Digital Signage Expo takes a slice of Chicago Style on May 16^th and 17^th 2007

05-19-2007

By Lisa Jachimowicz

Navy Pier - Digital Signage Expo, Chicago

It could have been the sparkling turquoise water, the gorgeous boats or the awesome sunshine, but no matter what, it couldn’t have been a more exquisite backdrop for the Digital Signage Expo this year. The exhibitors consisted of new digital signage businesses entering the market, established companies, great sales people, tech people and industry leaders who all had one thing in common and that was passion and a distinct product or service targeted to end-users in need of comprehensive answers from our great industry.

Most of our pre-show blog predictions came true and then some!

Expo Attendees at the FasTRACK Touch Screen	Mystic Blue

LG Commercial Booth Locations

Life’s Good isn’t just the LG commercial slogan; it was very good at the very classy booth design that had good foot traffic and some great looking screens pushing some hardcore digital signage content. LG commercial came in showcasing its new IP (Internet Protocol) Solution technology, which enables the digital signage industry to deliver video content to multiple locations with centralized video content and display control capability. LG’s has a new M4210 series of flat-panel HDTV LCD’s – M4210C-BA and M4210N-BA – that utilizes the company’s IP Solution for integrated networking designed specifically for LG displays. The really cool thing about the people over at LG is a new and refreshing open attitude that projects will ship and everything is possible regarding working every deal no matter how large or small. LG has a fresh perspective to customer service and is reaching out to every reseller, integrator and end-user to offer assistance and to further enhance their commitment to the digital signage industry they have become a new premier sponsor of the digital signage forum. For more information visit LG at there website www.lgcommercial.com

BTV Plus Booth - featuring Ask CLIVE

Speaking of new DSF sponsors, the BTV+ booth was rocking with “Ask Clive”, which is a live 2-Way Virtual Customer Service application! Plus one of our very famous and very special forum members, Rich Perry (who is the Director, US Sales at BTV+), explained to many end-users visiting their booth about how Digital Signage requires a level of interaction to be truly effective and measurable. Being able to measure with applications like motion triggered store greeting, two way video interaction ,web browsing, new product information, how-to videos, instant messaging ,store layouts, product scanning and price lookup, loyalty cards, traffic analysis, access to in store promotions, coupons and specials, and much more. “Ask Clive” is a patent pending live interactive customer service kiosk that provides many tools to perform these services that can help any company improve their business. This was a pretty sweet set up at the BTV+ booth that made it one of the busiest booths on the show floor. For more information visit there newly re-designed BTV+ website: www.btvplus.com

Dynasign Booth

Dynasign also had one of the busiest booths at the show that I almost thought they should have sold tickets and made reservations because it would have been a sold out booth!  We met Dynasign on the Internet two years ago and since then have grown together as companies often do. It was a pleasure to be able to meet Alex (Ping) Wang and Hong Wang who are as nice in person as they are via phone and email. They showcased their Dynasign Player Software which is Microsoft Windows based. It can be installed on a PC with Windows XP or XP Embedded. With the software only option, you have the freedom to select different pc hardware based on your deployment requirements. They also showcased their Dynasign Screen Saver. Dynasign Screen Saver will allow businesses to extend and amplify their messages from large digital signage screens to small screens on every desktop. Dynasign Screen Saver fully leverages Dynasign's Online Service Platform and the idle time of desktop PCs to extend reach and engage employees. We especially like that they offer free trials of their software and they are known for there superior customer service to end-users and forum members.  For more information regarding Dynasign’s software see our special DSF review here or visit their website at www.dynasign.net

BlueFire Digital Wireless Bluetooth Technology in action

We also got to see BlueFire Digital’s Wireless Bluetooth technology with the Dynasign solution via cell phone. We think that communication and interaction from the screen during and after the sale using mobile text during a retail experience with the consumer will be the icing on the cake for the ultimate digital signage success for ad based content. Blue Fire Digital’s solution offers just that and more see our recent BlueFire Wireless review here.

Greg Nank - Chief Manufacturing Digital Signage Business Developer

One of the fun parts of the show was hanging out in the Digital Signage Café. Our game plan was simple… attendees need to eat sometime and this is where we got to catch up with other forum sponsors, one of them being Greg Nank of Chief Manufacturing.  Greg seemed to have the same approach we did by hanging out there and personally visiting each booth one by one. I am betting that in the midst of all the digital signage network chaos every one of these exhibitors will need a mount for a screen.  Whether you need a digital sign to hang from the ceiling, mount to the wall or free-stand, Chief has many options to choose from. Chief mounts offer exclusive features like the Q-Latch™ System for quick screen connect/disconnect and integrated security and Centris™ for effortless technology. Greg is Chief’s Digital Signage Business Development Manager and takes a very proactive roll in digital signage education. You can interact with him live on this DSF thread about any number of topics.

Sean Milstead from Planar

What was really great was that Digital Signage Forum members were sprinkled all over the show floor and I was happy to finally meet Sean Milstead from Planar. Sean is very passionate about his company and a very knowledgeable account representative about Digital Signage screens and CoolSign Software. He happily gave me a quick overview of the CoolSign software and when you talk about location, Planar would get the award for having the best spot on the tradeshow floor! Planar is definitely on our DSF radar as they have many high profile pilots, projects and a special integrated digital signage screen that will roll out in the 3rd quarter of this year.

Brandy Siler - BluePony Digital

Another famous member of the Digital Signage forum we got to meet was Brandy Siler of BluePony Digital. Blue Pony Digital creates custom digital content for a variety of live and staged production applications in the entertainment industry, including concerts, clubs, television, film, theater, and retail. After meeting them I realized how much fun it would be to create an ad campaign with this company and, coincidentally enough, they created content for many booths around them at this show.

We also caught up with Raji Kalra of Artisan Live who is another brilliant content provider and Digital Signage Forum member who also offers refreshing services as a resource for brand, retailers, and media planners looking to incorporate digital signage within retail and out-of-home environments. This includes digital merchandising initiatives such as enabled end-caps, stand alone p.o.p, or even in-store network solutions. While leveraging over 32-years experience from Artisan Complete, they understand the importance of delivering a compelling visual message and produce customized content to optimize every element of your brand communication strategy.

The Matrox Booth

Digital Signage Forum members from Matrox were also having a great day with heavy booth traffic that featured their 30 years of experience to deliver the highest quality graphics solutions with both hardware and software features tailored to the digital signage market. With innovative solutions that include multi-display graphics cards and new multi-display initiatives like GXMs (Graphics eXpansion Modules) and the Matrox Series of RGUs (Remote Graphics Units), Matrox’s claim to fame is that all of its products are natively engineered from chip, to board, to driver. Capable of powering 2, 3 or 4 displays from a single graphics solution and backed by a specialized digital signage management team and product support teams worldwide, Matrox continually works with the leading industry partners to offer you the ultimate cost-effective solution to power your digital signage displays. They also have teamed up with ADFLOW Networks to provide unique technology solution for OfficeMax. We liked it that they are Windows Vista compatible right now….not tomorrow or next week or next month.

Making Technology Easier - Brad Gleeson, Presenter

On the Digital Signage Expo floor I think there was a very strong emphasis on hardware & software and if I had a nickel for each time we saw a new player box we would all be rich!  It was behind the scenes at the educational sessions where you heard more about measurements, user generated content and ad space pricing. I was fortunate enough to have enough time to attend the Making Technology Easier with presenter Brad Gleeson, VP of Business Development., Planar Systems, Inc., (who is one of the true pioneers of digital signage) and I personally think one of the best motivational speakers regarding the industry. This was a perfect venue for new companies and end-users to attend because it touched on a small aspect of important topics regarding screens, connectivity, content and promotion regarding digital signage projects. Some of it was circa 2001 for me and I had to smile when an audience member asked the one million dollar question and that was “what is the best digital signage solution” and Brad so elegantly responded that “this is a large eco-system and no one can do it all, that companies must band together.” He also stated “the ultimate solution will be in specialty projects because digital signage requirements are becoming much more complex.” I really think this left the audience with a calming effect. So on those days where you wonder what you are doing in the Digital Signage industry…just talk to Brad Gleeson and you will walk away with the sense that everything is going to be ok and that you are where you belong because as he states, ”there is no 500 pound gorilla so get your objective first, your content second and your network third.” He also states, ”choose your partners wisely, simplify and don’t fear the pilot project and focus will precede success!”

We think the Digital Signage Expo was a huge success!  We are not overly excited about it being in Las Vegas next year but will we attend? We wouldn’t miss it!

Tomorrow we will report about the “new to us” companies that we met and on Monday we will have two Digital Signage Forum exclusive interviews!

For more information and another recap, check out the Digital Signage Expo Conference Sessions by Josh Coffman.