Article

Digital signage at InfoComm: A healthy balance of expo, education

On or off the show floor, attendees have numerous opportunities to learn more about digital signage deployment, technology and trends.  

May 17, 2009

Visitors to last year's InfoComm show know that InfoComm International takes digital signage seriously. The 2008 Digital Signage Pavilion, which took up most of the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, competed with many of the digital signage-specific shows that took place last year in size and exhibitors.

This year, InfoComm plans to continue that focus through another Digital Signage Pavilion, as well as the Digital Signage Applications Showcase and a lineup of education sessions geared toward its systems integrator, pro AV and digital signage attendees.

"I think a lot more AV people are being called about digital signage because the buzz is out there," said Brian Kutchma, director of marketing for Black Box Network Services."They have become the likely point of contact that the end customer is turning to, and are also seeing digital signage as a business opportunity."

PHOTO GALLERY:InfoComm08

The Digital Signage Applications Showcase, with systems integration by Spinitar, is a set of mock environments and installations designed to give attendees an idea of how to put the technology to use in the real world.

InfoComm International, an international trade association of the professional audiovisual and information communications industries, is expecting about 30,000 attendees from more than 80 countries to visit the show. As of May, the show had signed on more than 850 exhibitors.

The economy, which has taken its toll on digital signage tradeshow attendance over the past year, doesn't seem to worry some of the InfoComm exhibitors.

"The economy seems to prequalify the people who are coming to the shows now," said Jeff Collard, president of Omnivex Corporation. "You don't get tire-kickers anymore; you get people with real questions. They're much more focused on where the value is for them and not simply looking around."

Best of InfoComm

New this year is the Best of InfoComm Award, which is being presented by NEC Display Solutions (booth 5001).Over the past several months, exhibitors have had the opportunity to submit their products for consideration on NEC's Web site. From now until the show, anyone can visit the site and voteon the top products. Come InfoComm, a panel of industry agnostic judges will visit the top five finalists and decide on a winner. The winner will be announced at 10 AM on Friday, June 19 at NEC's booth, which is designed to look like the Best of InfoComm award trophy.

The winner of the Best of InfoComm Award gets to donate $25,000 to the charity of its choice.

We wanted to do something that stated our presence at InfoComm and our support for the industry," said Ashley Flaska, vice president of marketing for NEC Display Solutions. "We also thought this award was a great way to build excitement for the show."

A focus on education

Off the show floor, digital signage is just one of the many educational tracks InfoComm has lined up for attendees. Lyle Bunn, a digital signage industry consultant and creator of the SPEED program, will host several sessions including Planning Digital Signage, Best Practices in Digital Signage Content, How to Sell Digital Signage, as well as participating in a day-long seminar on Tuesday, June 16, entitled Technology Trends.

• The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center • Newark Beth Israel Medical Center • Lockheed Martin Aeronautics • Jyske Bank (Denmark) • Georgia Aquarium • SAIT Polytechnic (Calgary, Canada) • The University of Texas at El Paso • Art Institutes & South University • Newseum • Central Florida Community College • Taft Stettinius & Hollister, LLP