Brotherly Love for Digital Signage District

New proposals for an outdoor digital district in the city of Philadelphia suggest significant growth potential for digital signage.

We probably aren’t yet to the point where Las Vegas residents or New Yorkers need to worry about another city threatening the Vegas Strip and Times Square as the meccas of digital signage, but Philadelphia could take a step in that direction soon.

There are early discussions—and possible upcoming legislation—in the City of Brotherly Love that could eventually create an outdoor digital district in Center City.

The proposed legislation would allow digital displays, or urban experiential displays, in seven locations within the district, according to a recent report in the Philadelphia Business Journal. The so-called UEDs would be used to communicate news, public announcements and, yes, advertising.

While we’re a long way off from this becoming a reality, the fact it’s under discussion at all is nothing but a good thing, especially for integrators and proponents of the proliferation of digital signage. We don’t expect to see the Center City district match the in-your-face approach used in Vegas and the Big Apple, at least not from the outset, until they figure out if there’s truly a public appetite for it, but the proposed bill creator, Thaddeus Bartkowski of Catalyst Outdoor, clearly sees the potential of digital signage and believes Philadelphia, its residents and its visitors could benefit from having more of it.

Related: 11 Dazzling DSE 2014 Award-Winning Digital Signage Projects

“What Thaddeus has put on paper and what he has created will become one of the real icons in Philadelphia,” said Joe Zuritsky, CEO of Parkway Corp., in the PBJ article.

Zuritsky has been a supporter of the displays and actually initiated the idea of creating something to jazz up the outside of the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

“It will become the most photographed object in Philadelphia,” he said. “It will be spectacular.”

Whether this attempt is successful or not, I expect to see more proposals just like this crop up in some of the major metropolises around the U.S. and beyond. We’ve all heard that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but this might be one case where that’s not exactly true. Wouldn’t a digital signage district work along the river in Chicago? Or how about in The Flats in Cleveland?

Sure, there will be some who feel bombarded with technology and overwhelmed by it, but in today’s world, these sort of ideas must be embraced and accepted. Digital signage has gone beyond fad level at this point, so it’s time to realize it’s a part of our daily lives and understand its potential to help us.

Plus, why should New Yorkers get to have all the fun?

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