Even though I'm getting some much-needed R&R this week, I still find myself firing up the ol' laptop a few times a day to check my email, voice mail, and chat with the folks at the office -- because, apparently, I'm an addict. But these are the dog days of summer, and sometimes things are just a bit slow. This gives me the opportunity to hunt around the web for new things to read and new sites to add to my daily repertoire. If you're like me, and you've already made it through all of the required summer reading for our industry, you might keep a couple of sites in your back pocket for such an occasion. So today I'd like to share a few of my relatively newer favorites with you, in case you find yourself staring at an empty inbox while "borrowing" WiFi from a neighbor's house down by the shore.

Experiate

Who's behind it?
Paul Flanigan, who headed Best Buy's DOOH efforts until recently, should not be a stranger to regular readers of this blog. Pat Hellberg featured him in an article this past February about advertising agencies and digital out-of-home media, and Paul frequently posts stuff over on Digital Signage Today. However, his best work shows up on his own blog, Experiate.

What's it about?
Experiate focuses on the consumer experience, whether it takes place at a retail store or a ball park. As you might imagine, digital signage figures into his musings frequently, but Paul covers other topics like shopper marketing, reexamining the media mix, and even the psychology of emotion.

Why I read it
While Paul frequently writes about digital signage, one of the things I like about his articles is that he explores other areas of consumer experience management that have nothing to do with screens -- areas that I don't have a whole lot of experience with myself. Consequently, I always learn a little something from each of his articles, so on the whole I feel like reading Experiate is a productive use of my time.

The Real DOOH

Who's behind it?
Michael Quinn, who up until very recently was the Chief Strategist at PRN, and easily one of the smartest guys in our industry. While he's still the latter, unfortunately he's no longer the former.

What's it about?
The Real DOOH focuses on the business side of digital out-of-home media, rather than media, marketing, content or tech. Consequently, Michael's posts tend to be a bit more complex and occasionally more abstract than many others. However, they frequently include insights I've not encountered anywhere else. This makes sense, considering that Michael has been working with DOOH since before it was even an acronym, and has deep ties to many companies and organizations in the industry.

Why I read it
Like I said, Michael's insights are top-notch. My only complaint is that he joined the blogging party rather late in the game, and is likely to exit it (or transition to a new topic) when he leaves our industry to go off on his next adventure.

Buzz, Not Buzzwords

Who's behind it?
Long-time industry aficionado Dave Haynes. That's who.

What's it about?
Dave's 16:9 blog has been a pretty unbiased source of digital signage news and entertainment for some time now, so why'd he start a new blog? According to the about page for Buzz, Not Buzzwords, "there is such a crying need in our young industry to get a little more professional in what comes across in our marketing materials and press releases." That's Dave's all-too-diplomatic way of saying that people lie, cheat and hype-hype-hype way more than necessary, and we really ought to do something about that. And actually, that's my all-too-diplomatic way of saying something that would otherwise require lots of swear words.

Why I read it
He's the Statler to my Waldorf. More to the point, Dave seems to get irked by the same sort of things that I do. But now that he's a full-time PR fixer, I can leave him to do all of the online complaining, which lets me focus my thoughts on other things. Indeed, between Dave and Adrian Cotterill it's becoming more difficult to fire off quick blog posts about anything industry-related, which more or less relegates me to the realm of these arduous, 1,000-word tomes.

Barely one year ago, there were only a few high-quality blogs devoted to topics like digital signage and in-store media. Today, that's no longer true, and I subscribe to a lot more sites than what I've listed above. Clearly, I can't know about them all, so I'll leave you with this question:

What sites do you turn to when you're looking for news, insights, or just industry camaraderie? Leave a comment below and let me know!