Improving Communication

Kumbaya! Social media brings the digital signage industry together

Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Chuck Gose

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.
______________________
photo by LadyDragonFlyCC

Who's watching me now?

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Sean Michael Kelly

Here's an example of a digital signage promotional campaign gone awry at a local veterinary hospital:

Someone clearly spent some marketing budget on a digital sign that they intended to promote their product at the shelf for an up-sell opportunity in the waiting room. Naturally I am instinctively drawn to see what is being promoted by whom and how in a scene like this, but I was disappointed to find the unit powered off - you can see the rectangular supply laying atop the counter without a power cord.

While there are any number of plausible explanations for this scene, I was immediately stricken by some distinct possibilities that afflict other electronic sign options. The first (most obvious and common) was that the unit was unplugged by an employee of the facility or their cleaning service and it simply was not plugged back in. In truth it could be any reason, but regardless, it boils down to two questions: why was it unplugged, and why hasn't anyone noticed?

To the former, sometimes it's simply that the additional power outlet was needed for something else. But sometimes it's more sinister: employees are annoyed by the audio, or "feel bad" about leaving it running when they close up shop for the night. Through its native remote management and scheduling automation, the Mediacast System addresses these issues by permitting the display network operator to make adjustments to volume levels as well as to schedule operational hours so that the display visibly turns itself off, thus lessening the temptation for employees to pull the plug on the unit.

(As a side note, while the appropriateness of audio in content is always a consideration for effective business communication in any given deployment, if audio is necessary, it is best to follow-up with the employees at the establishment to ensure that it is not irritating which could leave a lasting, negative impression of your brand!)

Another possibility is that the content became out-dated - perhaps there was a recall on something being promoted, or the product was discontinued, or there was some other rights issue with the media... any of a dozen reasons that the media has to stop playing, and now. For other electronic sign platforms, there is no way to remotely manage the content at all; they require an operator to physically come to the site and change out a memory stick or disc, etc. So until they can come out to the site to change out the media, when it comes to issues like those mentioned, their only recourse is to pull the power.

From day one the Mediacast System has provided a purely remotely managed store-and-forward content distribution method with the assumption that our customers have better things to do than constantly visit their display locations to change media. Using the web-based Mediacast Digital Signage SaaS, you upload your content to the portal, then remotely distribute it to the Internet-connected display network - take control without stepping foot into the remote sites.

The other nagging question is why, after several months (and missed opportunities) of sitting like this, has nobody noticed that the display is offline? The answer in many cases is: because nobody is watching. The Mediacast system provides a flexible alert notification system that dispatches emails to selected individuals if a display goes offline. The idea is to dispatch a technician or other field representative to the site so as not to prolong a simple problem.

The automated monitoring also keeps an active status on the displays so that even if the email is missed initially, operators logging into the portal system on a regular basis as able to see displays that have a problem.

(As an annecdotal side bar, we once had a display go offline for a customer running a network in a major consumer electronics retailer at the end-cap of one of the aisles. The assigned technician phoned up the appropriate department and inquired about the unit; when the store employee checked on it, they found that another employee had disassembled the end-cap display and was preparing to install a different vendor's display in the same location. This turned out to be miscommunication internally on the part of the retailer and the end-cap was properly restored, but it shows the value of expedient response; had the materials been boxed up and sent off to the back of a warehouse in a busy environment like that, they might never have been located and recovered.)

As you can see, it is only a matter of time before this vendor's counter top becomes general purpose storage because the dead screen doesn't look like it needs to be visible. The only thing I'm left wondering is how much time is needed for the sorry thing to finally decompose and disappear like so much dust in this otherwise quiet and solemn environment.

Deep thoughts on day 2 at Digital Signage Expo

Thursday, February 25, 2010 by Chuck Gose

I didn't attend Digital Signage Expo in 2009 but I was here back in 2008. It's amazing how much the show has changed AND improved in those two years. Exhibitors are more prepared and, most importantly, attendees are much more educated.

I had a great time leading the Corporate Communication Lunch & Learn and I hope the attendees got more out of it than a boxed lunch (though it was pretty tasty). What I enjoyed was that it wasn't just corp comm pros who attended. There were IT professionals, purchasing representatives and general managers there just hoping to learn how to best implement the technology at their companies to help with communications. We even had some university representation, which was great.

One of the highlights was having the chance to finally meet Mark Allen from The Marlin Company. Sure we could be labeled competitors but we are both out there trying to educate everyone on the benefits of digital signage and employee communications. And because of that, we are each others #1 fan.

And I think our booth (#1427) looks awesome. When many other companies' booths (which do look nice) look very industrial while ours is very natural - all natural wood and technology. It looks great. We've been blessed to be joined in our booth by representatives from Sprint and iPOWOW!. They've been a huge help during the show.

I hope everybody has a second day that was as good or better than the first.

Digital Pricing Marquee

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Sean Michael Kelly

It doesn't require a miracle or a fortune to produce a great, professional looking marquee like this for your establishment:

If you break it down to its basic components, it's really quite simple. There are three screens operating independently. Each screen plays one set of pre-canned content. In the scene above, the left and right screens may be rotating through concession promotions as well as video snippets of coming attractions. A little bit of motion is all it takes to draw the eye up here. The center screen is displaying current offerings and pricing information.

By linking the pricing information and the promotions together into, effectively, a single electronic sign, the viewer can't help but notice your promotions - focused messaging will improve communication for consumers by centralizing viewers' attention to a single place where you know you've got it.

At this point you may be thinking that the various forms of content rotation are all well and good, but what about when it comes time to update the pricing information? This may be one of the most significant points of hesitation to adopt digital signage content since the display needs to be easy to update for facilities managers. The MediaCast system can accommodate this in either of two ways: data managed within the management portal, or data managed externally on your own web server.

By creating the content which displays pricing information in Flash, you can get a unique blend of text and graphics and even have potential for animation here - careful not to overwhelm this particular display however as it needs to be useful for your most scrutinizing viewer. One thing that Flash is particularly well suited to is integrating data from multiple sources into a single view. Your Flash programmer can assemble a view that pulls data from an XML file and display it as directed. Then it just comes down to data management.

For data management, you can maintain a simple XML file on your management PC and associate it with your Dynamic Flash content in the MediaCast system. When you update the file and upload it to the portal, the updated data will be pushed out to the display automatically. Or if you'd prefer to centralize the management of the data on the portal, you can store the XML data right inside the properties of the Dynamic Flash asset itself within the portal and forego the need for maintaining a separate file.

If maintaining the data through the MediaCast portal is not well suited to your business operations, you also have the option of publishing the XML on your own website with a secret URL. Your programmers can create your own web based data editor which generates the XML file; simply add the URL to the XML as a "URL File" for your Dynamic Flash on the MediaCast portal.

As a URL File, the MediaCast system will poll it for updates every 15 minutes. When a change is found, it will update the data and push it out to the displays that need it without any additional adminsitrative effort - this way your employees can maintain your display data within your own, controlled administrative system and never need to log in to the portal after the initial setup - that's the beauty of Digital Signage SaaS!

If you don't know any Flash programmers but still want to take advantage of exciting digital signage content like this we've got your back. MediaTile offers creative Media Services with specific digital signage content expertise and can efficiently produce a custom presentation to your specifications!

Greetings!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by Sean Michael Kelly

Sean Michael Kelly, V.P. Portal Development, The MediaTile Company

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...

Digital Signage Expo: "Have fun storming the castle!"

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 by Chuck Gose

Digital Signage Expo is a week away and I'm ecstatic to report that MediaTile will have quite the presence at the event in Las Vegas. To reference a memorable Bill Crystal quote in The Princess Bride, we are "storming the castle."

We have a pretty good sized booth (#1427) at the convention center, but most importantly is that several of us (employees and customers) are speaking at various sessions.

You can check out the full schedule and details of those speaking at panels and Lunch & Learns, but here are the highlights:

Wayne Ward, Sprint, VP, Emerging Solutions
Simon Wilson, MediaTile, CEO
Chris Bias, APR, Eli Lilly & Company, Communications Consultant
Robert Russell, AT&T
Chuck Gose, MediaTile, Director Business Development & Social Media
 Keith Kelsen, Author "Unleashing the Power of Digital Signage - Content Strategies for the 5th Screen"

In addition to the panels, the Ad Council, the nation’s leading provider of PSAs will highlight its PSACasting initiative powered by the MediaCast content delivery and management system. PSACasting will make it easy for operators to browse, preview and download current Ad Council PSAs for various causes, such as Haiti relief, to digital signage networks. Visit Booth #C7 in the content pavilion.

Digital Signage Gets the Green Light in Amsterdam (#ISE2010)

Thursday, February 11, 2010 by Leah Kane

Today's guest post is provided by Nick Powley of b2m Consulting in the UK, who has extensive experience in systems integration, and content distribution & management...

Every now and again something dramatic happens that really catches your eye, and during last week's visit to theIntegrated Systems Europe (ISE) show in Amsterdam, I really had my eyes opened! Now, those of you who know Amsterdam are probably off on an entirely wrong track already...but here I’m talking about big bright and very eye-catching displays.

The theme of this year's show appeared to be, "How Big and Bright Can We Make Our Display to Really Get Noticed?" Those of you who visited the show and did so without dark glasses may have come away with an LED-induced tan. Whilst every exhibitor seemed to be competing for the most innovative, and sometimes obscure way to deliver their message, the recurring theme was undoubtedly digital signage, or as one exhibitor had written over their booth, Digital "Sinage"...how appropriate, given the location.

Sadly, even though it was nearly impossible to find a space in the show where you could avoid seeing those magic words, "digital signage," many exhibitors appeared to have lost their way when it came down to content and message. Things got even more interesting when one stopped to discuss signage solutions with potential vendors, who, without even asking about the application or what might be required, were happy to launch into wonderful technical block diagrams with ftp file servers, message handling servers, interrupt and backup devices, as well as a plethora of content management and creation tools...Oh! My head hurt, and not just from the retinal burn.

Stepping back for a moment and enjoying one of Amsterdam’s most expensive treats (exhibition coffee), I mused on why digital signage vendors still insist on focusing on hardware. Sadly, too many have come from a highly technical background and still believe that the only way to impress customers is to talk about file types/protocols and server architectures. Having now spent several years working in the sector and seeing good, bad, and ugly solutions, I believe passionately that the simpler the offering, the easier it is to understand and use, the more likely it is to be a real business benefit and not a millstone.

Surprisingly, finding simple solutions can be an incredibly complex process, and often suppliers can only offer a piece of the puzzle. Frequent enquiries at the show for a complete solution yielded responses from "Yes, we can do everything, apart from installation," through to "No, we only provide the software so you can use your own hardware." It would be wrong to imply that companies cannot offer complete solutions- of course they often can- but the route to enlightenment can be long and tortuous without a competent guide to lead the way.

As an independent consultant in the signage sector, I should declare that my current enthusiasm lies with the simple and highly effective offering from MediaTile. From the very first day I met with MediaTile in Las Vegas in 2007, I knew my life as a systems integrator was about to get a whole lot easier. "Digital Sign in a Box" seemed almost too good to be true, but three years on, I still find the offering hard to match in what has become a very competitive and confusing marketplace for vendors.

So as a veteran with some 25 years of trade show appearances, I can offer a few small pieces of advice when you're on the floor:

• Go with a plan and be prepared to change it!
• Keep your eyes open for new and exciting offerings.
• Don’t get drawn onto the rocks by the sirens with big distractions.
• Be inquisitive and dig beneath the surface to see if what glitters truly is gold.
• Bring a lot of cash if you want to eat/drink at the show.

If what you want from your digital signage is "Wow Factor," then visit Las Vegas' strip and be wowed. If, however, you need a global solution that's easy to manage and deploy, and provides great return on message, then focus on "keeping it simple" - and stay away from the bright red lights!

Nick Powley
b2m Consulting - UK

Do your executives like The Bunny Hop?

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 by Chuck Gose

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.

The corporate must-have item for 2010?

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Chuck Gose

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.

Elite Racing opens its doors to IMIS attendees

Thursday, December 3, 2009 by Chuck Gose

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.

Spotlight on Digital Signage Association

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 by Leah Kane

Those of us who find ourselves spending most of the work day online (in one capacity or another) are aware of the power and effectiveness of social networking - but just as important is the power of traditional networking. Industry organizations such as the Digital Signage Association (DSA) provide like-minded professionals an industrious and business-neutral forum for education, networking and advocacy.

The DSA brings together vendors and users alike- everyone from display manufacturers, resellers and distributors, to content creators and network operators across all vertical markets. Members and sponsors (including MediaTile) work together to move the industry forward, share best practices and business opportunities, and increase awareness about digital signage.

Whether you're a brand manager, a corporate communications manager, or a display vendor, the Digital Signage Association has an event, a whitepaper, or a behind-the-scenes initative designed to grow your deployments and ensure your success.

We wanted to give a shout-out to the DSA for everything they do and for giving us a voice. Check them out, or better yet:

I've got your ROI and I'll raise you employee engagement

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Chuck Gose

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.

"Effective internal communications can keep employees engaged in the business and help companies retain key talent, provide consistent value to customers, and deliver superior financial performance to shareholders."

Watson Wyatt 2009

Wrapping up the Strategy Institute conference (#BuildDSBiz)

Monday, November 23, 2009 by Chuck Gose

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.
____________________________________________

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.

One post you won't read on this blog

Friday, November 6, 2009 by Chuck Gose

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.

Time after time, time's an issue (#mbo09)

Friday, October 23, 2009 by Chuck Gose

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?"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikingartist/3000043099/

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.
________________________
Photo credit, HikingArtist.com

Keys to your Digital Signage Software castle

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 by Chuck Gose

I take for granted all of the features inside MediaCast, our digital signage software, that I don't realize others in the industry do not provide similar capabilities. Yesterday I read a post over on DigitalSignage.com about the importance that role-based administration has in digital signage software success.

Many of you might be familiar with this type of setup if you're using a content management system (CMS) for your intranet. You have Super Admins, Admins, Publishers, Editors, Authors, etc. Each of these people have inherent tasks they are allowed to complete in the system. The higher you are up in the food chain, the more permission you have.

This is how MediaCast works but it's even more customizable. Not only do you get to create the various roles and permissions, you can even dictate individual tasks that an individual may not may not have access to. For example, let's say you set up an Author role in MediaCast. The author might be able to upload content, create playlists, but maybe not schedule them to play in the electronic signs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billward/225445618/

But let's say one of your Admins goes on vacation. You can temporarily or permanently grant that Author the ability to schedule content in the Admin's absence without altering all of the other authors' access. Make sense?

I'm just surprised that not everybody out there is offering this feature. Read the post and DigitalSignage.com to learn about many more benefits of role-based administration but what I described is a key one for corporate communication departments.

Roles make sure you're giving the keys to your digital signage software castle to the right people.
______________________
Photo credit, Bill Ward

The Digital Signage Show Europe - Economic Slow-down or Just the "Traffic Congestion Charge Effect"?

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 by Simon Wilson

While visiting a range of channel and cellular carrier partners last week in the UK and the Benelux region I was able to spend a day at the Self Service Expo and Digital Signage Show Europe at Olympia in London. One of our value-added solution partners, Box Technologies, was exhibiting there, so I spent a day chatting with network operators and prospective customers as they came across the Box stand.

I also met with Bill Yackey, Editor of Digital Signage Today, who was speaking on both days of the show covering some great statistics and trends for the industry as a whole. Bill has a very comprehensive write up of the show and event on the Digital Signage Today web site.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/simondee/3162006147/

For those of you who have visited London in the last few years you will know all about the new Traffic Congestion Charge – in effect a toll charge for entering central London by car. A masterful ruse to raise money for local government projects all in the name of reducing pollution and the British carbon footprint – trouble is less people are coming into London as a result and business generally suffers - Hence the phrase of the moment in London; “the Traffic Congestion Charge effect”.

Meanwhile, back at the 2009 Signage Show, the number of digital signage exhibitors was down on 2008, traffic flows reduced, and general activity levels more subdued. Well the view through my rose-tinted spectacles was somewhat more positive. I saw solid traffic-flow across the exhibition stand, well-qualified and educated prospects, great questions, and folks ready to buy and deploy.

According to my colleagues, this was true on both days, not just the day I spent at the show. What was also interesting was the proportion of value added solution providers rather than network owner/operators who were looking for technology partners. These ranged from creative agencies, and merchandising firms, to managed service providers and network management firms. No longer is this an industry whose channel is dominated by AV integrators. The emphasis of the value chain or ‘solution stack’ has definitely shifted upstream to consulting, content, and service.

So no doubt the general economic condition has had an impact on our industry with the UK being no exception - but the quality of customers and vendors has improved as a result of this shake out – not only can they afford to pay the Traffic Congestion Charge but they are also ready and willing to buy.

Keepin' it Simple

______________________
Photo credit, SimonDoggett

4G and partnering with Alcatel-Lucent's ng Connect program

Saturday, October 10, 2009 by Leah Kane

We at MediaTile are PSYCHED to announce the first "HumanKiosk" prototype. This is an interactive, two-way video conferencing mechanism, enabling consumers and retailers (among others) to communicate directly with one another, in-store- no middle man.

Imagine the possibilities - you're in the store, comparison shopping, you have a question but the store staff doesn't know anything more about the product you're holding than the info which appears on its packaging. No problem- connect to a product expert and have a face-to-face conversation via HumanKiosk.

The excitement surrounding the HumanKiosk release is that it is based on ng Connect's 4G/LTE technology. (LTE = Long Term Evolution). If you're unfamiliar with ng Connect, it is a program "conceived and founded by Alcatel-Lucent, bring[ing] together infrastructure, device, application and content companies to create an end-to-end ecosystem with all the resources and expertise required to rapidly deliver next generation services and applications to service providers, enterprises and consumers. " (quoted from the ng Connect website...)

4G essentially is 3G on steroids. It has the bandwidth to support live and streaming video uploads/downloads - and to support the increasingly interactive nature of successful digital signage deployments.

Every retailer and brand manager hopes to improve communication with its consumer- traditional advertising is limited in this regard. HumanKiosk takes digital signage to another level of relevancy- it provides a purely interactive experience and accomplishes what pre-recorded content, whatever the medium, cannot hope to achieve.

Check it out- we can't wait to hear your feedback!

Adobe MAX Conference

Friday, October 9, 2009 by MediaServices

-By David Trounstine

This week Adobe held their yearly design and development conference, Adobe MAX. Many cool demos were displayed and some great new info about the next iteration of flash was discussed.

In an effort to unify the devices in our lives under a single standard, Adobe has evolved Flash into a very powerful production, delivery, and display platform. Other programs like Cold Fusion and Flex Builder give developers the tools necessary to create seamless experiences for users across a whole sea of consumer electronics.

Demonstrations on netbooks, smart phones, touch screens, and more showed the ability for Flash to improve communication and enable businesses to spread their content far further than ever before.

While there was no clear cut demo of digital signage at the MAX show it was pretty clear that the DOOH market would see huge benefits from the improvements being made to Flash and it's companion tools. The performance improvements to video playback alone are astonishing, and will surely make Flash one of the more popular next-generation players for HD and interactive content.

Using an HP TouchSmart screen one presenter played HD video (which looked amazing), he then simply tapped the screen and up popped an information overlay providing the user with current time, weather, relevant content relating to the video and more. This type of interface empowers the user to make choices and receive content based on trends in which they are taking part, and reduces the perception that they are being "spammed" with irrelevant information.

I'm a big fan of the Flash platform, and use it for a huge amount of the work we do here at MediaTile. It seems that the updates to come will finally provide us the tools we need, and the performance required, to produce content and products that will truly revolutionize the marketplace.

Topic: Deploying technology to broadcast campus emergencies

Wednesday, October 7, 2009 by Chuck Gose

That's the title of my topic at the 6th Annual Emergency & Disaster Planning conference in Toronto. The folks at the Strategy Institute always put on a good show.

I'm honored to present at the show, but am equally interested to hear what the other speakers have to say. I would imagine this is a hungry audience, especially with so many public institutions concerned over a potential flu epidemic. The two-day conference is focused on the education sector. Just glancing through some of the other topics and you see words like "infectious disease," "lockdowns," and "shooter incidents." It just goes to show the challenge facing administrators and health workers these days.

I'm going to focus on how digital signage can be a tremendous asset in crisis communication. The exact description reads like this:

Emergency Broadcast Alert Systems provide educational campus communicators more flexibility and control when broadcasting in crises or emergency situations. Come and learn how digital signage networks are:
• Programming and structuring support for a variety of alert levels, including zoned notices, campus-related emergencies, weather alerts, and other crisis-management
• Being integrated into existing emergency and crisis management systems
• Managing to prevent crises from escalating
• Understand how deploying the right technology can enhance the life-saving capability at your campus.

I'm on the Alumni Board of Directors at Butler University and we recently discussed how colleges are preparing for a potential H1N1 outbreak. I can't imagine the challenges faced by colleges when students are packed in there. And let's be honest, many college students aren't exactly known for first-rate hygiene practices.