Digital Signage Solutions

A company called FormSpring has launched a new (and free) service called Formspring.Me. It's a simple application that anyone can use to solicit feedback or answer questions. And this is the basis of what FormSpring does. They provide easy to build web forms for companies to collect any kind of data from visitors or users.

I couldn't resist not playing around with the tool so I set up an account for you to ask questions about digital signage, corporate communication or any technology you've seen used in employee communications. I'm by no means an expert nor do I play one on this blog. BUT I have always looked for ways to inegrate communication and technology. Sometimes in a positive way. Sometimes not.

So as the tool suggests, ask away. The questions can even be anonymous if you don't want your name attached.

Those aren't my words. I couldn't even make that up, but I promise you somebody told me that. I'll leave it to them (if they are brave enough) to comment below. I was at the Indiana Social Media Summit last week and I finally had the chance to meet so many local social media pros face to face.

After being recognized as the "Most Influential Social Media Dude," another attendee said that he didn't think it was possible, but that only I could make digital signage sexy. Digital signage? Sexy? I guess it depends on your perspective (and exactly what sexy means to you).

But clearly, I have a lot of fun with what I do, working with companies and schools on integrating signage into their internal communications activities. And I'm afforded that latitude to have some fun with social media, which includes this blog, our Twitter account, Facebook Fan Page and YouTube Channel. If you're not subscribed or following us on these sites, please do. . . for me.

I'm by no means perfect at it, but the tools fascinate me in what they give companies like MediaTile the ability to do. Now that's sexy!

Many might think this would be a slow time of year for digital signage, but in fact it's probably our busiest. Companies are looking to close out the year strong and get the projects finalized and installed, even before the end of the year in some cases.

So with that, we'd like to wish you happy holidays to all of our customers and partners here in the U.S. and around the world.Without you, we wouldn't be the world-class digital signage company we are today.

While many think globalization is dead, it really has yet to begin for internal communications. Even with the best and biggest global companies, employee communications is often completely fractured. Rarely is there a consistent message spread across the country, let alone a consistent vehicle that all employees share.

Translation (or lack thereof) throws a huge wrench into the corporate communications cog. If you don't have people on staff who can do their own translations, it can be trick and quite expensive.

And for those who have tried to globalize their communications, you know how challenging it is. Intranets were supposed to be a big help and are in most cases. But if you've ever been part of developing a global intranet, I send my sympathies. It's a brutal, brutal undertaking. Many are never the same afterward.

Some companies attempt to put out a global newsletter but it's all handled at the top. Very rarely is their local input or authority on content. The corporate messages are key, but so are the local messages. And the integration of the two will determine success. Unfortunately, print is one of the "easy cuts" that companies make when budgets get attacked.

We've seen companies have success with using digital signage as a global tool. Not only can the corporate contribute the wide-reaching messages, but the local communicators can also add in their own unique messaging. This helps employees tie what they do to the larger corporate objectives - a challenge for those troubled with employee engagement.

If you're a global communicator, ask yourself if your tools and messages are truly representative of your audience. If you're a local communicator, are your messages reaching "the top" and can you customize the big picture?

You're at a prime point to make a huge impact globally. Employees are hungry for information and need to trust the information source. Become the trust adviser to your business and deliver value across borders.
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Photo credit, cupcakes2

While there's nothing wrong with being creative with communication (and in fact, it's encouraged), is it possible to hide the important message with your creativity?

This morning I read, "The importance of getting to the point," by Gerry McGovern. Gerry is a well-known authority on web content. The  emphasis on the article is focused on intranets but the lessons learned apply to any sort of communication, including digital signage.

One of the worst things you can do when telling a story in employee communications is to bury the lead. For those like me who went to Journalism school, this is one of those early lessons that gets drilled into your head.

You have such few precious moments to grab a reader's (employee's) attention that you need to get to the point, as Gerry details. If employees don't see your "point" early on, they will abandone the message.

Lead with the need, don't bury it.
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Photo credit, lanchongzi

Doesn't it drive you crazy when people say that? Because those that are in internal communications know it couldn't be further from the truth. Sure, it sounds easy. You have a captive audience and it should be easy to communicate to them.

But because they are "captive," they can easily ignore your messages. And as communicators, we assume that everybody reads our emails. Why wouldn't they?! They are important.

And of course they scour the intranet looking for the latest news, right? Wrong.

You have to get creative to grab their attention. But you also have to reinforce the message over and over and over. Communicators see the messages all of the time because we are the ones responsible for getting them out. But the average employee has better things to do. . . allegedly.

This where digital signage's strength comes through. You can get creative with your messages, using Flash or video, while still being able to reinforce the message through scheduling the content in playlists. AND you get to finally have some fun with it.

So while employee communications certainly isn't easy, it can be soooooooo much fun.

Last night, I had the privilege to attend an Open House that Elite Racing put on in Brownsburg, IN. The open house was held in conjunction with the first ever International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS). This is a show for drivers, owners, teams, dealers and industry professionals.

So why was I there? MediaTile is a proud sponsor of Elite Racing and Jason Meyers. Though the show was downtown, many attendees made the trek to Brownsburg to see inside Elite Racing's shop. Now I'm not the world largest racing fan, but it's hard not to be impressed with a shop like this one.

It was cool to see our digital signage technology on display, amidst all of the cars and other racing equipment. Really goes to show how quickly and easily our cellular digital signage can be put in place. The team takes it with them to the tracks and uses it engage, entertain and improve communication with passersby.

I am admittedly the world's worst photographer, but I did snap a few shots of the interior of Elite Racing's shop. It was a neat event to be a part of and hope the photos do the event justice.

Corporate communicators know this. Determining ROI in employee communications is a tricky calculation. Whether you're investing in new technology like digital signage or launching a brand new intranet, some people will always ask, "What's the ROI?"

Now here's your answer.  Just this month, Watson Wyatt released their 2009/10 communication ROI study. You might be wondering who took part in the survey. Well, 328 companies from around the world representing nearly 5 million workers. Pretty impressive. Straight from the report:

• Effective employee communication is a leading indicator of financial performance and a driver of employee engagement. Companies that are highly effective communicators had 47% total higher returns to shareholders over the last five years compared with firms that are the least effective communicators.
   
• Measurement is critical. Companies that are less effective communicators are three times as likely as highly effective communicators to report having no formal measure of communication effectiveness.

Now these are just a few key findings but let's tackle first bullet. 47% total higher returns? That sounds great. But keep in mind that these numbers are in comparison to the LEAST effective. And if you are reading this blog and researching tools, you are not part of the LEAST. You might feel like it, but you aren't. However, this third-party report should help you build support for making investments in new employee comm tactics.

And to measurement, we've heard it all before. It's hard work to measure employee comms but clearly it's a key component to any effective corporate communication department's activity. This is where our ROM (Return on Message) approach can help measure the effectiveness of digital signage hardware and software for internal networks.

Themes running through the report are courage, innovation and discipline. I love seeing almost heroic terms applied to internal comms. Employees need companies to tell it like it is and make attempts to not just stick with status quo when it comes to workplace communication.

There is so much great information in this report I'll break it out into different blog posts over the next few weeks.

In recognition of the U.S. Thanksgiving Day holiday, The MediaTile Company’s corporate headquarters will be closed Thursday November 26, and Friday November 27. Our office will reopen Monday, November 30, 2009. 



Over the extended holiday weekend, all phone calls will be routed through our standard after-hours call center.  

In the event you should experience a critical or major support issue during this time frame, please indicate the severity of your situation to the call center and you will be routed to an appropriate MediaTile support representative who will be on-call over the holiday period.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

Those of us at MediaTile would like to wish every one a happy Thanksgiving and safe travels if you're visiting with friends and family.

This will be a light blogging week given that most will be away Thursday and Friday. But what am I thankful for professionally? First off, that a few of you check out this blog from time to time. That means a lot. I'm also thankful that I get to help out so many great companies and enhance their internal communications with digital signage.

What are you thankful for?

Last week, I was in Chicago for the Strategy Institute Building Your Digital Signage Business. This is the fourth Strategy Institute conference I've been to and it was another solid conference.

If you are interested in a conference "play by play" both myself and David Drain tweeted throughout the show. You can follow along at #BuildDSBiz.

Though there was a sort of a good news/bad news situation with the show. The good news? MediaTile had a 32" Digital Sign in a Box set up there which generated a lot of questions through the two-day show. The bad news? I couldn't always pay full attention to each of the speakers.

Here are some of my thoughts and observations on the show...

• I was really interested to hear from Tom Campbell, Healthy Advice Networks. I had heard so much about their digital signage network but never really knew the details. He said they use a reverse "Field of Dreams" approach. Meaning, they let the customers (doctors & patients) dictate if a screen is put in place. Health Advice has been around for several years but it was surprising they use dial-up to deliver content to the screens. But if that's what works, then it's working well for them. 
   
• Later on, Pierre Richer, NEC, spoke about overcoming some of the current industry challenges. He said that the current glut of content management systems (CMS) is making ad buys harder. I'm guessing it's going to stay this way until there is some great consolidation within the digital signage industry. I don't see anybody stepping aside to help other vendors.
   
• Later in the afternoon, the debate around SaaS versus a hosted solution took place. I've blogged about it several times here before, but both Greg Argyle, GoGo Cast, and Sanjay Manandhar, Aerva, spoke about the pros and cons of each choice. It seemed to me that the choice might simply come down to a company's culture or appetite for SaaS. if they use it in other areas, then they'll likely use it for digital signage.
   
• Bill Collins, DecisionPoint Media Insights, closed out day one with a highlight of 2009 developments. I'm still a little peeved at Bill for calling corporate communication networks "vanilla" (at the Digital Hub Initiative) but I'm sure I'll get over it.
   
• OVAB's ears must have been burning during the show. They were mentioned so often attendees could have turned it into a drinking game.
   
• I feel one of the more informative sessions was led by Tom Kunka, University of Illinois, and Michael Hoffberg, Villanova University. Both gave a brief review of their networks and it was interesting to see how each school has approached digital signage differently but both appear to be successful with their implementations. And even in the education market, the debate of SaaS versus hosted software rages on.
   
• The conference switched to content, but from unique areas. Manolo Almagro, Show & Tell Productions, focused on user generated content (UGC). I think this was extremely helpful for the audience because there are so many sources for this and Manolo did a great job at highlighting the key sources and provided tips on how to best use them.
  
  Then one of our customers, Chris Bias, Eli Lilly & Company, reviewed his global communication network that he's installing at Lilly locations around the world. At a corporate level, Chris is able to deliver the broader messages to employees around the world, but then give local administrators access to add in their own unique local messaging. This feature is key for any company looking at a larger corporate communication install.
   

As I wrote earlier, I would have liked to have been able to pay more attention to all of the speakers, but I also had a chance to meet a lot of new people and answer their questions about the MediaTile solution. At last year's conference, which also took place in Chicago, we were one of four companies exhibiting. This year, we were the only one. I'm not sure why we were the only one, but others missed out I think.

I scoured around looking for other conference recaps and found this one from AdSemble's Matt Olivieri, who was also in attendance.
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P.S. On a side note, I'd like to personally thank and congratulate Keith Kelsen on his new ventures. I've known Keith for several years, first as a customer when I was at Rolls-Royce and Keith was MediaTile's CEO. He is now moving on to bigger and (maybe) better and I wish him all the best. Four years ago I told him MediaTile had the perfect corporate communication solution and he gave me a chance to prove that. For that, I will be forever grateful.

Today, I'll be making my way up to Chicago for the Make Money and Grow Your Digital Signage Business conference held by the folks at the Strategy Institute. I'm not sure who else will be attending so I'll do my best to blog and tweet from the event.

Will you be there? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Per the usual, there is a strong cast of presenters at this year's show. Keith Kelsen, MediaTile's founder, is the chairperson for the show AND our largest corporate communication customer will be speaking.

Chris Bias from Eli Lilly & Company will take the stage Thursday to talk about how he's developing content for his global audience and giving local admins control. I'm not much of a photographer, but I'm sure he'd "love" to see a few pics of himself on the blog.

I'm curious to see what happens Wednesday night as part of the tour of digital signage in Chicago. November isn't always the kindest month to Chicago weather-wise, but it should be a great time to network with other industry pros.

Stay tuned digital signage fans. I know you're out there.

It was truly an honor just to be included in the inaugural Top 50 Indiana Blogs list last year. But this year, the organizers add in an extra wrinkle and turned it into a competition.

Frankly, I was proud to just get votes let alone win the whole shabang. Sure some people voted for the blog just because they know me but I'm hopeful it raises awareness for the entire digital signage industry.

Case in point. I was at the local PRSA luncheon yesterday and somebody came up and congratulated me. An eaves dropper then chimed in, "I saw that you won but I have no idea what digital signage even is. What is it?"

And that's the beauty of blogging provides. It's a chance to put up discussion points and conversation ideas for others to digest. It's a safe way to educate consumers on a topic without being in their face.

I have a lot of fun with my blog, but it's also a lot of work. But as long as people keep asking me, "So what is digital signage?" then it's worth every second.

Thank you for your support.

I try to have as much fun as I can with my blog. I've had posts relating digital signage hardware and software to the Wonder Twins (here and here). I've put up content that related back to G.I. Joe, my childhood fascination/obsession. I will write just about anything if there's a correlation (even a weak one) to digital signage.

But one post I will not write is to criticize another company in the digital signage marketplace. It's a cheap shot. Lately, there has been a lot of drama in the industry and frankly it's been extremely disappointing. I have no problems healthy disagreements or opposing viewpoints but it's gone beyond that.

I'm not going to waste space on this blog writing about the demise of one company versus another as though it somehow benefits MediaTile. I just don't think it benefits anybody. I would rather focus on my experience managing digital signage networks and how the technology relates to what's going on in corporate communication.

Simple as that.

Many of the people taking part are those I have quite a bit of respect for. Our goal is to provide full transparency with our posts. What you see is what you get. You know who we work for and what we do. Often times you might be reading content from someone who works for an industry player while they may appear to be independent.

I'm hoping the drama will subside and the market can return to growing the technology and encouraging healthy conversation and debate. We need it to.

I'm going to take a side step from my usual digital signage discussion and focus on the most basic and primal of internal communication: the employee newsletter.

Sure we live in a digital world and employees are bombarded with messages in and out of the workplace. But I feel the people who say the employee publication is dead have actually never put one together themselves. It can be a huge pain in the ass, but it's also a labor of love.

Think about the value the employee publication provides. It is the one true mobile communication platform that is free of any technology constraints. Employees glance at it between meetings. They might throw it in their bag and take it home to show the family (if their name and picture are in it). And we know they take it to the bathroom, too.

Digital signage is great. Intranets are great. Town halls are great. And yes, employee newsletters are great. But each tool's greatness is dependent on the content and the creativity that goes into it.

Now maybe the problem is that newsletters may appear to be "old school" where as technology is shiny and glittery. And communicators aren't given the publications the necessary focus. But that's at the fault of the communicator, not the employees.

Many of the organizations I talk to ask me if digital signage will replace printed communication. It might replace some, but I hope it doesn't replace all. Eliminate posters? Yes. Banners? Yes. Flyers? I hope so. But employee publications? Never.

A well-written and designed employee publication delivers a tremendous amount of value to the organization. Don't kill it off just because it's not shiny and new.

Feels good to get that off of my chest.

I'm not. But several other digital signage bloggers are commiserating over a recent study that reports on the alleged lack of impact digital signage is having on buyer awareness and behavior. The report (available as a PDF) cites what appears to be overall ineffectiveness for the technology.

Now much could be debated over whether it's the fault of the technology or the placement. Is it the content or the lack of coverage. It's tough to know without talking to the people in the survey at a greater depth, but many factors are at play to just simply label it as ineffective. I'm not a retail expert so I'll leave it to them continue on.

But I will tell you one area in retail where digital signage can have a tremendous impact: employee communications. I'm working with a very large national retailer to install digital signage to help them deliver timely communication to their dispersed retail employees.

Think about it. You have employees scattered about the country in malls and strip centers. They have no real connection to the corporate entity so engagement has to be a tremendous challenge. And since every one of the stores is in a different environment, finding one common communication vehicle can be tough. And when you're trying to cover coast to coast, going digital is a must.

Fortunately, digital signage has it covered. They will be able to inform and entertain from a distance. They can provide training tips, employee recognition opportunity as well as general corporate information. AND it can all be controlled from one central location, thus ensuring the integrity of the brand and the message.

Pretty powerful stuff. Consumers may not yet appreciate what the technology can do in retail but I guarantee you the employees will.

Okay, that headline might come across a bit heavy-handed, but I truly am honored to have this blog featured in the Top 50 Indiana Blogs competition.

"But isn't MediaTile a global company based in California? Why Indiana?" I'm part of the list because that's where I live.

So if you wouldn't mind, take a few seconds and log your vote. You can certainly vote for all of your favorites and not just mine. Though I'm pretty sure I'm the only digital signage blog on the block.

Voting doesn't require any login. Just click vote. Vote because you like digital signage. Vote because you are a corporate communication pro. Vote because you love employee communications. A vote for this blog is a vote for the digital signage industry. . . sort of.

Thanks for your support.

Earlier this week, I attended the Masters of Business Online conference in Indianapolis. It was a great selection of speakers, focusing on doing business online and using technology to make business better. The topics and speakers were so strong, it was tough choosing breakout sessions.

But one I attended was called "Evolve or Die: The Future of Online Communication," led by Kyle Lacy. An attendee asked the question that everybody is challenged with in social media. "How do I find the time to do everything I need to do?"

Inside or outside of social media, everybody is challenged with this. At home or at work, it's a constant battle. Time is something we never have enough of. My kids are young and aren't players in the Lessons and Practices Game. But I do know parents who are lucky just to leave work on time to get the kids, shuttle them off to <insert sport/musical instrument> practice, somehow eat dinner, do homework and then find time to get to bed.

For internal communication pros, there are many, many things they'd like to do but time is a big obstacle. For those looking into digital signage, the concern of how much time network owners will have to commit is raised all the time. And while each case is different, I've found that digital signage can make corporate communication departments more efficient. It allows you to focus your broadcast communication into one vehicle and maybe eliminate flyers and banners. (Hooray!)

As we all know, time isn't like an hourglass that you can just turn back over when the sand gets to the bottom. Communicators need to develop super-human time management skills to be great at what they do. The more time you "free up" will give you the chance to be more creative and clever in your communications.
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Photo credit, HikingArtist.com

As a child of the 80s, I labeled myself a G.I. Joe man, but I did watch the Transformers every day (this was of course Transformers pre-Megan Fox) and even had a few of the toys. Though I'm still a bit peeved that I never had the original Optimus Prime. That wound is still fresh.

The cartoon's beginning had a catchy little tune that went a little something like this:
Last week, MediaTile announced a new digital signage product that, too, is "more than meets the eye." Though to disappoint a few, it's not a "robot in disguise." Nor will it wage a battle against the Decepticons.

We call it "the Human Kiosk." Essentially it allows to consumers to interact with a digital display and connect with a real person on the screen. Now I'm not a retail industry expert, but I am a consumer. I think this is pretty cool. It would enable a retailer or brand to provide consistent support for their products whether or not they had a real person on site.

And what's even more amazing is that it will all operate wirelessly (aside from a power plug) through the new 4G/LTE cellular networks. This is where ngConnect comes in. We partnered with them on the Human Kiosk. 4G/LTE has the bandwidth for on-demand video whereas the current 3G networks just can't do it well (if at all in some cases).

This takes cellular digital signage to a whole new level and changes the game for what retailers and brands will be able to do.

What will this new and improved bandwidth do for corporate communication? That's yet to be seen but I have a feeling we'll be there.

And I couldn't close out the post without including that jazzy Transformers intro. Enjoy.

For internal communicators, this is easier said than done. Due to time limitations or technology constraints, communicators tend to broadcast messages across the board through newsletters and emails. And many times, workplace communication should be broadcast across the board, so to speak, if the message hits everyone.

But there are times when you need to better define your message audience and even dictate when that message "appears." With MediaTile digital signage, you have the ability to broadcast to large groups of screens at once, create various sub-groups based on individual departments or various geographies, and even schedule directly down to a specific screen.

During a time when corporate communication departments need to maximize efficiency, time is a valuable resource. The better you can target your messages will not only improve efficiency but should also improve your ability to this the target. In this case, employees.