Two Convention Centers Tap Into the Mobile Messaging Advertising Trend
A Boat Show at the Georgia World Congress CenterUntil very recently, most discussions about the monetization of mobile messaging had been understandably centered around how to effectively sell advertising on smartphones and tablet devices. The discussion is expanding now, thanks in part to large format digital signage displays and flexible LED solutions.
Two recent installations at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA, and the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., underscore this point. At the heart of the installs are flexible LED solutions from Norcross, GA-based NanoLumens.
Case Study: Walter E. Washington Convention Center
Convention halls present a great opportunity for advertisers to target their precise market, but prior to today, large format digital displays were fixed displays. Once installed, they couldn’t be easily moved. Because convention halls utilize different spaces on different days, the owners were often stuck with a display that wasn’t near the day’s big event.
St. Elmo Crawford, president of Digital Conventions, which operates and manages the digital signage and advertising displays at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., was one of the first people to recognize this new opportunity. The company began using a NanoLumens NanoFlex display in March—already utilizing it in very creative ways, to the delight of exhibitors.
“Digital signage is the future,” Crawford said. “Now that NanoLumens has introduced a full line of large format LED displays that are so lightweight, durable and easy to mount that they can be moved around the convention center from day to day, the all-digital future seems to be right around the corner. Event managers and sponsors are beginning to see just how effective digital signage can be at engaging attendees with advertising or providing information such as presentation schedules, maps of the show floor, and event announcements.”
Crawford is using the lightweight displays to offer digital signage services in places that were never possible before, such as hanging the display from a scissor lift beside a security line, giving event-goers a sneak peek of keynote speeches from outside the convention as they awaited entry.
“The ability to move the displays from day to day is a huge step forward for us,” Crawford said. “We can now give event managers a customizable signage solution that can display any video or information they want to show. We fully expect more people to jump on board the digital signage train with all of the new technologies being developed today. Innovative solutions like the NanoLumens product line offer more options and flexibility which helps us sell our convention center to prospective event managers.”
Case Study: Georgia World Conference Center
Displays that are this large and lightweight are completely new territory, so they give installers an incredible advantage over comparably sized LCD displays, plasma displays, and projection systems by allowing for one-of-a-kind installations and truly novel approaches to advertising. Mark Geiger, associate director of marketing and communication for the Georgia World Conference Center, began using a NanoFlex display in September 2011 and has been moving it around the convention center ever since.
A recent tradeshow at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C. featured NanoLumens’ lightweight digital signage solutions.“You can’t beat the portability and installation capabilities the NanoFlex display offers, and our customers are as excited about it as we are,” Geiger said. “We believe this technology will eventually replace printed banners completely and allow show managers to maximize their return on sponsorship dollars.”
Of course, one of the greatest benefits of a digital display is the ability to show more than one piece of content. “The NanoFlex really is a digital banner that gives users the ability to display numerous eye-catching static messages and video content,” Geiger continued. “Utilizing a single device to display high-end graphics for six customers versus using six printed banners is also a green initiative, which helped in our decision-making process. Many of those banners are outdated after a few days of use and end up in a landfill somewhere.”
Revelation Outdoor Management sells advertising throughout the GWCC, so it is also in their best interest to use the latest and greatest technology. “We want to make our place-based marketing more effective, and the NanoFlex display opens up all kinds of new possibilities for display placement,” said Revelation Outdoor Management president Morgan Hudgens.
Hudgens continued, “Because it’s so durable, lightweight, and easy and quick to install and break down, we are going to be able move this 112-inch screen all over the Georgia World Congress Center to display content where it will have the most impact for each event. When visitors and guests see this huge display wrapped around a column or hanging from the ceiling, their jaws will drop.”
info
Georgia World Congress Center
gwcc.com
Nanolumens
nanolumens.com
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
dcconvention.com
Key Elements / / /for the End-User
Versatility: “Because it’s so durable, lightweight, and easy and quick to install and break down, we are going to be able move this 112-inch screen all over the Georgia World Congress Center to display content where it will have the most impact for each event. When visitors and guests see this huge display wrapped around a column or hanging from the ceiling, their jaws will drop.”
—Revelation Outdoor Management president Morgan Hudgens
