by David Keene
Digital Signage Expo 2010 wrapped last Thursday with a good deal of energy, on all fronts: association news, new product debuts, and generally a great start to the digital signage industry event calendar year. As we now look to NAB, The Digital Signage Show, Digital Signage 2010 (the April 28 InfoComm/NewBay virtual event) and InfoComm, there’s a great momentum building.
Awards first:
DSE's First Annual Awards Dinner took place last Wednesday at the show. Six out of nearly 60 entrants for DSE's Content Awards were honored during the dinner, while 22 Apex Awards were presented to winners in eight categories.
The annual DSE Apex Awards honor innovation in the development and deployment of technology in the global digital out-of-home industry.
I was one of the Judges this year. Judging was based on the creative or technological solution to a digital signage installation challenge and the accompanying result. This year Gold, Silver and Bronze APEX Awards were presented to winners in eight categories, from a field of 57 outstanding entrants. The venue winners, including the partner providers who nominated them, included:
Arts, Entertainment, Recreation
• Gold – NYC & Company with GestureTek
• Silver – Adler Planetarium with NEC Display Solutions
• Bronze – The Olympic Experience Museum of the Olympic committee of Israel with C-nario
Corporate & Government
• Gold – Unisys Belgium NV with X20 Media Education & Healthcare
• Gold – Northern Virginia Community College with Cisco Systems
• Silver – BC Children’s Hospital Foundation with Scala Inc.
• Bronze – Indiana University with Scala Inc.
Public Spaces
• Gold – Amsterdam RAI with Scala, Inc.
• Silver – IDS Center-Inland American Office Management with AlivePromo Inc.
• Bronze – Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. with Aerva Inc.
Hospitality
• Gold – Zoom Media & Marketing LocaModa Inc.
• Silver – ARAMARK with Wireless Ronin Technologies
• Bronze – Portland Trailblazers/Rose Garden Arena with Omnivex Corp. Retail
• Gold – Miele Inspirience Centre with Scala Inc.
• Silver – Sprint Studio Store with Scala Inc.
• Bronze – Turk Telekom Group/TTGaleri with Dreambox
Stadium & Arenas
• Gold – Miami Dolphins Land Shark Stadium with Cisco Systems
• Silver – Miami Heart/American Airlines Arena with Sony Electronics
• Bronze – Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment with Digital Display & Communications/Omnivex Corp.
Transportation
• Gold – The Port Authority of NY & NJ with Tightrope Media Systems
• Silver – Underground of Barcelona with ADmira Digital Networks
• Bronze – Monopoly MediaZoom TV with Scala Inc.
Judges for the DSE 2010 Apex Awards were Brad Grimes, editor, Pro AV Magazine; David Keene, executive editor, Digital Signage Magazine; Richard Lebovitz, editorial director, DigitalSignageExpo.net; David Silverman, editor, Sound & Communications; and Bill Yackey, senior editor, DigitalSignageToday.com.
Also, news post DSE show:
According to Exponation, their newly launched “Digital Signage Federation” is taking off well:
“Immediate industry acceptance of the Digital Signage Federation (DSF) swelled the ranks of the nascent organization to just under 150 members last week compelling the DSF to extend its initial offer of six months free membership for an additional two weeks to anyone who was registered at Digital Signage Expo 2010.
John Johnson, Interim Executive Director said, “Attendees and exhibitors alike complained that Digital Signage Expo was so busy they many just didn’t have time to take away from doing business on the floor, or attending what was the largest educational conference ever staged, to come by the booth to sign up.”
Digital Signage Federation is offering:
“To accommodate those who attended, but were not able to take advantage of the initial membership offer, and to clearly demonstrate that the organization intends to be as inclusive as possible, anyone who was registered at DSE can still sign up until Friday, March 12th after which a reasonable dues structure requires payment of dues at enrollment. For more information, or to join the Digital Signage Federation and volunteer for open committee positions, email John Johnson, Interim Executive Director at john@digitalsignagefederation.org, call at 571-215-3028, or visit www.digitalsignagefederation.org
