Digital Signage Expo

Once again, I will be moderating a panel at Digital Signage Expo on digital signage for corporate communication. We've got a slightly new structure for this year's session based on feedback from last year's attendees. 

At industry event like this one, internal signage doesn't have the same "sex appeal" as signage for retail and other external means. But I know we are grateful that the DSE organizers continue to give us a platform to highlight these "hidden" networks. 

If you're attending this year's Expo out in Vegas, I'd love to see you come to our session titled, "Content strategies for workplace digital signage." It's Thursday morning (March 8) at 9am.

On the panel this year we have Frank Kenna (President, The Marlin Co.), Chris Bias (Communications Consultant, Eli Lily and Co.) and Brian Wood (Arizona Director of Operations, Waste Management). Chris is a customer of ours but it will be nice to have perspective of others on this year's panel.  

If there are questions you'd like for the panel to address, leave them in the comments section below. 

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"How do I measure digital signage internally?" has been an age-old question without an easy answer. I faced this challenge back when I managed my own network at Rolls-Royce. It's a lot of anecdotal feedback, mixed in with focus groups and surveys, and sprinkled with gut feelings. 

Every month, the fine folks at Digital Signage Expo asks an industry-related question its Advisory Board. This month's question focused on properly measuring digital signage. 

“What do you believe are the best practices in measuring viewership? Is employing a marketing analysis firm to determine viewership worth the cost?”

Most of the responses related to ad-based or retail networks but a few of the answers were from network owners who manage internal screens and I was very happy to see this. Here are their thoughts. (None of them are MediaTile clients.)

Ron Danielson, Vice Provost for Information Services & CIO

Paul Bennett, Manager, Creative Services IT

James Velco, CTO

The John Marshall Law School

There's nothing Earth-shattering in these answers, but it does reinforce (in my opinion) the need to come up with some sort of measurement that corporate communicators can point to. I like that the John Marshall Law School is looking at using interactive as a way to get some data on network use and awareness, as well as AFLAC looking at QR codes, which can be tracked.

You can read all of the answers provided by Advisory Board, but there's a great and simple piece of advice provided by Kimberly Sarubbi, president & CEO of Saddle Ranch Productions. 

"Test, adjust, optimize." This is exactly what digital signage network owners should be doing regardless of where their network is. 

What are your thoughts on measuring digital signage that isn't ad- or retail-focused?
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Flickr image, StevenHarris

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We still have a few seats left for our "Enhancing Employee Communications with Digital Signage" webinar this afternoon (or later this morning if you're on the West Coast). The free webinar takes place at 2:00 pm ET (11:00 am PT) and should last only about 30 minutes. 

We have Lyn Riggins, a MediaTile customer and corporate communications pro at WSSC, on the webinar. She'll be discussing the basics of their signage network, how they manage the day-to-day activities, content advice, and some valuable lessons learned. At this year's Digital Signage Expo, Lyn received rave reviews for her content on the "Best Practices in Corporate Communication" panel. 

So if you have 30 minutes today and haven't signed up yet, this is a great chance to learn more about a growing technology in the corp comm arena. WSSC's "Splash" (one of the more creative names for an internal signage network that I've seen) has made great strides in helping WSSC with employee engagement and overall corporate literacy. 

Today is your chance to learn more. 

You have clients interested in digital signage but they may not be sure how to apply this technology to maximize their return on their investment. Please invite them to our webinar on Thursday April 14 at 2pm Eastern and hear first hand from Lynn Riggins, a MediaTile customer and recent speaker at the Digital Signage Expo on the Best Practices in Corporate Communication, on how her organization - The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission - has successfully leveraged our digital signage solutions for employee communications and improved efficiencies.

This is a great opportunity to either introduce your clients to the digital signage technology platform, MediaTile, or just to further educate them on the benefits of cloud-controlled digital signage.  There are limited seats available for this webinar so it is meant to be for your clients only, please refrain from signing up yourself. MediaTile ensures that any and all information shared will remain strictly confidential.

Next Thursday, April 14, at 2:00 pm EDT we are hosting a free webinar called "Enhancing employee communication with digital signage." It's geared toward these audiences:

• Corporate communicators and marketers who are interested in learning more about the technology.
• Professionals who are already running a network and want to see how another company uses it. 
• AV integrators so that they can see where the pain points are for corporate communication departments
• Anybody else who just wants to learn. 

For many corporate communicators, they completely recognize the value signage brings to employee communications but they struggle with getting financial support. While others maybe just seem overwhelmed by the challenge of managing one more communication tool. We'll put those fears to rest. 

I'm delighted that Lyn Riggins, spokesperson for WSSC, agreed to participate in the webinar. She is a MediaTile customer and also recently spoke at Digital Signage Expo on the Best Practices in Corporate Communication panel this past February.

Lyn is a great speaker and has a firm grasp of how digital signage has helped her company excel at employee communications but also has many lessons learned to share about her experience. No matter which bullet point you fit into, you'll learn from Lyn Riggins. 

I had the easy job of just introducing the panelists and managing the Q&A. . . at least I thought that would be the easy part. The speakers did such a good job discussing how their companies used digital signage for employee communications that the Q&A portion ran long. . . really long. 

The session started at 9 and was to conclude at 10. We were still in the room at 10:30. Speaking on behalf of the panelists, we were thrilled with the turnout (close to 50 attendees) and pleasantly amazed with the quality of questions from the session attendees. I hope that DSE will continue to promote internal networks by letting corporate communicators take the stage. 

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Others have asked what my impression of this year's show was. And I left with a very positive one. The show did not feel bigger (despite what some of the announcements said) but it did feel better. And that's a good thing. Everybody seemed well prepared for the 2011 show.

I had the fortune of moderating a panel this morning at the 2011 Digital Signage Expo. The panel featured three corporate communicators, all from different types of companies but with the same challenges. How to best take advantage of digital signage to improve employee communications. 

Lyn Riggins, from the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, spoke on the panel and is also a MediaTile customer. I thought she provided an interesting perspective on audio. Audio is a constant challenge for internal networks. No audio could make your network seem a bit stale. Too much audio and you're annoying the crap out of people. 

But Lyn said it very succinctly when she said, "Digital signage finally gave our employees the chance to hear the message." At WSSC, many of their employees do not sit at computers all day and spend their time in the field fixing leaks and water main breaks. So their internal communication was limited largely to print. 

And there's there's nothing wrong with print, it definitely has its limitations. Digital signage gave WSSC's corp comm department a true voice. It could now share new information with its employees in a way not possible before. 

Employees could now not only SEE the message, but they could also HEAR the message. 

Next week, I'll be out in Las Vegas attending my fourth Digital Signage Expo but this will be my first time being part of any session. Last year, I was able to lead a few of the corporate communication lunch and learns but this year, I'm moderating the Best Practices in Corporate Communication session (S10). 

It takes place bright and early Wednesday, February 23, at 9 am. That early in the morning can be brutal for the Vegas crowd, but I'm hopeful that my panelists and I are up to the challenge. In addition to Andrea Scott from BNSF Railway, two MediaTile customers are on the panel: Chris Bias from Eli Lilly and Lyn Riggins from Washington Surburban Sanitary Commission. 

What I like about the panel is that though they are each expert corporate communicators, they come from vastly different companies and organizations. 

So if you're attending this year's Expo, please attend our session. But if corporate communication just isn't your thing and/or are interested in other sessions, here's a few that I'd recommend. I'm sure there are others of equal merit (or maybe better) but these are the ones that caught my eye. 

Wednesday, 2/23 at 9am
S4 - Content Strategy & Development
S9 - Driving Industry Growth through Standards (Check out Bill Gerba's comments about his session)

Wednesday, 2/23 at 3pm
S12 - Planning a Digital Signage System
S19 - Software platforms: Selection Considerations

Thursday, 2/24 at 9am
S27 - Managing the Maze of Third-Party Content
S32 - Digital Signage in Healthcare

Thursday, 2/24 at 10am
S39 - Tips & Techniques for Connectivity and Signal Distribution (we hope there's a lot of talk in this session about the benefits of cellular)
S40 - Using Interactive Technology to Engage and Entertain Customers and Visitors

Last August, I pulled together a group of corporate communication pros who are each responsible for managing digital signage networks inside their respective companies. And based on the feedback from the event, they want more. 

I'm currently working to pull together a panel of speakers for the second Digital Signage for Corporate Communication conference, tentatively scheduled for late April or early May. The goal again is to provide sessions that give corporate communicators real tips on how to better manage their networks. We'll also host the event at a company who's currently taking advantage of an internal network.

One topic area that we'll surely cover this time is measurement and engagement. We had a speaker scheduled to talk on that topic at the last event but they had to back out at the last minute. Another area that has been requested is a formalized "show and tell" portion. Communicators want not just to hear what other people are doing internally but see the content first-hand. 

I'm moderating a panel at Digital Signage Expo in February that will cover a few best practices in corporate communication. I'm hoping that this panel will shape the event a few months later.

If there are topics you like to see covered in this year's Digital Signage for Corporate Communication conference, please leave comments below. Or if you're interested in speaking, let me know that as well. You can check out last year's event to see what was covered. An industry publication published the key takeaways from the attendees. 

I had a great time at Digital Signage Expo 2010 and here we are already getting ready for 2011. Last year, I had the fortune of leading two of the corporate communication "lunch & learns." This year it gets even better.

At Digital Signage Expo 2011, I will be moderating a panel of corporate communicators talking about the successes and challenges they've faced installing their own internal neworks. The session is titled "Best Practices for Corporate Communicators." Here's the description:


The event organizers have called out a special section just for corporate communicators with recommended seminars. It would be great to have more communicators and end-users make it out to Vegas.

If you're interested in going to the 2011 event, here's the registration information.

I am out-of-my-mind excited for tomorrow's first-ever Digital Signage for Corporate Communication event. But equal to my excitement is my nervousness. I can talk about signage until I'm blue in the face. But planning an event? Not one of my strengths but it's an event that needs to take place.

Though the attendance is not where I'd like for it to be, I couldn't be happier with the list of companies attending AND the speakers addressing the group. (Note to self - do not plan events when so many take vacations.)

And without Eli Lilly & Company and Chris Bias, this event would have never gotten off of the ground. A very special thanks is owed to them for their support and use of the Lilly Corporate Center.

So please follow along to the hashtag #dscorpcomm tomorrow as I'll be tweeting from the event. If you've read all of this and have no idea what I'm talking about, here are a few articles from the fine folks at Digital Signage Today and Digital Signage Expo about the day-long conference.

We're pretty proud of our relationship with Elite Racing and driver Jason Meyers. And we're even more proud when they pick up a big win, like they did this past weekend at the Virginia Motor Speedway.

With the victory, Jason is now in third place in the World of Outlaws driver standings, only 20 points behind the leader. I had the opportunity to meet Jason a few months back when we were both in Las Vegas (I was there for Digital Signage Expo and he was there to race). He's a phenomenal driver and, even more importantly, a great guy.

We are a huge supporter of Elite Racing and, ironically enough, they love our digital signage. As they they travel around to races, they have our signage set up to promote what they are doing as a racing team and improve communication with racing fans.

Check out Jason's post-race comments.

Cellular and SaaS-based Digital Signage solutions have finally come of age.   Over the past quarter, I’ve attended CES, Digital Signage Expo 2010, The Digital Signage Show, KioskCom, and NAB, and it was clear that cloud computing is definitely on everyone’s radar.   And most everyone is seeing the silver lining of this solution – the inherent reliability, simplicity, scalability and security that it provides.

Customers, strategic partners, vendors, and managed service providers are much clearer on the pros and cons of a cloud-based digital signage solution.  The beauty of 3G, and now, 4G cellular and SaaS solutions is that the network naturally scales to support more media players as they are deployed while providing the built-in reliability and security.  Unlike client-server architectures and LAN-based solutions, computing in the cloud is "off premise" and "off network", enabling network operators and vendors to allocate increasingly more of their time to be focused on the content running across the network, as opposed to running and maintaining the technology behind the digital signage network. 

Interested in learning more about Cellular and SaaS?  I penned an article that was featured in the latest issue of Digital Signage Magazine;   look for the special supplement, "Wireless Networking and Content Delivery." 

Keeping it Simple,

Day 1 at the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit was a good one. Even though I am very corporate communication focused, attending events like these are very helpful. It gives me a chance to learn what the retail industry and agencies are doing or have tried in the digital signage space. The first day was very agency-driven but that's not a bad thing. These are the people we need to have engaged in the market.

The comment that kept bouncing around in my head was mentioned by Pat Hellberg at The Preset Group. He led a panel of creative designers and while they were getting set up, he said, "Content is easy. But good content is the challenge." This sentiment applies to not just digital signage, but every medium.

I'd really like for corporate communicators to take note of this phrase. Digital signage software makes it easy to simply throw up content on to screens, but that's not what you need. What you need is really good content up on your network.

This is no different from an employee newsletter or intranet. You load them with crap and nobody is going to pay attention. Plain and simple.
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The chairperson for the event is Keith Kelsen, former CEO of MediaTile and author of Content Strategies for the 5th Screen. This is the first book dedicated to digital signage content and was launched at Digital Signage Expo. I'm proud of the work Keith put in writing the book and hope he has continued success with it.
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On a side note, I was surprised not to hear one mention of Foursquare, Gowalla or any other geolocation social media tool. I am far from an expert, but I think there is a huge integration possibility between these tools, digital signage and the retail industry. Maybe the digital signage shows how many check-ins there have been, who the mayor is, or what (if any) discounts you can get.

It seems like we're just coming off from Digital Signage Expo, but we're back out in Las Vegas next week for the next round of shows. It's going to be busy (maybe even a bit hectic) but we'll have all of the bases covered.

Kicking off the week at Mandalay Bay is the Strategy Institute's Digital Signage Content Strategies Summit Monday and Tuesday. MediaTile has been a longtime supporter of the Strategy Institute's shows and we're glad to be a sponsor of this event as well.

The focus of this how is bringing all of the pieces of a digital signage network together. MediaTile CEO Simon Wilson and iPOWOW's David Ozer are speaking on day two about measuring audience feedback and capturing sentiment.



I'll be out there for the conference. And I mentioned it was a busy week. Also going on is Kioskcom/Digital Signage Show and NAB. We're involved in those events as well. Stay tuned for future posts.

The first book devoted to digital signage content, "Unleashing the Power of Digital Signage: Content Strategies for the 5th Screen," was launched recently at the Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas.  This is a great primer and resource for our industry, which continues to evolve its focus from technology to relevant messaging.  

To quote Bill Yackey, editor of DigitalSignageToday.com, "Good content is a large reason why digital signage networks are successful, but up until this point there has not been one comprehensive reference point on the subject. 'Unleashing the Power of Digital Signage' fills a much-needed gap in this industry."

The author of the book is Keith Kelsen, Founder and CEO of "The 5th Screen."

Keith's book helps you:

• create a strategic communications blueprint and style guide for your network
   
• keep content flowing automatically-and therefore remaining relevant
   
• use data on viewers and traffic to build a programming schedule
   
• legally acquire and repurpose content more accurately predict where the future of content will lead
  
  
  Keith at the Show with MediaTile customer, Greg Argyle from GoGo Cast
  
  Information is available at its companion website, www.5thscreen.info or you can grab yourself a copy at Amazon.com.
  
  Keith Kelsen has made an important and timely contribution to the industry with "The 5th Screen" It is well worth a read.
  
   

This never became more apparent than at this year's Digital Signage Expo. What once appeared to be a very siloed industry has now had walls knocked down. We have media and digital signage providers interacting. Competitors are even commenting on each other's blogs and referencing each other's content. This is sort of a Kumbaya / watershed moment for the industry.

This is what social media is all about. Not only extending the reach of our content but also creating new avenues of sharing this content. And because the industry is still very much in its infancy, we are primed to use social media as valued vehicles.

Blogs. Twitter. Facebook. Foursquare. They are all in play and were all used in coordination for the first time at DSE. All you have to do is check out the Twitter hash tag #dse2010 to see not only volumes of content but the QUALITY of content. (Adrian Cotteril of DailyDOOH mentioned this in a blog comment in one of my earlier posts.)

I hope to see the industry continue to improve communication and collaboration at these events. It can only help further educate audiences on digital signage.
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photo by LadyDragonFlyCC

I know it annoys some of my followers on Twitter, but I love people providing comments from conference and events (if they use the proper hash tags). And this year, Digital Signage Expo showed how some key Twitter accounts can make some noise and spread a little industry knowledge.

Our friends at DailyDOOH released some very interesting stats on the impact Tweets made at Digital Signage Expo 2010.

• There were a total of 1210 mentions of #dse2010,
• The total number of impressions created was 534,233.

I have absolutely no idea how this compares to other conferences and events, but this has to be an enormous improvement over what occurred in 2009.

But I am kind of disappointed in myself. I tried to do my best to provide thoughts and comments throughout the show, but I wish I had known someone was keeping score. DailyDOOH tallied the Top 10 Twitterers from the show. I came in at #9, one ahead of @ScalaInc and one behind @intel_rhonda and @signitynetworks.

I clearly need to step up my game knowing now that somebody is keeping score.

There have have been a few mixed reviews on last week's Digital Signage Expo. From what I can tell though, none of these blog posts have been from actual Expo exhibitors (if I'm wrong, point out exhibitor posts to me please). The comments seem to have been come from attendees or media guests. Now this isn't to undervalue their opinion, but more so provide some thoughts from someone who was there as an exhibitor.

The consensus seems to be that there was too much focus on digital signage hardware and software providers and not enough on content, strategy or integration. If that was the case, then don't fault those who were there - fault those who weren't.

Companies like MediaTile and their employees put in a lot of hard work to put on a good show. From setup, through the days of exhibiting, on through tear-down, it shows a bit commitment to the industry to take part. Even at a mixer held by The Preset Group, there's tremendous camaraderie between even so-called competitors.

This year I had the chance to lead two lunch and learns on digital signage and corporate communications. Very little of the conversation was about hardware or software, and we talked mostly about content and deployment strategies. Maybe those are critical of the show missed out on the best part - a variety of attendees and exhibitors having real conversations about the digital signage industry. I think the Expo lunch and learns were a success and a huge step forward.

I compare my experience two years ago when the event was held at Mandalay Bay to now, and he show is truly light years ahead of where it was. Exhibitors are more professional and attendees are more prepared.

No show is going to be perfect, but it's so easy to focus on what wasn't there. Instead, let's talk about what was there. In my limited time of being able to walk around, I saw a lot of dedicated individuals and companies working hard for the industry.

If there are people or perspectives NOT at the show, let's get them there. We need to show to only get better and stronger.

As we were wrapping up a fantastic Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas, Jason Meyers and Elite Racing were heading into town for the Second Annual Las Vegas Super Sprint Classic. And maybe, just maybe, we are some sort of good luck charm because Jason pulled out an amazing come-from-behind victory Friday night.

You might be thinking, "What does digital signage have to do with open wheel racing?" To provide a bit of background, MediaTile is a proud sponsor of Elite Racing, part of the World of Outlaws Sprint series.

The thrilling victory began with Jason starting 18th on the grid and slowly worked his way to the lead. Back and forth it went, but Elite Racing took the checkered flag by just .237 seconds. Wow. Check out the World of Outlaws site for the full details on the big win.


Though I live in Indianapolis, I'm a bit of a racing novice. However, I had been following Jason since I joined the company to learn more about what he does. And last Thursday night, I finally had the chance to meet him while he was in town.

Check out SpeedTV's coverage from Las Vegas and the #14 car.