JD Events, producer of KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show, today announced that the two shows will converge to become one show, Customer Engagement Technology World.
Starting with a November show in New York, Customer Engagement Technology World “will focus on the expanding role of customer engagement in business success and improved ROI, addressing topics that are more reflective of what the industry has become and where it is going,” according to a release from JD Events.
The move to change the name of the show and its focus should come as little surprise, since show organizers have been talking for months about how the two shows’ focuses were converging and how the two sectors, kiosks and digital signage, were becoming complementary.
"The real issue is that these technologies are interwoven and in many cases are complementary, and the vendors do work with each other," show general manager Lawrence Dvorchik told KioskMarketplace.com in January. "When we met with our Board of Advisers it was recommended that we focus on how these technologies are able to improve customer engagement, improve sales lift and lead down the path to purchase."
Last month Dvorchik told KioskMarketplace.com that the educational sessions, workshops and featured activities at the April KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show in
Las Vegas
would focus primarily on taking the next step in educating deployers of kiosks, digital signage and other consumer-engagement technologies, reflecting the show’s new focus on customer engagement through technology.
"People now are very comfortable with do-it-yourself, self-service technologies," he said then. "They’re very comfortable with digital technologies, and it’s become much more of a focus on how to achieve your ROI in your customer engagement strategies than it is about how the technologies work themselves and why they need to be there, because people get it now."
Customer Engagement Technology World will fuse the resources and education tools of both KioskCom and The Digital Signage Show with new, innovative features that will continue to explore the strategies and content solutions that create successful customer engagement, JD events says.
"This evolution is a natural progression that many have been looking for and it's encouraging to see JD Events come forward to drive the migration towards a more outcome-focused offering," Danna Vetter, associate vice president, ARAMARK Marketing Services, said in the release. "Today digital media is less about the technology and more about the connections it makes, the connection with consumers and other key stakeholders. The goal of digital media needs to be tied to business outcomes and measured against business objectives; the technology is a necessary vehicle, but at the end of the day, it is how the technology enables consumer engagement to drive demand that has the strongest impact."
JD Events' also announced a venue change for the 2011 spring show. Historically, the spring KioskCom and The Digital Signage Show events have been held in
Las Vegas, but next spring's
Customer Engagement Technology World will be held in
San Francisco
, at the
Moscone
Convention Center
, April 27-28, 2011.
When KioskCom and The Digital Signage Show began their fall event in
New York
three years ago, it attracted an unprecedented number of qualified attendees, and JD Events expects the same result in
San Francisco
. According to leading online business database Manta.com,
California
has the largest number of advertising agencies in the country, and the state also is in the top three of Fortune 500 company headquarters. The show will now provide an easy commute for thousands of qualified attendees. In addition, the city is a highly desirable travel destination.
"Having been involved with the show for eight years, I am amazed at how this event continues to evolve and deliver high level education and solutions for attendees," said Robert Plante, consulting producer, BMW. "I know my program at BMW wouldn't be the same without everything I've learned here."
Additional details on the event will be presented by Dvorchik at the upcoming KioskCom/The Digital Signage Show event in Las Vegas, April 14-15.
