This is my product pick of the summer! If you want to enhance your business and empower your customers, this is pretty interesting. I really like the concept of the window application and the templates. I think anyone can use this no matter where they are in their digital signage plans. If you sell products, you can add it to your lineup OR if you have been on the fence about deploying signage this is your chance at a unique application. Nothing could be better than utilizing your store or company windows for sales messages.
Hurry!! because this Webinar is Tuesday! Also, check out the spiffy graphic page that they made. NICE! I like it that they are a Seattle company. I will be sitting in on the Webinar as well, so SEE you there!
I can’t help it, but this story reminds me of the Titanic with its super fast new engines and its ego driven need for speed that was its demise. This will undoubtedly change the distribution channels and should make resellers carefully choose suppliers who (moving forward) are in it for the long haul.
The Award’s were finally presented in person at the digital signage show on May 7th on the Tech talk floor. Thanks to all who attended and congratulations again to the winners. Watch the video for the live award action!
Also, we entered to win a contest and this is our video submission about our trip on Virgin America.
See it here! You can also see the cool screens and interactive content RED has to offer. The plane could land in water..and no one would care, it is a mega media experience!
click here Virgin American Airlines.
Please do a thumbs up vote if you can. We might win 4 free tickets if we win.
More Videos of the show are coming soon. So stay tuned!
I have to trust the Carnival knows what they are doing with the new digital signage fish in 22 locations. After all, every time I hear the name Carnival Cruise this commerercial pops into my head and play’s all day long. Play it and get my drift.
Learn more about the digital fishes. My question is: will there be a way to sponsor those fish with a brand name logo for more revenue? Did I miss something?
Have a great Digital Signage Weekend and keep on rolling.
LisaJ
www.digitalsignageforum.com
I have been working hard on updating the website today (and making space for current and new potential advertisers) and needed a break so I checked my email after checking my facebook account (of course) Imagine that? More on that later…
Lo and behold, I was googled on this article by a contributor to Fortune magazine named Bob Putman. Bob writes “If the recovery program includes provisions promoting job creation, renewable energy and infrastructure improvements, couldn’t it also include at least a little something to help businesses advertise more?”
I just keep thinking about this article in relationship to my personal business and the people and companies that I enjoy working with everyday. I realized it is what we ALL have known all along but just needed someone like Bob ( guess that’s why he gets the big bucks) to put it into perspective for us and give us the incentive to keep working, keep getting better at what we do (as it just isn’t about us), it is about everyone we come in contact with on a daily basis that will impact our family and the economy on a larger level.
So… Yeah!
I totally agree that the economy would start moving a heck of a lot faster because of this very important reason: the margin for adverting campaigns are products that are “created” and yield higher profit margins vs. tangible products that are bought and resold – so the core is totally there for a real shot in the arm for the economy with basic ad dollars as ad agencies undoubtedly can put lovely amounts of dollars into our economy by such things as oh I-don’t know… keeping employees, buying new computers? ( I just did this) so I could get website help and also of course buying tickets to Las Vegas trade show? , hotel room?, clothes?, food ? etc. all in the name of advertising and promotion so we the promoters promote and advertise the tangible products – that people buy! It is a win ..win. You don’t have to be in the digital signage industry to get this!
I like Bob’s words and I really hope he keeps writing about real life attributes regarding advertising and the current stimulus times. Hope you like it too?
We just updated the actual forumpart of the forum to integrate with facebook. It also has a new look and feel! Working on getting some banners back into the template right now. I was excited and just wanted to share! YAY!
I love this new exclusive. It is just what we need to start off the 2009 Digital Signage Revolution.
This is also just what the forum needed too! Which is a great connectivity provider that actually can provide some really down to earth information for resellers, integrators and end-users. You can have all the pretty screens in the world but you still need to know what goes between the boxes and more importantly- WHY you might need some of these products.
This is a must read for any integrator, reseller or end-user and even if you know the hardware end well, minicom talks about ROI. I am impressed as they have learned to appreciate the lingo of the media. I like that!
I also ABSOLUTLEY love they promote it from a “going green perspective” as well. Nice job Minicom and thank you for coming to the forum. Welcome!
When I was first introduced to TJ McCue over at www.q4sales.com I thought it was going to be a website job or technology company that needed some marketing online, or possibly a new advertiser for the Digital Signage Forum.
At first, I was a little uncomfortable because TJ seemed to be picking my brain and I felt a little weird and slightly a little gaurded about giving out so much information!
As he was asking me about my business he also told me he was writing for a Dun and Bradstreet blog and was putting together a sales rescue team.
The real truth is Gary Anderson who is a locally famous CPA runs and owns the company my business 401K set up the meeting ( Yes, Gary can help business owners turn 401K accounts into cash fast!) and so basically I was obligated to follow through because Gary has been a great help in the housing arena (see my new house is summer really over blog post) and well, he is a great supporter and just a really nice person. So I did it!
I have to admit, at first I was not overly thrilled about the thought of yet ANOTHER blog, or even MORE committments to my already full plate, but when I got my first assignment, I was thrilled beyond belief!
If you know me- you know, I just dream up new business idea’s everyday, and I talk about them non-stop. (my newest thing is to sell distribute blackberries and bamboo out of my yard) so yeah, I love selling things on the Internet AND I love dreaming up advertising and marketing idea’s (regardless if it is paying or non paying) geesh, I should be in the HELP ME! I need an investor to catch all of my unusual but fabulous money) making biz ideas club!
So.. the assignment to help Julie Miller of a company called Business writing that counts www.businesswritingthatcounts.com was being like a kid in a candy store!
Julie offers a course about effective email too, and in her course description she writes and asks “have you ever seen an email go out from your company that made you cringe”? and then strangest thing, it happened, I saw an email that just mortified me and I am working on a way to get that course to the people that could benefit the most from it!
As I write this, I know in the past I have been the author of some emails that would make you cringe too, so Julie’s course is something I need and plan to take as well. I think every Digital Signage company should look at email communication (especially the ones selling time on networks ) and the ones who promote media!
Yes, by the way… I will never claim to be the word,grammar guru either!
So now, I have just completed my second assignment and some big HUGE things occured to me! I realized that the Sales Rescue Team is giving me so much back already! It is really making me think about my own business strengths and weaknesses.
I am slowly starting to fix things that need to be improved upon in my own business and it is encouraging me to try and lead by example.
The biggest and best thing it is doing is helping drive end-users to the Digital Signage Forum (as we know end-users drive our industry) when they want something they contact suppliers and as you know suppliers encourage resellers to carry more products because they are being requested for it by who?? DING DING DING..Mr. End-User!
You got it.Gee, your so smart!
So…when an end-users visits our site from the TJ’s Dun and Bradstreet Blog they might ask questions about how to deploy signage and replace their old signs, they might click on a sponsors banner and start the proccess of deployment or they could just lurk, but the good part is they know we exsist and see the DSF www.digitalsignageforum.com as a helping entity and all of our sponsors that support the DSF benefit from the traffic and we can help other companies as well. It’s a win-win!
Washington State Ferry Bainbridge Island to Seattle
For the past 7 years I have been living on my PC and the strangest thing happened..THIS Summer I did the unthinkable and “got a life” as my Digital Signage friends are calling it now. Now I am trying to get back to reality and I am thinking many of you are are in the same boat as I am today.
My dilemma is: should I update the websites? Catch up on old emails? Or start by blogging to get my creative mind moving again?
Well, in typical Digital Signage Forum fashion..or LisaJ fashion.. I opted to start with the blogs thinking this would get me headed in the right direction. The reason for my trepidation is because this has been the summer of many changes large and small.
The first thing that happened was: We did the one thing I said I would never do, and got a dog. When I got this dog we lived in an apartment, ( 12 yr old daughter worked on us till we caved in) and then the thing of all things happened..we found a house near the water and Bo ( Husky / Shepard Mix) became a totally different dog.
He now has a yard and freedom, but he was much better behaved in the apartment. Now, he needs to have toys, a walk, and major attention. He loves to dig holes if we leave him alone too long but somehow he seems happier with his new found space.
Bo is like a goldfish: he is growing into his tank of fun times as he pulls apples off the apple tree , chases birds and barks at anyone that comes within 5000 feet of the property. Too bad he cannot handle the DSF spam posts! Meet Bo below.
The new dog, Bo
The most time consuming project was moving to our new home. It took us about 12 days to move because we had lived in our last place for almost five years. The house is near liberty bay and living in it is like being on vacation all the time. We hear Seagulls all the time and I am just so mesmerized by the views of the water and boats. Then of course we had to have the new house party! It was big fun. Thanks to all that attended!
So I hope you have enjoyed my small recap of just some of the many things I did this summer to “get a life”.
I hope if you are reading this far that you also had a great summer and if you are like I am and need a jumpstart back to Digital Signage reality, check out this white paper!
It is written for marketers and explains why Blogs should be a part of every marketing campaign in 2008. Read MORE HERE>>>>
Oh yeah..I saw some sea lions and a great concert, too!
The Indian Thing - View From Outside Concert at Clearwater Casino ( Jonathan Harris Concert)
Welcome to the BIG SHOW! I am happy to announce the Digital Signage show is a new sponsor for the digital signage forum and the digital signage directory. They are really nice people and put on a great tradeshow!!
The Digital Signage Show delivers strategic, marketing and technical business solutions for organizations wishing to deploy digital signage and those brands wishing to advertise through out-of-home (OOH) and other customer-facing technologies.
The Digital Signage Show offers an in-depth look at how digital signage can bring increased revenue and improved customer experiences for your organization and how your brands will gain additional exposure directly to the consumers brands wish to reach.
The Digital Signage show is conveniently co-located with the KioskCom Self Service Expo. Your Digital Signage Show attendee pass allows you access to both events.
Attendees to The Digital Signage Show are finally able gather information, network and find solutions for all of your deployments in one place.
We are very proud to announce our alliance with the Digital Signage Directory. We have linked our websites together to use the best parts of each site AND We re-designed the Digital Signage Directory for a new look and feel! There are many new features such as write a review, rate a business, You Tube video promos and premiere banner advertising spots that have opened.
The directory listings are much more intuitive and offer a wide range of ways to contact, see a location map and do indepth search functions. You won’t believe your eyes because the site itself is feature rich and we will be turning on more of those enhanced features over the weeks to come ( we know you web techy’s love ALL of those additional features) and it is SO much fun!
This collaboration will allow us to leverage our strong Internet presence to further enhance the Digital Signage Industry and give even more exposure to our Digital Signage Friends!
I will be posting more about how to get the best use out of the new directory resource website, marketing tips for digial signage companies and some fun stuff along the way. So00 HANG ON FOR THE RIDE!
Jay Patel of www.bluefiredigital.com has written a captivating article about Monetization Strategy for Brands and Digital Networks. BlueFire Digital will bring series of papers on digital signage interactivity from mobile phone. Topics will include SMS, Bluetooth and Wi-fi at technical level, real life scenarios and more importantly how to monetize from it.
We think this is very important for the Digital Signage industry and Congratulate Jay for taking on and writing about these important issues. Keep up the great work Jay!
If you have not gotten your free subscription yet, now is the time! The cover looks like it has been re-designed and It’s FREE for the magazine too! The Digi Awards from the Digital Signage Group are showcased in this magazine along with interesting articles and must have resources. I think it is a must read for anyone in the Digital Signage Industry or anyone looking for Digital Signage help. Enjoy!
I wanted to share this with you (I cannot tell you how many articles and press release are submitted on a weekly basis) but this one struck me as very interesting ( and yes, I am very picky about what I publish) but this was thought provoking to me for many reasons that I do not have time to post!
This is about Neilson ratings regarding niche markets.
The Article was submitted a few days ago by Dr. Byron Farquer of EmebaVet and is called:
“Traditional Cost per Impression and Nielsen Ratings-Are they destined for a display at the Smithsonian”?
See it here and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Also, I wanted to let you know about Important Forum Signature information. If you participate in a lot of online forum discussions, (not just ours) you would be a fool not to brand your site in your signature.
Especially if you are on the helping end of a conversation in a forum, you are proving to a audience that you are knowledgeable in your niche.
We have a niche audience and traffic that is looking for “experts” and your signature file, along with regular posts will help them find you!
This is about Confronting Economic Challenges and the value of what customers are facing in Technology.
JD Events is tackling the real meat and potatoes of what everyone is discussing regarding how to improve revenue, customer experiences and analytics. This particular Keynote Session is Open to All Event Attendees and is available to you from the KioskCom & The Digital Signage Show – April 16-17, 2008 – Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
The economic challenges we face are now forcing companies to rethink their
budgets, and how they spend their advertising and technology dollars. A
more thorough analysis is being done on every opportunity, weighing the
benefits and ROI of each. Customer & Employee Facing Technologies – kiosks
and digital signage – are programs organizations can deploy that show
measurable results. Increased revenues, a better customer experience,
improved operational efficiencies and reduced costs have all been
demonstrated possible through proper planning and implementation.
Attend this presentation and understand:
How to plan for economic challenges that may lie ahead
How you can weather economic slowdowns
KioskCom & The Digital Signage Show Highlights: “A-ha!” moments of the week
Hear from C-level executives who are in the midst of navigating these
challenges: Robert Fort, CIO, VP of Information Technology, Virgin Entertainment Group
Rob Garf, Vice President, Retail Strategies, AMR Research
Bradley Walker, CEO & Founder, Nanonation
ATTN: Digital Signage Forum Members: You can also save 20% on a full
conference pass! Use Source Code 8KL58D when registering! Visit www.selfserviceexpo.com and www.thedigitalsignageshow.com for complete event
details and to register. Register for one event and attend both!
Contact JD Events directly at 203-371-6322 or info@jdevents.com with any
questions.
Jay Patel of Bluefire Digital recently went to Screen Expo in London where a customer asked him why he needed SMS interactivity for his LED digital signage? Jay states ” he may have been playing devil’s advocate but being supplier of the product the questions forced him to explain why he or any digital signage network operator will need some sort of interactivity. “
Brigitte and Loren Bucklin pose with one of the digital signs that their Lititz company, Connectedsign, makes for corporate clients throughout the country to help guide shoppers, students, travelers, apartment residents and workers.
(Jeff Ruppenthal, Sunday News)
I thought this was an interesting story. We have talked to Loren Bucklin for what seems like 10 million digital signage light years. Pretty down to earth and I was happy to put a face with the name (finally) and some of Loren’s comments were very amusing to me and made me giggle just a little (because they are dead on) observations.
Bucklin states” the rest of the planet is about 2½ years ahead of the United States in digital signage technology and use, applications and demands from customers are so varied.”
One of their signs points visitors in the right direction in a hallway at James Madison University.
(Connectedsign)
I think the best Bucklin digital signage comment was“People are only beginning to imagine the ways they can manipulate the technology, Bucklin says.
But I really liked this one the best:
“They don’t know what they don’t know yet.”
He also gives some great tips about content and screen size and has signed on some very famous companies such as Pepsi Company and Boeing. I really liked the personal aspect of this story ( as some of you know I was looking for Valentines day screen content at a real deployment) but I might have the Digital Signage Valentines love story as his current new wife was in television and he was doing digital signage content when they met. Very sweet story and it really gives them fabulous real factor that will make people excited about doing business with them and sure as heck breaks up the monotony of the daily press release and wow I did two blog posts in one day! Imagine that?
Congratulations to the Bucklin’s and ConnectedSign!
Artwork Provided by EmilyJ (offspring of the Digital Signage Forum)
I know, I need more website updates like I need another tradeshow— BUT we do love holidays over here at the Digital Signage Forum!
So, in the theme of Valentines Day we are looking for Valentines Day digital signage ads on flat screens to be showcased on our front page for the month.
If you have any deployments running digital signage Valentines advertisements and would like to show the world..NOW is the time! It would help our retail end-users and network owners/operators dare to dream the possibilites of what is possible and not to mention some free exposure for you.
So if you would like to share your digital signage love, please sendpictures, where the signage is located (city, state, town or country) your name and company. A few words of how the deployment came to be and time frame (how long it took from concept, creation to going live) would also be the icing on the cake!
I do accept diamonds too
I hope to hear from you soon. Have a great Digital Signage Day!
Nice job Minicom and thank you for coming to the forum. Welcome!
