I’ve been reading everyone’s reactions to the 2010 DSE show this week, and have scoured the blogoshere to compile what I believe to be the top posts. You will notice some common themes among the various posts.

Let's focus on what was in Las Vegas... 
By Chuck Gose, MediaTile

There have been a few mixed reviews on last week's Digital Signage Expo. The consensus seems to be that there was too much focus on digital signage hardware and software providers and not enough on content, strategy or integration. If that was the case, then don't fault those who were there - fault those who weren't…continue


Themes From DSE
By Ken Goldberg, Real Digital Media

Let's take a break from the drama surrounding the DSA and DSF, which received enough attention over the past week. I'll have some new thoughts on that later this week or next. The real news is that the Digital Signage Expo (DSE) was held last week in Las Vegas and continued its own growth and maturation, matching that of the industry it serves…continue


Where’s this thing going?
By Pat Hellberg, The Preset Group

DSE veterans (some of us have been around since DSE’s predecessor, the Digital Retailing Expo, barely filled a small hall in San Francisco in 2004) have never seen as much activity nor felt as much energy as we just experienced in Las Vegas.  Exhibitors entered DSE 2010 anticipating the norm:  that they would spend the majority of their time educating the “tire kickers.” But instead, we heard that buyers were qualified/legitimate and conversations were pointed/positive.  Some vendors were even writing business on the trade show floor.
So the future is bright, right? Maybe yes, maybe no…continue


Impressions from DSE 2010
by David Weinfeld, The Preset Group

The trip to Las Vegas for Digital Signage Expo 2010 was great. The entire Preset Group team was there, which made for a fun, busy week at the show. Our pre-show mixer went off like a rocket ship, seeing around 180 of the over 210 registered attendees make their way into Lavo for the event. The excitement from the mixer spilled over into our meetings throughout the whole week…continue


#dse2010. Whew.
By Paul Flanigan, The Preset Group

Another Digital Signage Exposition has come and gone. Last year I spent all my time in the sessions. This year, I spent all my time on the floor. Instead of giving you the top five things I learned (as was my habit with shows I attended last year), I will just drop some thoughts on you. Take ‘em or leave ‘em. (Or hold ‘em or fold ‘em, as Mr. Rogers would have you do if you’re the gambling sort.)…continue


More DSE 2010 Impressions
By Dave Haynes, The Preset Group

So the theory was that because I was not going to be chained to a booth, I for once could really have a good look around. Didn't work so hot. I did indeed see a lot more than usual, but there were a lot of vendors and I ran out of time to have more than a glance at about two-thirds of them. I never did get upstairs for any conference sessions.
Oh well. Here's what I did see...continue


#dse2010 – One Canuck Perspective
By Dmitry Sokolov, Ingram Micro Canada

DSE organizers recorded some 160+ individual Canadian registrations; accounting for the booth staffs of Canadian software companies Capital Networks, X2O Media, CognoVision, Intello, Harris and Scala’s Canadian contingent, the total Canuck ‘visitor’ traffic would have been close to 100 attendees…continue

DSE was a whirlwind week, as it always is. The first day’s educations sessions were well attended and from what I could tell received good feedback. I attended the DOOH Advertising Summit for most of the day. Those who had not yet seen the keynote speaker, Shelly Palmer, were impressed by his insight into this industry from a media perspective. I heard him speak at an NEC event several years ago and have been keeping up with him ever since. You can follow his blog at www.mediabytes.com.

The Summit was an obvious success, and something I think Exponation will likely continue. All seats were full for most of the day, and during the morning sessions there were about 25 people standing in the back, including myself.

I went next door to steal a chair from Alan Brawn’s new training course, the Digital Signage Display Experts certification, which had about 20 people in it. Brawn said it was a good number for the first time the course was held, and that many people were upset that it coincided with Brawn’s Digital Signage Expert Certification because they couldn’t attend both. I myself am a certified expert and would highly recommend the course to industry newcomers.

Highlighting the DOOH Summit was Palmer’s keynote and a breakdown of the Walmart SMART Network, which I wrote up on DigitalSignageToday.com. The article can be viewed here.

Association undertones

Many of the conversations throughout the week were tinged with Association talk, reflecting the decision on the part of Exponation to launch the Digital Signage Federation a week before DSE. Expnation also announced its interim board for the Federation on Wednesday morning. Here are the initial board members:

•    Phil Cohen, President & CEO, Care Media Holdings
•    Rich Cooley, CEO & Founder, Visser Digital Media
•    Alan Brawn, Principal, Brawn Consulting, LLC
•    Laura Davis-Taylor, Vice President, Creative Realities, Inc.
•    Jack Sullivan, Senior Vice President, StarCom World Wide
•    Jennifer Bolt, Executive Director, TracyLocke Advertising
•    Bob Stowe, Director, Marketing Services, Wendy’s International
•    Carre Dawson, Director of Business Development, DS, Harris Corporation
•    Bil Trainor, President, Capital Networks Limited
•    Brian Dusho, President, BroadSign International
•    Ken Goldberg, CEO, Real Digital Media
•    Pierre Richer, President & COO, NEC Display Solutions Americas

New tech

The show floor was of course packed with new technology, so instead of breaking it all down here I’ve included links to some significant stories that came out of the show that I posted on DigitalSignageToday.com.

Also be sure to check out the photo gallery from DSE 2010 and if you are on Twitter, search the hashtag #dse2010 (or click on it here). The guys at DailyDOOH calculated that the number of Twitter impressions for #dse2010 was 534, 233, with my account @DigSignageToday accounting for 51, 729 of those. Not bad!

DSE: JANUS adds emergency messaging, visual paging

DSE: MediaTile demos new interactive HumanKiosk

DSE: 2010 Apex, Content award winners announced

DSE: LuxuryTec, N4D form partnership on 3D displays

DSE: LG announces new hires, messaging, products for digital signage unit

Digital Signage Association votes for independence, tradeshow 

DSE: D.A.T and AmberAlert.com bring advanced alert tech to DOOH networks

DSE: Wireless Ronin reaches milestone in food service digital signage

DSA elects new officers

DSE: PlayNetwork debuts the C500 Media Player

DSE: Hiperwall teams with Ingram Micro to deliver video wall systems

DSE: Philips Public Signage introduces slim 65-inch display

DSE: Harris Corp. demonstrates latest DOOH advancements

Magnetic 3D unveils glasses-free 3D solutions at DSE 2010

DSE: Symon Communications launches a different approach to 3D digital signage 

DSE: Cisco focuses on content creation for digital signage

DSE: Hughes launches digital signage iPhone application for instant emergency response 

DSE: Seven principles of success for digital signage

In his presentation at DSE’s DOOH Advertising Summit on Tuesday, the Imperative Group’s Chris Heap presented the following real quotes from viewers, which he labels the “Seven principles of success for digital signage.”

1. Don’t make it hard for me to watch you.
2. When I do watch you, show me something relevant to me.
3. Save me money.
4. Save me time, don’t waste my time.
5. Help me make better decisions.
6. Tell me something new, innovative and interesting.
7. Give me ideas.

I have been invited to speak at this year’s KioskCom/Digital Signage Show in a brand new kind of session. The folks at JD Events have come up with kind of “Meet the Press” session at the show, where marketers and those involved with digital signage communications can meet and question the industry press.

The idea is to help improve communication between the two groups, especially at a time when media is rapidly changing. Internet news, Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets are changing the way that information is shared, as well as the pace that it comes and goes. News is instant now – therefore any slip ups can become big disasters really quick.

On the other hand, this new type of news reporting allows more information to be shared, and the companies that embrace that are going to reap the rewards. So instead of sending a news release in a word doc, you could send a social media release, complete with images, video and quotes that facilitate the creation of a news story for the digital age.

I’m really looking forward to hearing specific concerns from the marketers and seeing how we can improve communication in the industry. I think there is a lot we can learn from each other.

Here are the specifics on the session:

Say What?  Peeking Inside the Minds of Leading DOOH Electronic Media

In today’s media frenzied world, electronic journalism – columnists, articles and bloggers – often lead the way with industry news insights, analysis and awareness.  With thousands of opt-in followers, these journalists feel the pulse of the industry on a real-time basis – from buyers to sellers, and those who help ensure success along the supply chain.

In this session you will hear directly from leading electronic journalists/bloggers in the DOOH and digital signage space.  They will address a myriad of timely and relevant issues, and provide their unique insight into the good, the bad, the ugly and the exciting world of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Media industry.

 Attend this session and hear:

•    How digital media can improve customer engagement and increase sales lift
•    Examples of successful implementations and their impact on brands
•    Measurement methodology and ROI
•    Successful trends they are seeing
•    Who needs to be involved in the process for success?
•    What makes a project a winner? 
•    What brands and venues can do to succeed though the use of digital signage and DOOH
•    What does the future hold?

Session Chair: Adrian Cotterill, Editor-In-Chief – The Daily DOOH
Panel: Bill Yackey, Senior Editor, DigitalSignageToday.com

The session will take place on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, from 1:30 - 2:30 pm

Digital Signage Expo announced the 22 finalists for the 2010 Apex Awards yesterday. I was a judge for the awards, along with several other industry journalists. This is my third year judging the awards, and I’m happy to say that each year it’s nice to see how the technology and application have progressed.

Of course, in each category, there is usually one stand-out installation. Generally I remember news of the installation catching my eye when the news story originally came out in the previous year. I am always interested to see who wins compared to who I thought should win, although I’m told by the awards organizers that all of us judges generally agreed in our ratings. This is a good thing!

When the awards are over, we’ll highlight a few of the significant installations on DigitalSignageToday.com and I may even compare my picks to the actual winners.
The awards are going to be presented at a special awards banquet slated for the opening night of DSE 2010 on Wed., Feb. 24, at Paris, Las Vegas.

Finalists for the DSE 2010 Apex Awards are:

Art Entertainment Recreation
Adler Planetarium — nominated by NEC Display Solutions
NYC & Company — nominated by GestureTek Inc.
The Olympic Experience Museum of the Olympic Committee of Israel — nominated by C-nario

Corporate & Government
Unisys Belgium NV — nominated by X2O Media

Education & Healthcare
BC Children's Hospital Foundation — nominated by Scala Inc.
Indiana University — nominated by Scala Inc.
Northern Virginia Community College — nominated by Cisco Systems

Public Spaces
Amsterdam RAI — nominated by Scala Inc.
Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. — nominated by Aerva Inc.
IDS Center - Inland American Office Management — nominated by AlivePromo

Hospitality
ARAMARK — nominated by Wireless Ronin Technologies
Portland Trail Blazers/Rose Garden Arena — nominated by Omnivex Corp.
Zoom Media & Marketing — nominated by LocaModa Inc.

Retail
Miele Inspirience Centre — nominated by Scala Inc.
Sprint Studio Store — nominated by Scala Inc.
Turk Telekom Group/TTGaleri — nominated by Dreambox

Stadium Arenas
Maple Leaf Sports + Entertainment — nominated by Digital Display & Communications/Omnivex Corp.
Miami Dolphins/Land Shark Stadium — nominated by Cisco Systems
Miami Heat/American Airlines Arena — nominated by Sony Electronics

Transportation
Monopoly Media/Zoom TV — nominated by Scala Inc.
The Port Authority of NY & NJ — nominated by Tightrope Media Systems
Underground of Barcelona — nominated by ADmira Digital Networks

A few months ago, I started reading a new blog called “Buzz, not Buzzwords.” And as I continued, I wondered if someone had magically tapped into my stream of consciousness and made a blog out of it.

After covering the digital signage industry for three years and coming from a PR background, I’ve painstaking sifted through many a bad press release and wondered what corporate communication department actually gave it their blessing. Apparently, there was someone else out there thinking the same thing.

That man is Dave Haynes, known to many as one of the veterans of the digital signage industry, having worked for EnQii, Broadsign and now with the Preset Group. But Haynes is also a former journalist, and like me, reads through all the digital signage press releases that hit the wire (both good and bad).

Seeing that a lot of the mar-com in this industry needed some refinement, he launched the Buzzwords blog along side a service called PressDOOH in 2009, which is geared specifically at improving public relations in the digital signage industry.

As an industry journalist, let me say that companies that have taken him up on this offer have reaped some rewards with the digital signage journalism community (as small as we may be). I know when I see an email coming from PressDOOH, I can expect an organized press release, images and quotes that actually have some meaning to them.

That’s because, from my point of view, Haynes writes for the modern multimedia journalist. Here are several examples:

1. Unlike traditional PR, he doesn’t walk the line between providing key information for journalists and making an executive board happy. This means that we don’t have to dodge terms like “best-in-class,” “leading provider” and “next-generation.” (or “bleeding-edge!” Grrrrr!)

2. He takes the most relevant and appealing information and puts it first. Bottom line: I have a reason to keep reading.

3. When possible, he adds images and video to any releases he sends out. This allows us as editors to create a more complete story, and these days, that kind of multimedia reporting is almost expected.

Let me say that not all press releases are bad, but the ones that are, I get the impression that they’re coming from a small company where someone untrained in public relations or professional writing was tasked with throwing something together at the last minute. Or, the release is so jargon-heavy that I can’t understand what the product even does (this usually occurs in release about media players or connectivity hardware).

Now, the Buzzwords blog hasn’t existed without any criticism. I’ve heard several mar-com people knock Haynes for being overly judgmental of their press. For those folks, I encourage them to just take a few minutes to take a look at the blog and be open to a few things that Haynes has written. The advice is coming straight from the source (several of us industry editors are quoted in posts) – and it will help us work better together in the future.

For those who do want to enlist Haynes services, especially with “tradeshow season” coming up, he’s started a new program for the spring called the “Message Tune-Up.” Basically, he’s relaxed his minimum engagement policy for the next few months so you don’t have to do a full-blown campaign, maybe just a few hours of copy editing.