The Digital Signage Insider

Over the past year or so, my company has noticed a dramatic increase in the number of companies interested in trying out deployments of digital signage. There are probably a number of reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that large-format digital signs like plasma displays and LCD screens have dropped in price to the point where they are much more available than they were even 2 or 3 years ago, or the availability of pre-packaged software solutions for digital signage networks. And while interactive kiosks have been shown to have great benefit in a wide array of applications, a kiosk deployment can also require a substantial amount of research and development just to get off of the ground. Signage, on the other hand, is the application, and the data for it (namely, the content that is going to be displayed), is often readily available.

So it's not surprising that this year's National Systems Contractors Association tradeshow, the NSCA 2004 Expo has taken an increased interest in all things related to digital signage (or dynamic signage, or captive audience networks, or any of the other dozen or so monikers that apply to the new industry.

I'm personally quite interested in what the attendance numbers will look like, and who is planning on going. In the past, WireSpring has participated in a number of tradeshows, from KioskCom to GlobalShop, and to be honest, I have mixed feelings. The smaller shows, like KioskCom, don't attract enough outside attendees, and consequently there are a bunch of industry insiders and analysts milling around doing competitive research. It's hard to attract new business when there everybody is selling and nobody is buying. On the other hand, it's easy to get lost at massive shows like GlobalShop, and attendees have such diverse needs and agendas that there might only be one qualified lead for every hundred visitors to your booth.

Still, I'm encouraged by this year's NSCA Expo, particularly their workshop on digital signage. As far as I can tell, there still isn't any independent organization for the digital signage industry (a'la the Kiosks.Org Association for interactive kiosks), but this kind of collaboration at such an early stage in the game is a good sign to me (no pun intended).