Digital Signage

KioskCom, The Digital Signage Show promise new content for NYC editions

Posted on Oct 26, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Retail Customer Experience.com comes information about Kiosk.Com, the Self Service Expo:

Caroline Cooper
• 24 Sep 2009
November’s editions of the KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show, co-located at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City, are set to offer a slate of content that includes new educational opportunities and two significant keynote speeches.

“This is the year of new everything,” said Lawrence Dvorchik, general manager of the two shows, which are organized by Connecticut-based JD Events. “It’s been busy. It’s going to be a really exciting event.”

The “new everything” Dvorchik describes includes a competition for entrepreneurs in the kiosk and self-service space that is the first of its kind for the event. In its “Next Big Idea” Contest Coinstar Inc. will give $10,000 to the entrant with the best new concept in retail-based kiosks. Coinstar also may consider investing in the winning concept.

“There are a lot of people out there with a lot of good ideas who either don’t have access to funding, especially now, or don’t have access to the people that can make that happen,” he said. “And this gives them an opportunity to be in front of executives at a company like Coinstar, who can do all of the above, if they believe the idea is worth rolling out, and really take it to the next level.”

Entries must be submitted by Oct. 8 on the contest’s Web site.

On the digital signage side of the show, attendees can view a content-creation demonstration, “Cooking up Content: From Concept to Screen.” Digital signage industry expert Lyle Bunn will host the demonstration, and Dvorchik says three companies will participate in creating individual digital messaging campaigns in a “fishbowl” environment, with attendees literally watching the process in action.

“It will be a really, really good demonstration of the content-creation process, the content-management process, from the creative briefing all the way to the play loop being created and broadcast,” he said.

Dvorchik said the participating companies aren’t yet confirmed. The demonstration, which will span the two-day event, is another part of show organizers’ goal of constant education.

“Relevant content is so important for any of these networks that we need to make sure we’re helping people understand not just what they want to show, but how that process is going to unfold strategically and creatively in order to be successful the first time out of the box,” Dvorchik said.

Among the slate of sessions catering to kiosk and digital signage deployers  are two big-name keynote presentations, one for each side of the event.

“The Coinstar/Redbox Experience”

To kick off the show Tuesday, Nov. 10, Coinstar Inc. president and chief operating officer Gregg Kaplan will share his experience deploying and managing a network of nearly 20,000 kiosks. One of the founders of the redbox brand, Kaplan will discuss the success of both self-service brands, as well as future trends for kiosk growth and profitability.  During his presentation, Kaplan also will announce the winner of Coinstar’s “Next Big Idea” contest.

“How the Coca-Cola Company Transforms Simple Transactions Into Brand Interactions”
Keith Berman, senior marketing manager for Coca-Cola’s strategic partnerships marketing group, will discuss the company’s recently developed interactive vending machine, which marries self-service and digital signage for an immersive customer experience. In a session sure to be of interest to brand marketers and content creators, Berman plans to share Coca-Cola’s deployment strategy and the technology’s impact on consumer engagement.

“Pay it Forward”

Another new element, the event’s closing session will focus on topics that have arisen during the two-day conference, based on feedback from attendees and exhibitors. Led by kiosk industry veteran and consultant Janet Webster and Kaiser Permanente’s Steven R. Pomerantz, the session’s goal is to have a panel of experts “pay it forward” by sharing their expertise with attendees who may be less experienced dealing with kiosk and digital signage rollouts.

“They’ve gotten that knowledge, they’ve secured their vendors and their suppliers … and everything they need to work with to be successful because of the show,” Dvorchik said. “And they’re coming back to pay it forward to other people who are in the situation they were in and really keep that knowledge chain rolling. It’s refreshing to see.”

Download:  The official brochure for KioskCom Self Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show

Dvorchik says the show’s organizers will again go through the extensive process of prequalifying each registrant in a continuing effort to offer exhibitors real business opportunities and to protect attendees from solicitation on the show floor. Also, for the second event in a row, qualified attendees will receive complimentary full-conference passes, a tactic Dvorchik says is part of the event’s goal to continue facilitating education and successful deployments.

“It’s a strategic decision to make sure that we reinvest in our exhibitors and in our industries and our attendees and make sure they continue to be educated,” he said. “It really comes down to making sure that, in this economic climate, companies don’t stop their learning simply because of the price of admission.”

Other show sessions and events:

Nov. 9 1:00-5:00
The day prior to the show, digital signage expert Lyle Bunn will train novice deployers on how to plan and launch their digital signage projects.

Analyst Alert: Analysis of the Self-Service Kiosk Industry and Usability Studies

Nov. 10 11:45-12:45
Leading industry research analysts will discuss the growth potential and design implications for successful kiosk usage.

Nov. 10 3:15-4:00
Digital signage deployments will receive awards from The Digital Signage/Group and Digital Signage Magazine.

Funding Your Kiosk Project: Creative Business Strategies for Any Economy

Nov. 11 10:30-11:30
Speakers from the Self-Service & Kiosk Association, Cabela’s and SoloHealth will discuss their experiences obtaining funding and will focus on different approaches currently being used.

Implementing Successful Digital Signage Networks – DIGI Award Winners Speak Out

Nov. 11 10:30-11:30
The award-winning digital signage deployers will share the challenges and successes of their entries.

Tech Talks

Nov. 10-11
Throughout the show on the expo floor, industry experts will discuss several technical topics, including the convergence of self-service technologies, remote kiosk management, mobile integration and more.

KioskCom: Digital Signage Show Highlights New Tech for Real World Demands

Posted on Apr 20, 2009 by Jane Goodwin at 12:05 am

From Self Service World.com comes this very informative article about how self-service and digital signage can help the bottom line:

The question has always been asked, but as the economy continues to worsen, it has become more pronounced: How will self-service and digital signage help the bottom line?

It is a question organizers of KioskCom Self-Service Expo and The Digital Signage Show plan to answer when the show convenes May 6-7 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. As businesses look to cut costs in a shrinking economy, executives have to be more focused than ever on efficient and effective ways to communicate with customers, employees, patients, and students.

“The real question businesses face is how does this address and solve a problem they have,” said Lawrence Dvorchik, general manager of the event. “It’s kind of always been there, but I think people are more openly focused on it than they would admit to before.

“Now it’s front and center. Granted, it’s cool technology, but it needs to be more than that. It needs to make their operations, communication and overall business better. That’s one of the reasons for our success, it’s the laser-beam focus of how this technology solves a problem for businesses. It’s been proven that when they work, they really work.”

Last year, the show floor saw more than 300 exhibitors and about 3,000 attendants. Dvorchik said he thought the conference would draw close to those numbers this year, if not more. To entice attendees, he said he is providing free full conference passes — as opposed to exhibit hall-only passes — which last year cost up to $1,500.

Attendees can hear a host of customer-facing technology users from many different industries talk about the challenges they’ve faced and the solutions they’ve discovered.

Experts will talk about maximizing existing data and on-screen content production to be used across multiple platforms and giving advice on the next logical step for first-time deployers — do you add content, invest in additional machines or try digital signage or handheld speakers?

“I don’t think there’s a one-size-fits-all for any of these solutions,” Dvorchik said. “There are many options to choose from, and people need to really understand the value of these options and select what works best in their situation.”

One scheduled speaker is Robert Fort, chief information officer and vice president of information technology with Virgin Entertainment Group, who will talk about how his in-store digital signage network pushes customers to listening stations that are tied to loyalty programs, blending all the components together to create a sales lift and enhance the customer experience. The company recently announced that it is closing all its stores, but that business deal does not impact the lessons attendees can learn from the store’s programs, Dvorchik said.

“You can imagine there’s quite a bit of noise in that kind of store,” he said. “He’s very in tune with it being something customers pay attention to, rather than something they’ll ignore.”

And Ron Potesky, a corporate communications executive for Ricoh Americas Corp., will speak about why his company chose to use wind- and solar-powered digital signage in New York City. The 35,000-pound sign will be 55 feet off the ground, and it will go dark if it doesn’t get enough power, as a message to consumers and other companies that resources are important.

“It’s about their program that they launched of eco-friendly digital signage, and why they went green,” Dvorchik said. “It’s easy to put up a digital sign, which uses a lot of energy. There’s always a risk with (solar-powered) digital signage that on a dark day it’ll go out, and they’ve got it up in Times Square. Ron and his group weighed the options, and chose this route. It will be exciting to hear from him why they made that decision, and how it impacted their brand and their strategy.”

Other education sessions include a discussion of how digital out-of-home media is reviewed, analyzed and purchased by advertisers. The discussion will be led by former NIKE digital signage expert Pat Hellberg, ConAgra vice president of marketing and communications Gerald Johnson, and Ray Rotolo, senior vice president and managing director of Schering Plough DOOH agency Chrysalis.

There will also be a session on employing digital signage on a limited budget, with tips on choosing low-cost but effective software, for example.

“People are looking at every item within their businesses and how effective and efficient they are,” Dvorchik said. “Those that are not are being replaced with alternative ideas. Getting the best practices of successful — and sometimes unsuccessful — projects first-hand helps to further that process. Coming face-to-face with the solutions that can help allows organizations to test drive the technology and ensure that they work with a company that meets their every need — from understanding their strategy to their deployment timeline to the cultures working well together. All these factors contribute to an organization’s success, and we want to do everything in our power to make sure they have access to the tips, tools and techniques for success.”