DSF PRESS RELEASES
DSF Names Award After Alan C. Brawn
Digital Signage Federation® Announces
Award of the 2018 Educator of the Year
Warrenton, VA – The Digital Signage Federation® (DSF), the only independent not-for-profit trade organization serving the digital signage industry is pleased to announce that the first DSF Educator of the Year award has been given to Alan C. Brawn, principal of Brawn Consulting. The award was given at the Digital Signage Expo APEX awards ceremony on March 28, 2018, in Las Vegas, Nevada. DSF Vice Chairman, Spencer Graham, who is Real Digital Media’s Business Development Manager for Higher Education, NA, presented the award.
Mr. Graham announced that the inceptive award would be given to Alan Brawn, a founder and former Chairman of the Digital Signage Federation. Future nominees for the award will have a proven track record of regularly presenting courses, seminars, educational sessions, articles, white papers, webinars and or other learning opportunities which promote a professional industry. Mr. Graham said that “Alan has exemplified dedication to the craft of professional teaching and sharing of knowledge. Through structured instruction to thoughtful whitepapers he exemplifies what it means to give of oneself to others.”
Mr. Graham also announced that the DSF Board of Directors has declared that hereafter the award will be referred to as the DSF Alan C. Brawn Educator of the Year award.
Mr. Brawn is principal with Brawn Consulting, an audio-visual consulting, training, educational development, and market intelligence company with national exposure to major manufacturers and integrators in the industry. Brawn Consulting develops and runs the Digital Signage Experts Group’s certification programs. Brawn is also a frequent speaker at industry events and is a prolific writer within the AV and digital signage industries.
About Digital Signage Federation®:
DSF®’s Mission is to support and promote the common business interests of the world-wide digital signage, interactive technologies and the digital out-of-home network industries. The DSF® is a not-for-profit independent voice of the digital signage industry reflecting the diversity of its membership. It promotes professional recognition through certifications, continuing education, conferences, publications, and presentations offered by the DSF® and affiliate groups. It provides regulatory advocacy to leverage the collective strength of members and represent their interests at the higher levels of government and the community. The DSF® provides leadership and networking opportunities focused on building a strong foundation for the advancement of the digital signage industry. For more information, visit www.digitalsignagefederation.org.
DSF Announces Award of the 2018 Geri Wolff Scholarship
DSF Geri Wolff Scholarship Awarded
Warrenton, VA – The Digital Signage Federation® (DSF), the only independent not-for-profit trade organization serving the digital signage industry is pleased to announce that Sonia Darlison has been awarded the DSF Geri Wolf Scholarship for the 2017-18 year. Darlison, a student at the University of Waterloo’s in the Global Business and Digital Arts program, has been studying and working in multimedia development, UX and UI design, marketing, and business analysis. She will receive an award of $2,000 to be applied to her academic fees for her senior year of study at the University of Waterloo.
The DSF’s Geri Wolff Scholarship is designed to raise the awareness of digital signage as a career choice among qualified young women who are committed to a professional career in computer sciences and related technology and digital design fields. This award is also intended to help broaden employment diversity, by encouraging employers to hire qualified women in a variety of IT capacities.
DSF Board Member and High Street Collective Co-Founder Laura Davis-Taylor led the selection committee for the scholarship. She said “We are so proud to have had so many strong candidates this year. Ms. Darlison represents the type of candidate we know will represent our industry in the future and she is clearly a wonderful example of the professional diversity we celebrate.”
Ms. Darlison provided the review committee a link to her website, showcasing her work and studies – https://www.soniadarlison.com/.
Donations to the DSF’s Geri Wolff Scholarship Fund are welcome from any individual or organization that would like to help foster the advancement of women in the digital signage industry.
To donate, please go to http://www.digitalsignagefederation.org/resources/scholarship/dsf-geri-wolff-scholarship-donation.
About Digital Signage Federation®:
DSF®’s Mission is to support and promote the common business interests of the world-wide digital signage, interactive technologies and the digital out-of-home network industries. The DSF® is a not-for-profit independent voice of the digital signage industry reflecting the diversity of its membership. It promotes professional recognition through certifications, continuing education, conferences, publications, and presentations offered by the DSF® and affiliate groups. It provides regulatory advocacy to leverage the collective strength of members and represent their interests at the higher levels of government and the community. The DSF® provides leadership and networking opportunities focused on building a strong foundation for the advancement of the digital signage industry. For more information, visit www.digitalsignagefederation.org.
The DSF Announces Latin America Affiliate
Warrenton, VA – The Digital Signage Federation (DSF), the independent not-for-profit trade organization serving the digital signage industry, has announced that DSMX is now an affiliate of the DSF called Asociaciòn Digital Signage Latinoamèrica, or DS Latin America.
“The DSF is very excited to announce our new partnership with DS Latin America” said DSF Chairman Richard Ventura, Vice President of Strategy for Strategy of NEC Display Solutions of America. This new affiliate will help us on our mission to develop industry leading education, standards and best practices globally. As businesses continue to expand it is important that we look beyond our borders and develop global strategic relationships and understanding.”
The affiliate, which may be found at www.dsmx.org, (www.dslatam.org) will continue to operate as a separate entity and will begin a rebranding from its former name of DSMX. Members of DS Latin America and DSF will receive certain benefits from the shared membership, however voting rights will be not be given. These benefits include access to information and discounts for professional development delivered by each group.
Mr. Ventura continued in his explanation of the relationship by stating “The team in Latin America share a common goal of educating the market, developing standards and best practices, and creating a community focused on building the right solutions for their clients. This expansion of the DSF brand into Latin America in conjunction with DSF Europe, positions our organization as a true global leader.”
DS Latin America is led by a board of directors. The President of DS Latin America is Federico Freyria Sutcliffe CEO and owner of Novotech. Mr. Freyria Sutcliffe said,
“I´m excited to partner with DSF and be aligned and share the same goals we have for our markets. Education is essential, as is being the reference for standards and best practices in our industry. The affiliation with the DSF will bring a lot of benefits for DS LATAM and the rest of the members worldwide”
About the Digital Signage Federation
DSF’s Mission is to support and promote the common business interests of the world-wide digital signage, interactive technologies and the digital out-of-home network industries. The DSF is a not-for-profit independent voice of the digital signage industry reflecting the diversity of its membership. It promotes professional recognition through certifications, continuing education, conferences, publications, and presentations offered by the DSF and affiliate groups. It provides government lobbying to leverage the collective strength of members and represent their interests at the higher levels of government and the community. The DSF provides leadership and networking opportunities focused on building a strong foundation for the advancement of the digital signage industry. For more information, visit www.digitalsignagefederation.org.
Letter from DSF Chair, Richard Ventura
Dear members of the Digital Signage Federation,
It has been quite a whirlwind for our organization since last year’s Digital Signage Expo. In 2017, we unveiled a new brand logo & website and announced the formation of the Global DOOH Council. The Council was created with the explicit purpose of developing resources for DSF members to build their capacity to support out-of-home advertising companies, agencies and brands.
During the past year, we also hosted regional meetings throughout the U.S. and continue to offer professional education sessions online, through the DSE, and with our certification partner, Digital Signage Experts Group (DSEG).
The DSF leadership team also established DSF Latin America, aimed at offering cross-pollination of practices and opening opportunities for our members in new markets. In Europe, the DSF and our affiliate, DSF Europe, have been working with the DSE to grow the respective markets and facilitate the sharing of global best practices. We are working to develop a first-of-its-kind common set of shared best practices and standards across the DOOH and digital signage industries with numerous industry partners. The first iteration of this document will be available to members shortly after DSE.
Despite our progress, the DSF has no plans of slowing down. Our membership continues to grow and so far, just over 80 new members have joined this year. Additionally, the DSF’s Education Committee will introduce a new online micro-credential program shortly after DSE. This program, which will start with a Digital Signage Fundamentals Course, will provide DSF members access to a robust learning experience throughout the year.
With these new initiatives on the horizon, our objectives remain clear – delivering professional development opportunities, growing the use of best practices within our industry, and promoting the interest of our members.
As we gear up for this year’s Digital Signage Expo, it’s a good time to remind members why the show is vital to the mission of the DSF. The expo serves as the official trade show of the DSF, it provides a nexus for our industry each year and it is often the initial resource for companies looking to implement digital signage. DSF members host pre- and post-conference education events; represent 42 percent of program presenters; and make up more than 60 percent of exhibition space at the show. The DSF has also taken a leadership role within DSE for the Apex Awards and will be presenting the educator of the year and DSF Geri Wolff Scholarship at the award ceremony. The DSF is also actively supporting the Women of Digital Signage group that is in its formation.
Eventually, we would like all expo exhibitors to be active DSF members and, with the discounts provided, this vision is feasible as long as we continue to offer valuable programs, educational opportunities and networking occasions. In 2017, for example, the leadership of the DSE and the DSF agreed to an extension of our relationship and an increase of educational discounts for members to 25 percent. While the DSF remains an independent association, the expo is our most important partner to achieve our mission.
This past year has put our organization and members on a strong growth trajectory and we are looking forward to riding that momentum to achieve even more in 2018. I personally want to thank you all for supporting our industry association and I am looking forward to seeing you in Las Vegas March 27-30!
Richard Ventura
VP Strategy for NEC Display Solutions of America, Inc. and 2018 DSF Chairman
Digital Out-Of-Home Drivers And Headwinds
An Article by DSF Global DOOH Chair, Sheldon Silverman, In Sound and Communications Magazine
Viewer data and client problem-solving skills are essential for success.
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. The year gone by was a fantastic one for digital out-of-home (DOOH), and, at the same time, a problematic one by the end of the year. The numbers tell a great story, with increases in media spending, dedicated DOOH dollars and further integration within the mobile marketing ecosystem. Research cited by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) found that the OOH market reached $7.6 billion in 2016, continuing its growth trend of the last seven-plus years, and DOOH was a main player in that growth. With that trend continuing, we know 2017 was a great year for DOOH, and 2018 is shaping up to be even better.
First, though, “the worst of times.” By the end of 2017…. Read More at http://www.soundandcommunications.com/itav-report/
Ability to attract attention driving staggering growth of video walls
Video walls are growing at a 23.8-percent CAGR, according to Zion Market’s 2017 research report. That staggering number is driven by users’ need to stand out, engage and attract attention, according to Daniel Griffin, Userful’s VP of Marketing.
“As more screens are out there, in order to catch attention and engage an audience, people realize single screens aren’t enough and that has helped drive the huge growth in video walls,” Griffin said.
He does not expect this strong growth trajectory to slow down anytime soon.
“There’s no doubt that there’s enough demand out there that everyone in the digital signage industry needs to ensure they have a strong video wall offering that is feature-ful, scalable and flexible,” he said. “The growth numbers make it clear that people are turning to video walls in a very significant way.”
Griffin said video walls have even become a requirement for many big spaces, such as airports, malls, arenas and stadiums. However, Userful is also seeing more immersion in smaller spaces.
Benefits of Digital Signage Furniture
Kiosks, Monitor Stands, Video Carts. Although these broad terms conjure different images for different people, they all link back to one general purpose: to display information, through images, video or direct interaction, to a specific audience. Regardless of the product chosen, these methods of communication have become integral to everyday life. Now more than ever, commercial businesses, schools and courtrooms are integrating some form of information display into their space to provide general information about a subject, a map for navigation or an interactive interface meant to answer questions quickly and efficiently. As various types of digital signage make their way into the mainstream, what follows is the need for a stylish and seamless way to blend technology into an existing space. Although the display typically speaks for itself, it is important to make sure that it accurately represents an entity’s image. It would be beneficial, therefore, to consider a custom furniture solution that can unify digital signage with the characteristics of a space, whether it be a high-end conference room, a traditionally adorned ivy-league university or an upscale office with modern flair. By specifying an enclosure for a digital signage monitor, not only are users able to match the aesthetic properties of their space, but they can also incorporate custom security, ventilation and cable access options in their design.
Monitor Frames
Perhaps the simplest monitor solution, a frame provides a wall-mounted set-up with a way to mask cables and projects a put-together image. Rather than modifying a wall for flush monitor integration or having a monitor mount visible from the side, a signage frame offers a cost-effective alternative. The size of the frame can be customized depending on the monitor, mount and method of wall attachment.
Additionally, exhaust ventilation can be specified to keep signage cool beneath the frame via vent slots or a temperature-controlled fan. To access buttons and cables on the monitor, a hinged or removable access door can be implemented on the design.
Monitor Stands
Likely the most versatile furniture option is a monitor stand. As a mobile piece, it allows the monitor to travel to different parts of a building or act in many different roles like video conferencing, information display or as an interactive directory. The design can be as simplistic or high-end as need be and the stand can be finished to match or compliment a room. Cables can be snaked through various grommet holes down the body of the stand and can be hidden from view for a more streamlined effect. Fixed shelving or locking compartments can also be added to store additional items on-the-go.
Monitor Carts
A variation of a monitor stand, specifying a cart provides users with a larger storage space for racked equipment or a tower PC. These carts can be fixed or mobile, depending on the application, and can affix the monitor atop in a variety of ways. With the possibility of more internal components, keeping equipment cool is an important aspect to consider with a monitor cart. In addition to ventilation, different cable passage options can be utilized depending on the power ports in each space.
Kiosks
As perhaps the most recognized digital signage furniture solution, kiosks are fundamental in information display. They offer a completely, enclosed solution that is relatively easy to match to a space since the larger surface area allows for a variety of shapes, styles and aesthetic elements. Integration of the display monitor is also more versatile as the orientation and viewing angle can be mounted according to each customer application. The kiosk can be mounted in a flat surface for easy interaction among an individual or group of people or it can be double-sided with dual monitors for spaces that need to display multiple types of information. The options are far reaching and can be completely custom.
With the popularity of digital signage continuing to grow, the need for custom furniture to house new technologies is becoming just as important. Specifying custom furniture helps to prevent the latest signage technology from looking like an afterthought or add-on and helps display monitors more effortlessly blend into any type of space. If you have any questions about Marshall Furniture’s custom furniture solutions or would like to discuss your specific enclosure needs, please call us to speak with one of our knowledgeable designers.
Originally posted on marshallfurniture.com.
Broadsign to power digital media screens at Westfield’s US flagship shopping centers
Partnership enables advertisers and brands to reach shoppers
with contextual, targeted campaigns on over 500 digital screens.
March 13, 2018 (New York, New York) – Broadsign International, LLC, has announced today that it has reached an agreement with Westfield Corporation, one of the world’s largest shopping center owners and managers, to power Westfield’s existing digital media network of 500 screens located at 18 flagship shopping centers across the US.
The full Broadsign platform will be used to power the Westfield Network, which is designed and managed by Esprit Digital, a premium full-service digital signage installation, maintenance and support provider. This includes Broadsign Control to automate the delivery of targeted and contextual messaging and advertisements to Westfield’s network of high-impact digital screens as well as Broadsign Direct to help Westfield’s brand ventures team more efficiently manage and sell ad space. Westfield will also be integrating its inventory with Broadsign Reach to make its network available programmatically to global media buyers.
How to Make the Most of DSE
by Jeff Hastings, CEO of BrightSign, LLC
With Integrated Systems Europe now in the rear-view mirror, our industry turns its collective attention to Digital Signage Expo later this month in Las Vegas. DSE isn’t the biggest tradeshow we attend in the US, but it’s certainly the show that’s most focused on digital signage. For that reason alone, I find DSE to be an accurate barometer of what to expect in the year ahead.
The digital signage industry is made up mostly of perennial attendees – companies like BrightSign that have been coming to DSE for many years, and that will still be attending years from now. But every year there’s a sizeable crop of first-time exhibitors – last year, of the 255 companies on the show floor, 74 were first-time exhibitors. If those numbers hold true this year, that means nearly three of every 10 exhibitors will be attending for their first time. These new exhibitors seem to fall into two camps: relatively unknown startup companies trying to get into the market, and well-known tech brands trying to make a sideways entry into the digital signage space. I’m particularly intrigued by the latter. Our market has grown far beyond its traditional “signage” roots and it’s understandable that big companies will attempt to wedge their way into our market to make a quick buck.
55 Water Street NYC lobby installation with custom content powered by Signagelive
Article originally posted on Signagelive.com
Introduction
DCBolt Productions assisted in the design, implementation, software and content development of the video system for 55 Water’s LED lobby wall installation in New York City. DCBolt continues to develop custom content that allows this canvas to evolve through vibrant illusions, ambient branding, eye candy and infotainment. The installation is visible at 55 Water Street in NYC and the lobby is open to the public for viewing 24/7.
Key project requirements
DCBolt built a custom windows-based media server to handle the approx 8K pixel space, and is using Signagelive CMS to manage 5x scheduled layouts. With over 50x assets of custom content, that range from ambient branding to perspective illusions.
DCBolt designed a multi-windowed infotainment layout for the high-traffic hours of the morning, afternoon and evening rush periods which display a variety of content feeds, including live stock tickers, transit, weather, news, sports and social media.