Executive Communication

As a brief introduction, my involvement with MediaTile dates back to 2004 when I was working with founder Keith Kelsen on prototyping a content management system for a revolutionary digital signage platform based on cellular networking technology. Thus was born the term, Cellular Digital Signage. The concept was exciting, broke new ground, leveraged technology components that were at the time far from common - it was a great opportunity for me to exercise my strengths in mixed-platform systems engineering to integrate disparate and discreet technology components into a cohesive, working system, so how could I resist?

Today I am a Vice President of the company leading the product development group and we are still blazing new trails. MediaTile has been an influential industry leader when it comes to innovation and establishment of best practices in the technology and Software as a Service (SaaS) - this is the kind of momentum that we will continue to pursue as we strive to lead the way for excellence. I know that I am on the right path when the MediaCast System is relevant, simple, robust, secure, and flexible.

Now let's get on to the nuts and bolts, so to speak. It is my desire to demonstrate through this blog the countless ways that the MediaCast system can be configured and linked with other technology to produce an awesome array of capabilities that may not be self-evident at first glance. I have gone to great lengths to enable this "Swiss Army Knife" of digital signage platforms, and I'd like to show you just exactly how this tool can be put to work in the real world to meet your goals for effective business communication.

While it is true that the Digital-Sign-in-a-Box concept couldn't be simpler with respect to getting a basic digital sign up and running, there are possibilities that extend the content system out to the farthest reaches of the Internet and that extend the viewer (and management) experience to new heights for a comprehensive solution that bears both depth and bredth - technically speaking...

The "executives" at my house do. Until my daughter turned two, every night we read the same book... The Bunny Hop. It's a good book though certainly not an award-winner. In case you're curious, the premise is that there are bunnies all over Sesame Street as a result of Big Bird not being much of a basket builder.

So that routine lasted until she was two. And now my one-year-old son has fallen into the SAME trap with the SAME book. Or I should say, I've fallen into the SAME trap. Every night, the same book. There's obviously some comfort there in the routine. They know the story. There are no surprises. It's predictable.

Are your executives the same way? Do you try to tell a new story in your corporate communications? How do they react? If it's anything like my kids, it's not a positive response. It's amazing similar behaviors I've seen between executives and children.

But your employees don't want to hear the same story every "night." Employee communications needs to consistently be revised and re-evaluated to make sure you're hitting the key messages but in a creative way.

I know it's tough. It's easier to just read the same book every night. There are no complaints by the "execs." But eventually, I'm going to loathe Big Bird and his lack of building skills, if I don't already.

But if you're going to build support for internal communications from the ground up, you have to shake up your storytelling. . . if not for your own sanity, for your employees.

According to Melcrum, it's the internal communicator. Many could argue that having an internal communications pro on staff should have been a must-have item every year, but business has changed quite a bit and having someone focus on employee communications in 2010 is crucial.

I'm not exactly sure who Melcrum is referring to when talking about "removing the charlatans" but I agree that the role internal communicators played in the previous decade should change in 2010 and beyond. Communicators must embed themselves into the business and not be viewed as a periphery resource. That's what got us here in the first place. If you work in manufacturing, get your butt down to the lines. If you work in healthcare, roam the halls. Listen to what your employees are saying and deliver messages that resonate with them.

It's your job to advise leaders and what to say / not say. Now this is always easier said than done with some leaders, but it's a needed skill. Your leaders should respect the advice the finance department gives them. Do they respect yours?

And maybe respect is where it all falls down. If your leaders and company do not respect what you do, either change what you do or demand it. Either way, respect is required in 2010 and years beyond.

We'll be showing off a couple of our HumanKiosk 4G Video Presence prototypes at the Alcatel Lucent booth (#2503 at the Venetian Veronese) this week at the Consumer Electronics Show. 

The HumanKiosk is a free-standing, 2-way video conferencing display which takes advantage of high bandwidth, wireless IP from emerging 4G services.

With this technology, consumers can reach brands directly in a retail environment, to have their questions answered by an expert.  This is a fully integrated solution requiring nothing more than a power outlet (that's the beauty of cellular).  The HumanKiosk is an innovative communications solution bringing consumers and promoters together- and could dramatically change the way shoppers make their decisions at the point of purchase.

CES is the largest show of its kind- exhibitors and attendees include consumer electronics manufacturers, developers and suppliers of consumer technology hardware, content, technology delivery systems and related products and services.

Among the many exhibits and events, you may even spot a celebrity or two...CES promises "hot products and hot weather" so come on down!

(Photo at right shows our fearless leader, Simon, setting up one of the HumanKiosks at the Venetian tonight...have to love the mood lighting...)

Today's guest entry is contributed by Pegi Patwardhan.

(Pegi started as an advertising executive in 1998 at a b2b technology agency, responsible for all media used in the marketing mix (online, email marketing, direct mail, magazine, events).  Her focus has always been finding ways to shorten the sales cycle for her clients - and has found MediaTile an excellent vehicle for making that happen.)

Banking and digital signage together makes sense.  Customers have a need to know and
learn about their finances. The bank team needs to have current information.
MediaTile has recently added another chain of banks to its list of happy clients.   (Due to  confidentiality agreements, I can't name the bank yet).

What I can talk about is why they chose to go with MediaTile.  Corporate headquarters was looking for a way to deliver specific, targeted messaging to each of its branches, while maintaining consistency in its branding effort.  They also wanted to offer their customers more of a professional experience. Multiple POP displays and printed materials were cluttering branch lobbies and surfaces; by switching to MediaTile, they were able to update their lobby with a sleek and professional, modern look.

Overwhelmingly, banks cite their concern for security as the number one reason not to use digital signage in their facilities. The security of the bank's network is paramount.  However, MediaTile's built-in cellular networking feature eliminates the need to tie into any on-site infrastructure, insulating the signage network from sensitive customer data.

What can digital signage bring to banks?  It can personalize and support core knowledge for everyone who visits.  With MediaTile, banks can also educate customers on their other products and service offerings in a fresh and enticing way. It can offer relevant and timely advice.  It can reassure everyone, with up to the minute information.  That is the service, the value and the purpose of digital signage.

There is increasing recognition in the DOOH industry of the importance of relevant content and ‘making every screen count’ – in other words ensuring that the content on each and every screen on the network is relevant to its specific audience at all times.  This of course is not a straightforward task - technically, creatively, or even logistically in the case of large disparate networks.  Add to that the drive towards experiential and contextual-based content and you have a complicated cocktail of requirements on your hands.

In response to this requirement, solution providers are taking varied approaches and bringing different backgrounds and skill sets to the client table in order to design and deliver high value-add digital signage content solutions.

One rather interesting approach is that being taken by Muzak.  The other day I met up with Jon Luther, Director of the Visual Solutions Division of Muzak, and wanted to share his approach.  Muzak has a long rich 75-year history and is the leader in in-store and on-hold custom music solutions. Over recent years, Muzak has been expanding its approach to deliver a much broader solution.  Playing on the senses of sight and smell, as well as hearing, Muzak now provides a broader sensory and experiential branding solution to its business clients.  By combining music, messaging, custom scent, and visual imagery through digital signage, Muzak has created a compelling and contemporary integrated suite of sensory branding and entertainment products and services.

As network operators and digital signage customers increasingly demand that their DOOH networks deliver a contextual based experience that is relevant to their environment, I expect we will see more examples of innovative approaches like Muzak’s.  This really is an exciting time to be at the forefront of digital signage.

 

Keepin’ it Simple

I had originally intended this post to be more of a "Day 2 recap" of sorts. But since MediaTile is a digital signage company, I felt I should focus on the panel that discussed what we do - digital signage.

The session was good, but also disappointing. But the disappointment didn't have anything to do in particular with the panelists but more so with the limited time. The session was scheduled to last 45 minutes and we got a late start. It's just too big of a topic to even provide an overview in 45 minutes or less. (That's me in the far right of the photo, Twittering away in the session.)

Tim Burke, of Electronic Arts and also known as @kioskguy, moderated the session and did a great job of keeping the conversation moving. Here's the goods and not-so-goods of the session.

Goods:

• Bill Collins, DecisionPoint Media Insights, gave a brief yet informative "digital signage 101" discussion.
   
• The panelists all agreed that companies should be using commercial-grade digital signage hardware and not the consumer-grade stuff that might appear cheaper in the short run but users will pay over the long haul.

Not-so-goods:

• The beauty of digital signage is that it delivers dynamic and relevant content. Yet the samples in the room weren't networked and one screen showed old weather for Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska? We're in Cincinnati. Now I'm sure this is because some signage doesn't work unless you set up an expensive IT network. Maybe somebody should look at cellular digital signage. Hey wait, I think I know somebody...
   
• Bill Collins is a smart man, but I was a bit offended when he described corporate communication networks as "vanilla" and ad-based networks as chocolate. He said they're vanilla because they aren't as exciting. I beg to differ. I had a lot of fun managing networks. I like vanilla. You can add all sorts of great toppings to vanilla ice cream. I'll give Bill a pass on this one.

I was glad to see digital signage included in the Digital Hub non-Conference, but 45 minutes just isn't enough. Maybe we can do more in 2010. One idea might be to focus on a small successful case study for each vertical market (retail, transportation, hospitality, corp comm, etc.).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a side yet important note, I wanted to personally thank and congratulate all of those responsible for putting on this year's Digital Hub non-Conference. Without a doubt, it was one of the best comms-related conferences I've ever attended. They pulled together a phenomenal group of speakers and session leaders and everything appeared to run smoothly despite all of the rain. I'm looking forward to bigger and better in 2010. Get to work! :)
________________________
Photo credit, marybethonline

I read a lot of blogs. And when I write a lot, I mean A LOT. But that's what they say you should do if you're writing your own blog.

And since I read a ton of online content and am a self-proclaimed corporate communication nerd, I will from time to time share the stuff I find interesting. Some will be related to digital signage specifically, while others may deal with corporate communications writings. Here;s my current brain scan.
_______

Paul Flanigan, of Experiate.net, writes about the three rules for digital signage audio in a retail environment. Paul provides a great tip of playing your content without sound and see if it makes sense. Audio is a bit of a controversial topic for internal networks. Check out this post I did regarding audio last year.
_______

Harriet Meth is at again over at Messaged to Deaf with today's post. The content focuses on the key elements of why some videos go viral. You've seen the Blendtec "Will it blend" series on YouTube? Harriet points out that one of the keys to a viral video is storytelling. To me, this is an undervalued skill in employee communications. Hmm, I smell a future blog post.
_______

For those of you who big Twitter supporters (I know I am), here are 10 sobering Twitter statistics. It took quite a bit of work, scouring several stories and sources to come up with the list. But I think we're just on the cusp of what Twitter can do. At least I feel that if I keep believing that, then I won't have wasted all of this time.
_______

Does freedom of speech extend to internal communications? Jeremy Robert suggests that companies letting their employees use social media are insane. I suggest that Jeremy may be taking this to a bit of extreme. Companies are taking a bit of a risk, but I don't think it requires these companies be committed. (I will warn you that the language is a bit rough in the post.)
_______

Brandswag's Kyle Lacy gives us five cures for blogging fatigue. Many might think this post is a sign of fatigue but it actually helps get the juices flowing. You just wait and see, with an emphasis on the "wait" part.

Very few people outside the industry know about this, but the Digital Signage Association (DSA) offers free memberships to qualified companies. If you're a user or are deploying digital signage, I highly recommend signing up.

What do you get with the membership? What are the perks? I contacted David Drain, the Executive Director of DSA, to get the answers. Here are the highlights he provided:

• Networking
• Access to best practices
• Expert advice
• Savings on research publications, conferences and trade shows
• Ability to participate on committees

If a free sign up is just too big of a commitment or you're still not sure, you can always get their free newsletter, too. There doesn't appear to be a large corporate communication membership presence but let's see if we can change that.

MediaTile is a proud DSA member. And if you'd like to learn more, visit their site or follow David Drain (@DavidDrain) on Twitter.

We announced some great news today that other leaders in the digital signage industry have gotten behind what we are doing with the Ad Council. Reflect Systems, PRN and SeeSaw Networks have given their support for PSACasting.org. Check out the full announcement.

In short, PSACasting will provide royalty-free access to the Ad Council's rich library of public service announcements. The site is now accepting early sign-ups. So if you run your own digital signage network or develop digital signage content for networks, get signed up today.

I first blogged about this just last May so things are moving along quite quickly with the project. We expect to have the full site and all of the PSAs up and ready in time for Advertising Week in New York City at the end of September.

I'm excited and proud to see MediaTile involved and leading this effort. DOOH networks are reaching more and more people every day. PSACasting is giving the Ad Council's messages thes ame reach.

I was asked this very question on a conference call yesterday. It's a company who's already doing a lot with communication. They have an electronic newsletter that comes out once a week, driving traffic to their intranet, which is also updated on a daily basis. They cut the weekly newsletter but are now doing a monthly magazine. Once a quarter, executives host town hall meetings.

So, yes, they are DOING a lot and are concerned that digital signage might be overkill. The problem is that it appears as though employees are not responding to the mighty efforts by the corporate communication department. And that's a big problem if employees are not responding.

I've asked them to talk to their employees to see what they think about putting electronic signs up around their campus, alerting them to the "quick hit" messages of the day/week and its use for crisis communication.

I think they'll find that employees will respond positively to it. Newsletters get tossed. Emails get ignored. Town halls get missed. Intranets get buried.

Digital signage may just be exactly what they need. Stay tuned.

The Digital Signage Association is hosting a Best Practices for Digital Signage content webinar next Tuesday (August 11) at 12:00 pm EDT. Get signed up today.

It's being moderated by MediaTile's executive chairman Keith Kelsen. Panelists for the webinar are Michael Chase, Vice President, Marketing & Creative, St. Joseph Content, and Paul Flanigan, Experiate.net.

Here's the meeting description:

While this webinar focuses on Point of Sale, and not corporate communication directly, I would still recommend checking it out. It's a great chance to hear some of the industry leaders and get their opinions on the best in digital signage content.

On a side note, Paul Flanigan writes for his own blog at Experiate.net. It's a great read for those looking to learn more about the digital signage industry, especially in retail.

To those of us in the industry, someone says "digital signage" and we know exactly what it is and what it can do. And I think we take that for granted because the more and more I talk to people about what I do, they say, "Now what exactly is digital signage?"

To the average person who asks me this, I tell them that's it's a networked set of LCDs that allow you to put your own messages on the screens. That usually helps get the visual across. Examples always help, too. Airports being a good one.

But to corporate communicators who are responsible for internal communications, I justifiably go into a longer elevator speech about what the technology can do. I don't fault someone for not knowing what it is. But more importantly than knowing what it is is what it can do for employee communications.

An internal network of screens gives a communicator the power (not just the ability) to deliver dynamic and engaging content wherever your employees are. The big appeal is to companies who have a lot of workers who don't sit at a desk all day. The technology is great for reaching those audiences, but it's also great to reach those who DO sit at a desk all day.

For those who are honest with themselves, you know that employees do not read every email that comes across the inbox, nor do they get excited the day the employee newsletter comes out. So you have to get creative and come up with new ways to get your messages to your audiences when they are away from their cubicles and offices.
_____________________
Photo credit, twinsparc

As you've read on this blog and many others, the digital signage industry is ever-evolving but is also maturing. Which is why news that Texas State Technical College will begin offering a Digital Signage Technology Associates Degree along with a Digital Signage Assistant Certificate is interesting. . . in a digital-signy kind of way.

It's worth taking a gander at the course load for the degree. Here's the description for the first course - Corporate & Community Development with Critical thinking:


And the list goes on. History of Communication Graphics? What a great class to add to the first semester. And I'm thrilled to see that there's a tremendous focus on digital signage content and integration.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the classes just to hear the discussions AND I'm really curious as to who's going to teach it. Because from my experience, there are several industry "experts" who would gain from being a part of such a discussion.

Furthermore, I'm interested to see how this relates to the Digital Signage Certified Experts Program (DSCE). There's definitely some similarity between the two, which I suppose is a good thing.

So who do you think will take this class? AV types? Those looking to get in a new field? Guess we'll have to see if it's successful at Texas State Technical College, will other schools pick it up?

_______________________
Photo credit, wohnai

When times get tough (as they've been recently for many companies), it's in our corporate nature to clamp up. It's not comfortable sharing bad news. For some reason, companies don't trust employees can take it. But what they forget is that employees likely already know the news and really need management's confirmation of it.

I read Keep those employee lines of communication open, especially in tough times this past weekend and the article provides some sound tips for corporate communication pros to keep in mind. The challenge in employee communications is achieving the balance between Tip #1 (share as much as you can as often as you can) and Tip #2 (evaluate the best method).

Employees often cite communication overload but I think that's largely attributed to email abuse. I've never heard of an employee complaining about too many town halls, why the company newsletter keeps coming out every week or why an investment is being made in digital signage. 

But the good news is that it does seem like many companies are beginning to recognize the need to communicate during the tough times. But again because there's so much concern and grief over what employees will do with the information, it gets bounced back and forth between legal and HR so many times that it resembles a boring game of PONG.

And then by the time it gets approved, it's usually stale news anyway.

This is why I propose to communicate ALL of the time. Times are good. Times are bad. Employees can take it. They live it every day. People have their ups and downs. So do companies. It's tough for leadership and management to have some faith in their workforce. I'm hoping that a results of this economic downturn is that many a corporate communication lesson will have been learned. Fingers crossed.

Here is another rundown of a very busy week...

Monday, June 15
Getting face to face with customers
In the world of corporate communications, getting face to face communications is primo. And in my world, it's not much different. I'm out on the road visiting one of our key customers today and a potential customer (fingers crossed) tomorrow. This is the part of the job I love the most.

Tuesday, June 16
Talking TCO at the Digital Signage Technology Summit
I'm on my way down to Orlando for the Digital Signage Technology Summit and will be talking about total cost of ownership (TCO) Wednesday with MediaTile chairman Keith Kelsen. We'll be highlighting two of our more prominent corporate communication customers, one of which is Rolls-Royce (very near and dear to my heart).

Wednesday, June 17
Video from the IABC Employee Communications panel up on YouTube
In case you couldn't tell, I really had a great time speaking at the IABC World Conference's panel on Employee Communications last Tuesday. And it always makes you a little bit nervous when you're speaking and you see someone pop up with a Flip video camera.

Thursday, June 18
Another great Digital Signage Technology Summit
Great lineup. Great attendees. Great enthusiasm. That pretty much sums up my impression of this week's Digital Signage Technology Summit. What I loved about the attendees to this event is the variety. There's a mix of AV integrators, corporations, health care, entrepreneurs, and even a few schools this time. I've noticed over the last few years is that a lot of the fluff has worn away and the attendees are now focused on what they want to accomplish with digital signage. And this mix of attendees achieves this.

Friday, June 19
Happy Father's Day from MediaTile (video)


And here's a few other interesting readings that crossed my plate this week:

• Employee policies: Yes we can!
  
  
• Six ways to measure the ROI of employee engagement
  
  
• Leaders ignore internal comms advice during recession

For the employee communications expert panel at this week's IABC World Conference, I was asked to talk briefly about a communications trend I've seen recently. Aside from the obvious one (social media), the only thing I've seen is internal communicators getting beat up on a daily basis. For the last six months they have been in crisis mode because announced layoffs, business cuts and other fun news.

So what I presented to the group was more a curiosity that I had. I'm really interested to see that as the economy moves from recession to recovery, what key role will communicators play?

One of the Canadian attendees provided some fantastic insight. She said what the US is going through now, several Canadian provinces went through in the mid 90s. In the down economy, employers held the balance of power. There were no jobs, so employees simply hunkered down. Once the economy rebounded, employees held the balance of power and could basically make demands of their job that they couldn't before. She said, for example, that Starbucks workers were making $16-20 an hour.

Though I doubt we'll see something that dramatic here in the US, it is possible that the power will shift to employees. I know of people who like to leave their job, but simply can't. And when the economy improves, they will have options.

So companies must engage the employees they want to keep, the good guys. It can be extremely damaging to a business to lose talented workers. So corporate communications professionals will play a vital role in adding this value and must continue to improve workplace communication. Proof that I'm not the only one thinking about this, I found this post from Melcrum this morning titled, "10 questions to ask leaders as businesses emerge from the recession."

It's a great read for those interested. One particular contributor cited the need for communicators to get out in front of the recovery period and begin communicating before it's too late.

In a future post, I'll talk about how and why communicators should begin now making plans as part of this recovery period, such as making investments in new tools (like digital signage) or updating existing vehicles.
______________________
Photo credit, Doublep1

It's quite timely that just as we wrap up a successful IABC World Conference, we've announced a special new version of our ROM (Return on Message) Methodology for corporate communications.

In my biased opinion, this is a game-changer. The topic of measurement came up again and again at the IABC World Conference. It's a tough topic to take on in internal communications. But with ROM Methodology, corporate communicators can now attach real data to their digital signage networks.

Here's a screen shot of the ROM radar map, along with the seven indexes used to evaluate the networks:


It's no secret that content is important and is #1 on the list. But the methodology also factors in relevance, interaction, schedule, placement, refresh and attraction. The map above shows where a network has its strengths and weaknesses so that a communicator can maximize the technology. And for those who haven't installed a network yet, ROM provides a road map to success.

We think ROM is key to digital signage analysis, but the techniques and application didn't come out of thin air. The system is based on best practices by the independent Digital Signage Association.

Measurement is difficult in communications but it's also a necessity. ROM provides communicators with a simple solution to a complex problem. In data-driven organizations (like so many are today), being able to provide leadership with measurement figures is huge.

I'm really honored to take part in this morning's "expert" panel on employee communications at the 2009 IABC World Conference. Though I feel the expert label is a bit of a misnomer and widely overused, hence the quotation marks.

I'm not expert (though others on the panel may be).

I'm an enthusiast.

I love everything involving employee communications. 10 years ago, I had no idea what employee comms was. And now? It's a passion of mine. Throughout my career, I've pushed for the use of technology to extend the reach and strengthen the impact of messages. That's how I came across digital signage. I drive people crazy with ideas of how to push executives and shun the status-quo of doing things the way they've been done.

I'm hoping the session provides some great discussion (and great blog fodder), and it should with Steve Crescenzo guiding the ship. The session starts at 8:15 am, awful early to be charming but we'll do our best. I hope to see you there with coffee in hand.

Here's this week's rundown...

Tuesday, May 26
What corporate communicators can learn from Lucille Ball
The role of the corporate communicator is changing. And this is a good thing. Not that long ago communicators were simply asked to put together a few PowerPoint presentations, ghost write some executive columns, know enough HTML to make you dangerous and generally be company's catch-all. But now I'm thrilled to see corporate communicators taking a leadership role in organizations.

Wednesday, May 27
7 key vertices of Return on Message (ROM) Methodology
Earlier this year, we officially launched our Return on Message (ROM) Methodology and it's now really starting to gain attraction based on the inquiries and interest we're hearing. As the digital signage marketplace continues to mature, more and more are looking to establish return on the technology. ROM provides this.

Thursday, May 28
The benefits of digital signage for corporate communicators
This message reinforcement is one of the many strengths that digital signage provides corporate communicators. With MediaTile (and likely other vendors), you can schedule your messages months and months in advance so you have the confidence in knowing that your communication and messages will be played without having to manage it on a daily basis.

Friday, May 29
The David Hasselhoff of digital signage blogs
Is this site becoming the David Hasselhoff of digital signage blogs? I did a little Google Analytics work last night and our international visitors are getting close to outnumbering hits from the U.S. If this keeps up, we'll be more popular overseas. . . kind of like David Hasselhoff.

And here's a few other readings from the week that caught my eye...

• Communication is top issue in hotel employee engagement
   
• Digital Signage Expo East canceled

__________________________
Photo credit, Randysonofrobert