2nd Annual Building Your Successful Digital Signage Business Conference Recap |
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Page 1 of 2 by Josh Coffman  Floorshot of the show! Check out the Lumen power! Put on by the Strategy Institute, the 2nd Annual Building Your Successful Digital Signage Business Conference brought every aspect of running a digital signage business together in a comprehensive two-day package. The conference was held November 14th and 15th at the Wyndham hotel in Itasca, Illinois, situated in the Chicagoland area. Interestingly enough, Itasca is home to an NEC headquarters, yet LG Electronics snuck in as the sole display sponsor of the event. Very niiiiiice! Other sponsors, among others, included: Peerless, Arbitron, Nielsen Media Research, iSuppli, and yours truly- the Digital Signage Forum. The level of knowledge and intelligence of not only the speakers, but the attendees, was mind-blowing. Not sure if it was something in the air or the way the Strategy Institute orchestrated the event, but everyone was willing to share detailed experiences, strategies, and practices, something that has been missing from other digital signage events. Tuesday: Lyle Bunn of Alchemy, a division of Pi Media, kicked off the event as co-chair and day one was delivered by Shelly Palmer (Award Winning Author), Daniel Ginsberg (TAG Network), Ronald Gross (Dynatek Media), Mike Fowler (Advance TV Network), David Teichner (Channel M), Joe Plastino (Clubcom & Precor), Bill Collins (Decisionpoint Media Insights), Steve Nesbit (Reflect Systems), John Greening (Northwestern University), Laura Davis-Taylor (Retail Media Consulting), Brad Gleeson (Planar Systems), Adrian Weidmann (Retail Mediametrics), Norman McLeod (Cap Ventures/Info Trends), and Sanjay Manandhar (Aerva). Wednesday focused on the advertising aspect of digital signage. In the morning sessions, we heard from Gwen Morrison (WPP Global Retail Initiatives), Todd Hansen (Posterscope USA), Peter Bowen (Seesaw Networks), Michael Quinn (Premier Retail Networks), Mike DiFranza (Captivate Network), Jesse London (Mediaplace), Rob Winston (Arbitron Out-of-Home), and Beth Corbett (Nielsen Media Research). At 1PM we experienced a highly rewarding interactive media panel. Tom Kiernan (Arena Media Networks) and Peter Irwin (Outdoor Broadcast Network) took turns pitching their networks to Jack Sullivan (Starcom USA), David Koppelman (Macdonald Media), and Christina Radigan (OMG). Rounding out the rest of day two was Mark Webster (Rollouts), Mark Mayfield (Pro AV Magazine), Gary Quasebarth (Dynatek Media), Elliot Turrini (API Systems, Visual Incite), Don Fasick (LG Electronics), N. Karl Boldt, Jr. (Visioneered Image Systems), Sanju Khatri (iSuppli), Don Graves (AKA.TV), Dale Smith (Peerless Industries), and Lyle Bunn (Alchemy). Compared with other events like the Digital Retailing Expo, this event was more targeted, focused, advanced, and provided a more intimate and rewarding environment. Networking opportunities were everywhere, the overall feeling among attendees was of excitement, of an industry gearing up to take it to the next level, and the food, beverage, and service was fantastic. It was an A+ event all around. Kudos to the Strategy Institute and the Wyndham Northwest Chicago for being wonderful hosts for this great event. Highly applicable and informative, this conference is a must for anyone involved in the realm of digital signage. |
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