For the fifth year now, a group of digital signage creatives, manufacturers and trade organizations got together during the same week in New York City. They call it New York Digital Signage Week.
One of the first events is hosted by Digital Signage Federation, the breakfast event Coffee and Controversy. This event last year really drove home how many AV companies are involved with digital signage.
The same were there this year. Chief, Peerless AV, Planar, Brightsign and others were in attendance. The panel discussed how to market digital signage, what “industry” they are truly in and what customers think they are buying.
The biggest takeaway from this event was this: digital signage is in the business of telling stories. Whether you are a screen manufacturer or your job involves making the content more dynamic, you create stories. The stories that your client needs to get across.
A first this year was the Show+Tell Design Tour app. This app lets you walk around New York discovering the various digital signage installations. Augmented Reality lets you point your mobile phone at a display and see things like who owns it, the manufacturer of the display and even specs on the screen.
On Wednesday I attended the morning session of the DailyDOOH Investor Conference. This is an all-day event that goes over the digital out of home from a 50,000 foot view. The days begins with a recap of the last twelve months of mergers and acquisitions in the space.
DISCUSSION: If You Sell Digital Signage, What Business Are You Really In?
This was followed up by a talk from Touchtunes CEO as well as a partner from the investment firm that owns the music player. The firm, Searchlight Capital, also owns Ocean Outdoor in the UK. They have a unique view of the digital out of home industry. The rest of the day covered topics such as location-based mobile, SmartCities and reaching new customers.
This was a great event for high level executives, investors and those looking to engage them.
Both LG and NEC had well attended showcases. Each one had partners from other areas of AV and digital signage. Consultants, programmers, integrators and others were in attendance. The week ended for me with the Samsung/Show+Tell party at the Samsung Experience Center.
This was my second year attending. From a commercial AV perspective, it was very valuable. If you are involved in digital signage or looking to get into it, I would suggest coming next year; October 30 through November 3, 2017.
The events are spread all over the city with intimate gathers in most of the venues. You can sit and talk at length with vendors or creatives. The only change I would look for in the future would be a chance for integrators to connect directly with creatives. I see this as an opportunity for both integrators looking to get into the business and the firms who create these great visual experiences to partner together.