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CETW: X2O talks content creation, new show focus

The new focus for the new show is a good thing for the digital signage industry, says X2O Media's Jay Martin.

November 10, 2010 by Christopher Hall — w, t

NEW YORK — The new focus for the new show is a good thing for the digital signage industry, says X2O Media's Jay Martin at this year's inaugural Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) show in New York City.

CETW formerly was the co-located KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show, but organizer JD Events announced the change in name earlier this year to better reflect the converged focus of the show, a focus on engaging customers through a variety of methods to achieve deployers' ROI.

Martin, director of U.S. sales for X2O, talked on the show floor today about what his company was featuring at the show and about what the change in the show's name means, if anything.

X2O was showcasing "a very much-improved" iteration of its content software, Martin says.

"I think the biggest news this year is the new and improved offering to our Template Maker 3.0," he said. "It literally lets you author any screen from within PowerPoint."

X2O offers two versions of the template software: the standard version which uses all pre-built objects, Martin says, "so it's literally drag-and-drop;" and the developer's edition, which allows for more of a "deep dive, full customization of your signage network."

As for the inaugural CETW show, X2O was "very happy" with both the show traffic and the new show focus, Martin says.

"The first day was phenomenal," he said. "Traffic was very heavy and a very well-qualified customer base coming in with specific projects in mind."

And did the new show name manifest itself in any meaningful way, or was it just a new name?

"I think the change in focus is actually very good for the entire industry," Martin said. "People seem to have developed this preconceived notion of what digital signage networks are, and the information that can be sent via those networks.

"Because we're more that converged communication angle it's really great to see that diversified customer base come down and ask about those things. It's really good."

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