to it because you will not have any oversight as to what gets displayed.
We do everything we can to relieve you of any fear related to the security of your signage network.
In our growing industry, there are quite a few learning opportunities for those looking to pick up some information: white papers, blogs, how-tos, and so forth. And often these are written by companies like ours who have a vested interest in growing the industry. (It's what we do.)
But rarely do you have the chance to hear directly from someone who is running a digital signage network. This is what we provide in our webinars. If you've signed up for one of ours in the past then you've heard from Eli Lilly & Company, Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and Rolls-Royce.
This Wednesday, sign up and take 30 minutes to hear from Dominican Hospital. They are one of our healthcare customers using digital signage to communicate to a vast audience. And I think this where the most learning comes from.
My background was largely in manufacturing, which presents its own set of challenges. Healthcare? That's another beast. And I didn't realize how tricky it was until I started helping hospitals roll out digital signage networks.
At a hospital, your audience includes employees, visitors, patients, donors and more. And even within those, there are strict breakdowns. Take employees for example. Doctors need different information from nurses, who need different information from the administrative staff, who need different information from the security staff and so forth. It is an insanely diverse audience.
Digital signage, lets communicators and marketers segment their network so that the right information is communicated to the right people at the right time. And this is what Mike Lee, the director of communications and marketing for Dominican Hospital, will share with us on Wednesday.
Steljes is one of our international partners and one of their employees, Neil Deakin, went on a 24-hour road trip around the UK with our cellular digital signage. And considering all he needed was a 3G cellular connection for the signage, he could take it anywhere he wanted. All he needed was his laptop to change and update content on the fly during his trip.
Initially I had asked Neil to do a guest blog post about his trip. But rather than read what he said, why not just watch this video? It will be interesting to see if he will do complete another challenge with our technology. Because while our stuff worked on the trip, it sounds like the trip wore Neil out.
Direct from Neil:
"On September 1 to demonstrate the; power, ease of use and flexibility of MediaTile, Matt Richardson and I set off on the Me&MyMediatile 24hr road trip challenge. The aim was to visit as many UK locations as possible over a 24hr period, updating content to the MediaTile screen in the back of our car at each stop. This was possible due to MediaTile being a cloud based digital signage solution. Content was created in and distributed the player from MediaCast, their web portal. The player received content over the 3G data network and then played out to the display.
Our trip started at the Angel of the North in Gateshead north east England and routed through Scotland crossing the forth bridge before progressing up to Dundee. A scenic twilight section led us back into England traveling through Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales.
As night fell we ventured onto Manchester, through the Midlands and into Wales. The sun began to rise as we entered London passing through Westminster. The final leg took us to Brighton on the south coast as the sun broke through the morning mist. Finally we arrived at Steljes HQ in Bagshot 938 miles and 24hrs after leaving the Angle of the North."
I applaud creativity when it comes to communications, whether it involves digital signage or not. Communication is all about captivating your audience and giving them the information they want.
But where are employees most captive?
If you believe Blogging4jobs, it's in the bathroom. Oh, yes, there are a lot of jokes and innuendos that could be played out when talking about communicating to employees when they are most captive.
I've always heard of companies who have allegedly done this, but never cited real examples. I'm not even sure this one counts because the company's name was "flushed" from the article. (Couldn't resist.) And while I get how this technique is effective, I'd like to meet the communicator who goes from the stall to stall updating the messaging.
And no, I do not recommend touch screens in bathroom stalls. But there was a study recently that said 35% of tablet owners admitted to using them in the bathroom (and those are just the ones who admitted to it). So maybe employees are open to internal communication while they are preoccupied.
Does your company communicate to you when you're in the bathroom?
Many times there's information I want to share on this blog that doesn't related directly to digital signage so I'll start sharing them in these posts.
5 communication mistakes that are holding you back (Forbes) When I get into a "hot and heavy" conversation with our corporate communication customers and propsects, we end up talking about a lot more than just digital signage. This post highlights some key things that communicators might be doing to hold them back. Communicators are guilty of all of these. I know I am.
7 habtis that make great opportunities happen (Open Forum) So often, communicators and marketers sit back and wait for a great opportunity to happen to them. Why not just make the opportunity?! That's what this article suggests and it reminds me of my digital project at Rolls-Royce. I knew installing digital signage was the right thing to do so I made it happen. It wasn't easy but I made it happen. That's why I'm here at MediaTile today.
There's no such thing as information overload (Forbes) I get what the writer is getting at here. Messages are often broadcasted without direct relevancy to the audience. This leads to overload. But the thought is that by targeting messages to the correct audiences, messages will be filtered and relevancy achieved. This is very much the strength that digital signage provides.
Augmented reality for internal communications (Simply Communicate) I haven't quite bought into the whole "augmented reality" craze and am skeptical of its use for employee communications. But if you have, here are a few examples of how it might work. (Key word being "might.")
I just recently came across this post from a few years back but the 11 laws of internal communications that Ken Milloy identifies are still relevant today.
So many times, professionals back their way into employee communications, without ever intending that to be a career. I know because that's what happened to me. And while I'm the last person to suggest there should be strict guidelines or procedures on how to implement a solid internal communication plan, Ken's 11 "laws" make a lot of sense.
Even taking a look at his first law - The Law of the Myth of Internal Communications. Ken proposes that while many companies believe they are communicating, in fact they are really just sending information out. Communication is a multi-direction process. Sending out information is just one step of the process.
There is not one single perfect communication tool for an entire company. Digital signage isn't perfect. Newsletters aren't perfect. Intranets aren't perfect. Town halls aren't perfect. But finding the right balance of all of these vehicles is when true employee communication comes together. I talked about this in an Infocomm article.
I applaud Ken for pulling these together, as they will provide great blog fodder for me down the line. ____________________________ Flickr image courtesy of Carl Loven
(Today's guest entry comes from Mike Foster, CMO and Co-Founder of MediaTile)
Yesterday, I blogged about the exciting activities being staged for tomorrow’s unveiling of two new interactive digital signage hardware platforms in the DFI TECH booth (#4583) at InfoComm 2011 – both systems are powered by our MediaCast Video Presence system to deliver live, 2-way video sessions over 4G. This is real 4G digital signage!
Today, I’m pleased to report that our MediaCast Content Management System is also front and center at the show, powering Chilin Solutions’ digital signs and media players. While many people think of MediaTile as a digital signage solutions provider (hardware & software), MediaTile's software division works directly with hardware solution providers – enabling them to deliver all the unique cloud-based, and personal advantages we bring to digital signage solutions.
This photo was snapped by Simon Wilson, MediaTile’s CEO during today’s setup. Chilin Solutions’ 70” portrait mode 1080 x 1920 display is being showcased at InfoComm, and is powered by the MediaCast Content Management System running a variety of high resolution video content including our own MediaCast advertisement.
(Today's guest entry comes from Mike Foster, CMO and Co-Founder of MediaTile)
The MediaTile team is very excited to participate in this week’s InfoComm 2011 show in Las Vegas. This year we’ll have “presence through partners” and an exclusive focus on our digital signage cloud-based “software” offerings. And we’ve got a big announcement in the works with one our partners, DFI TECH, who will be unveiling two brand new interactive digital signage systems that use MediaCast Video Presence to deliver live, 2-way, face-to-face video over 4G networks.
If you haven’t seen cloud-based customer service systems in action before, stop by booth #4583 (DFI TECH) and check them out – and catch our CEO, Simon Wilson, or Andy Lu from DFI TECH. You can read the pre-release announcement here on the blog, and stay tuned for the real announcement on Wednesday this week.
DFI TECH, a leader in design, manufacturing and integration of custom solutions, along with MediaTile, will be showcasing two new MediaCast Video Presence-powered hardware platforms: a portrait mode 22” and portrait mode 42” system. Both systems are based on MediaTile’s HUMANKIOSK® HDRP (hardware design reference platform), and deliver a breakthrough in cloud-based customer service for brands, banks, retailers and other markets.
I get out to San Diego on Sunday for my third straight IABC World Conference. In my biased opinion, this event is a must-attend for corporate communicators. I have been an IABC member for a number of years and will continue to be for years to come.
Last year's conference took place in Toronto so it truly was an international event. But I didn't hear anybody complaining about heading to San Diego this year. Once again the biggest challenge will be picking which sessions to attend. And while there are no sessions focused on digital signage, so many of them focus on a consistent problem that all companies face - employee communications.
No surprise to anyone there are several sessions focused on social media but there appear to be great case studies about how social is impact internal communications. And I'm then curious to see how these companies are using social to see how the content could impact digital signage networks.
I'll be sure to provide commentary from the conference sessions I attend through the 4-day event.
If you are attending and Tweeting from the event, use hashtag #iabc11. And if you'd like to meet, send me a note at @chuckgose. I'd also like to apologize to everyone in advance but because the event is in San Diego, I cannot get the Anchorman movie out of my head.
A friend of mine Steven Crescenzo recently wrote a blog post called "The danger of communicating too much." It's about experiences he had with United Airlines and their insistence on playing the same video at the start of every flight. And while I'm sure his experience was just as annoying as he details, there's a new study out that discusses the importance of repeating communication.
The study evaluated communication styles from managers with power and managers without power and determined the methods that were most effective. In corporate communications, managers are communicating to an entire workforce so they would definitely fit into the "without power" category (and I'm sure they would agree).
Like most employee communication practices, managers without power were most effective when they spread their message over multiple vehicles and also repeat these messages several times. Furthermore, the study revealed that those managers who were redundant with their messaging were also more effective.
Let's mention that again. Managers who are redundant with their message are also more effective.
And this is the power that digital signage brings to internal communication. This study proves that there is nothing wrong with repeating communication. And in fact, it actually makes your internal messages more effective.
What was also equally surprising about the study is that redundancy ranked more important than clarity. This surprised even me. One would think (like I did) that the more clear the message is, the more effective it is. Not true.
The more redundant a message is, the more effective it is. _________________________ Photo by Mene Tekel
Several key players in the digital signage industry have stepped up to show support for the Red Cross and the Japan relief efforts. With the launch of DOOH4Relief.com, digital signage network operators can now download content that can be run on any company's network.
rVue created the content (embedded below) and Insteo created the site, along with support from many other industry partners. Currently, anybody can download both a 15- and 30-second PSA to run on networks in a variety of formats. Plus, if you've created your own content, there's even an opportunity to upload your own stuff. Static imagery is also available through the Red Cross media library.
But what I revel in is the overall vision and future of the site. With this structure, it can support any future events where digital signage operators will want to download content regarding a national or international crisis. Let's hope these are kept to an absolute minimum but it's good to know there will be a place for networks to go to.
For more information and guidance, check out Dave Haynes's blog. Kudos to all involved.
If you'd like to help support the disaster relief for those in Japan effected by the earthquake and tsunami, you can either text REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation or visit RedCross.org.
This week at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, MediaTile will again be making industry-breakthrough announcements and showcasing advanced proof-of-concepts around 4G networks and interactive digital signage. This year’s CES focus centers around our next generation MediaCast Video Presence platform – the cloud-based CMS system that powers the HumanKiosk solution.
This year, we’ve teamed up with industry leaders and have a prominent showing in a number of high-visibility venues for our digital signage. These include:
- Three MediaCast concepts demonstrations in the Alcatel-Lucent Booth # 35469 that showcase transformative retail solutions including the HumanKiosk Virtual Concierge, Game Table, and a JukeBox Hotspot. I’ll blog more about this tomorrow, but here is an advanced look.
- Two MediaCast Video Presence concept demonstrations in the Verizon Wireless Booth # 35216, that highlight using remote Video-Attendants on an in-store HumanKiosk and a hospitality-based Video Concierge. Check out the Verizon Wireless press release.
- MarketStar (a division of Omnicom) has teamed up with us to provide remote Video-Attendants, based in Ogden Utah, to answer questions directly from the floor from the Alcatel-Lucent, and Verizon-Wireless demonstrations. They also have a HumanKiosk and MediaCast Video Presence in their Hospitality Suite.
- AT&T is demonstrating a HumanKiosk solution, powered by MediaCast Video Presence, at their Developer Conference which is running concurrently at the Palms during CES.
I've been to Vegas for other monster shows, but I've heard CES is a beast all it's own. MediaTile will be demoing our HumanKiosk digital signage in a few of the booths there. We'll have a blog post put up tomorrow with additional details where you can find our technology if you're in attendance.
If you're not lucky enough to be in Vegas, you can keep track of event news on Twitter by following the hashtag #CES.
I don't believe there are many (if any other) digital signage vendors participating at this year's CES, but this is also a show where many manufactures showcase the latest and greatest (and most expensive) in display technology for DOOH. I hope to get a chance to check as much out as possible.
A week or so ago, Paul Flanigan wrote a blog post answering the question, "Why do we expect digital signage to be perfect?" And this post was in comment to a Tweet from Dmitry Sokolov. (Don't you just love social media?!)
As I commented on Paul's post, I get frustrated when I read jabs thrown by industry publications at digital signage installations, no matter the vertical market or the vendor. These jabs do nothing to better the industry. These jabs come from people who might not have even run their own network.
"Digital signage is PEOPLE!" to borrow from Charlton Heston's famous line from Soylent Green. My point is that digital signage networks aren't perfect and never will be perfect because they are run by people.
Anybody who says they are running a perfect network is lying. And anybody who says they can run a perfect network is also lying.
As Paul points out in his post, the object should to always just get better and not point fingers at people who are doing it right and others who are doing it wrong.
This was why I organized the first ever Digital Signage for Corporate Communication event this past Summer. The intent of the event was to help people learn how to get better, not trash what they were doing wrong. Everybody is doing something right. Everybody is doing something wrong.
People are designing software. People are building hardware. People are creating content. Digital signage will never be perfect. Though there is certainly nothing wrong with striving to always get better.
Verizon Wireless can deliver a best in class cellular network and one heck of a series of events to celebrate its launch in the Midwest. The plan was to blog after each event, from Chicago to St. Louis, but with all the concept conversations and associated follow-up...well something had to suffer.
Verizon Wireless consistently asked their customers to challenge them about how to leverage their 4G LTE network to enhance business practices and then delivered effective solution concepts. From the executives to the area-based business consultants, the message was simple - "If you could do anything in a 4G enable environment, what would it be?"
Along side that message, MediaTile was a featured partner showcasing the HumanKiosk with video presence that gave attendees a palpable example of what can be delivered on the increased bandwidth afforded by 4G LTE.
Our HumanKiosk demonstrates all the benefits of digital signage - to attract, to engage, to immerse - but with the ability to bridge the last gap of user interaction and provide the "human" element of a person-to-person dynamic. The HumanKiosk either was a conversation starter, helping to jump starting the creative juices, or a conversation ender, being the type of unique solution many attendees had been searching for.
Now that the events are over it's only fair to ask what is next. It's off to the West Coast!!!!
Years ago, it wasn't easy to track down quality research on digital signage. But iff you're just now getting into the technology, there's a wealth of information at your fingertips.
There are a host of great blogs out there, but many times corporations are fascinated by the almighty white paper. And fortunately, Digital Signage Today is a great resource for these more authoritative resources. Many are sponsored by vendors in the digital signage space (including this one on 3G/4G cellular by MediaTile) but they are all very well written and provide sound advice.
They are even broken down by market, so if you're looking for digital signage for healthcare, there's a white paper for you. Retail? White paper. Want to learn more the real cost of digital signage? White paper.
The point being that there is now a lot of information out there that can help you not only determine if the technology is right for you and your company but also provide you guides on making the most of your investment.
I'm catching up on my blog reading and there for a while I'd have to declare Google Reader bankruptcy. But I'm glad I didn't.
I came across this post from Chris Brogan and about tightening up communication. In his post, he focuses more on public speaking but the lessons learned apply to all forms of communication, including employee communications.
With attention spans shrinking all of the time, communicators must get tighter with their communication. This could be newsletter stories, messages for your intranet or digital signage content.
At this month's Digital Signage for Corporate Communication event, Mediatile's David Trounstine showed examples of how important it is to simply get the point with your content. With digital signage, you might only have somebody's attention for three seconds.
What will they get in those three seconds? That's up to you. David showed a series of examples of content going from multiple paragraphs down to one sentence with a headline. And even if an employee just read the headline, they'd get the gist of it.
The key to is regularly review the content you're displaying and make sure it works for your audience. As Chris writes, "Work on your efforts, and tighten up." ____________________ Photo credit, NeoGaboX
If you believe 
(Today's guest entry comes from Mike Foster, 
Yesterday, I blogged about the exciting activities being staged for tomorrow’s unveiling of two new interactive digital signage hardware platforms in the 
(Today's guest entry comes from Mike Foster, 
Last year's conference took place in Toronto so it truly was an international event. But I didn't hear anybody complaining about heading to San Diego this year. Once again the biggest challenge will be picking which 
The 
Verizon Wireless consistently asked their customers to challenge them about how to leverage their 4G LTE network to enhance business practices and then delivered effective solution concepts. From the executives to the area-based business consultants, the message was simple - "If you could do anything in a 4G enable environment, what would it be?"
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