Another Digital Signage Exposition has come and gone. Last year I spent all my time in the sessions. This year, I spent all my time on the floor. Instead of giving you the top five things I learned (as was my habit with shows I attended last year), I will just drop some thoughts on you. Take ‘em or leave ‘em. (Or hold ‘em or fold ‘em, as Mr. Rogers would have you do if you’re the gambling sort.)
The industry is selling to the wrong audience and doesn’t know it.
The real audience for the exhibitors was upstairs in the conference sessions. The conflicting schedules kept many of them from diving deep into the trade show floor. And the buyers that walked the floor had more questions than answers after leaving. I know. I ran into two of them.
The sessions were well attended…
I did the opening keynote session and a final session of the conference, and both were well attended. I heard most sessions had good crowds.
…but there are too many of them.
Day One had three full day seminars, a half day seminar, and a half-day tour of Vegas. Days two and three had 43 sessions. This is too much, and I’m certain there is a lot of redundancy. I hope that over the next 11 months, the DSE will find a more efficient way to make sure everyone has the opportunity to learn, network, and explore without having to decide between one session or another.
The DSF was on people’s minds…
One of the interim DSF board members asked me if I thought it was the right thing to do. It is, if you take this opportunity to do what the industry needs. If not, the DSF and the DSA will battle themselves into apathy while the NRF, InfoComm, and other shows continue to lure away the exhibitors and experts.
…but not on all minds.
One executive told me, “The companies in there [the trade show] couldn’t care less about these boards. They care about landing clients and buyers.” Ouch. But I see his point.
#dse2010 was pretty cool…
Many screens throughout the show floor displayed the Twitter hashtag tweets, and it’s really great to see so many engaged with a community tool to spread the cheer of the show. There were over 1,200 tweets.
…but not very cool
So we all tweeted. Big deal. The DSE promoted that session attendees could use Twitter to ask questions of the session moderators and panelists before the conference. I was in two sessions and never got a question. Did anyone else? I doubt it. Was anyone not at DSE really “following” what was going on? Twitter is here and will be a great tool for communication, but we’re trying too hard to jam this into the ecosystem without allowing it to grow organically.
Good Rumor.
There is a deal for PRN on paper in the range of 80 million. That’s a song compared to what Thompson paid for them, but I believe PRN is doing a lot of good stuff. They are refining their business model, breaking apart their bundled services, and partnering with key companies to offer better solutions. What I mean is: They ain’t Walmart’s bitch anymore. I hope that continues. There are good people there working hard.
Bad Rumor.
One service provider told me his company learned they lost a bid for a client to their competitor. They heard it from their competitor. Bad form, folks.
Everyone is busy…
Everyone I asked said they were busy. And many that I spoke with said they had the resources (read: money and people) to make traction in 2010. Let’s hope that’s true.
…so don’t waste their time.
One guy wrote to me and asked me to meet with him. He wanted to talk to me about some “new retail initiatives” his company was working on. I was excited to hear this news and made it a point to connect with this gentleman. After shaking hands, he proceeded to tell me how drunk he got the night before. Then he walked away from me. That was the meeting. Oh, and he did this in front of his CEO. Classy.
Shoes, Socks, and Business Cards
Adrian Cotterill, of DailyDOOH.com fame, has a small list of suggestions for your next show visit.
Want to read more? Head over to these blogs and get more first-hand accounts of the show. Lots to read, but all of it worthwhile.
Dave Haynes, Sixteen-Nine
DSE Impressions…So Far
More DSE Impressions
Mike Cearley, 11th Screen
2nd (and last) Official Session of the Day #40
Cutting Through The Clutter at DSE 2010
Top 5 Moments of DSE 2010
Adrian Cotterill, DailyDOOH.com
#dse2010 – The Gossip
David Weinfeld, DS Insights
Thoughts from Digital Signage Expo 2010
Ken Goldberg, Broad Thinking. Narrowcasting
Themes from DSE
Finally
The UMA Motorcoach Expo was taking place at the same time as our little shin-dig at the Convention Center. I snuck into their show and checked out a few of their rides. There was a huge banner that said, “We’ll see you next year in Tampa!” I don’t know about you folks, but I’m liberating one of those moving condos and going on a road trip to Tampa next year. Right now you should be hearing the theme song to Vacation.
Paul Flanigan’s passion for the customer experience grew from working in baseball. Most recently, Paul developed, managed, and deployed Best Buy’s in-store network to over 1,000 stores around the world. When he arrived in 2005, he proved the network’s value to the brand, not just in selling the products it played on, but as a customer engagement experience for the entire store. Prior to Best Buy, Paul spent seven years in professional sports, managing video boards and marketing departments for professional and college sports. Paul often speaks at conferences and writes his own blog about digital signage, shopper marketing, and customer experience at Experiate. Having managed content creation, technical deployment, measurement, and business models, Paul’s experience gives him deep insight and a unique perspective on the industry. 
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