Article

DSE East coming to Philadelphia

Digital signage's largest tradeshow spins off an East Coast convention.

August 21, 2008

Industry veterans aren't used to gearing up for a digital signage tradeshow in September. And they're used to booking tickets to Las Vegas, not Philadelphia. That's all about to change.

This fall in the City of Brotherly Love, Digital Signage Expo East will open its doors for the first time. While Chicago and Las Vegas have been common locations for previous tradeshows, DSE East is designed to offer an in-depth look into the East Coast digital signage market.

What you need to know

DSE East

Sept. 16-18, 2008

Content Day: Sept. 16

PennsylvaniaConvention Center

Philadelphia,Pa.

To register visit:

www.digitalsignageexpo.net

"We decided to put the show in an area that's near New York, Washington, D.C., and the northeast metropolitan areas," said Chris Gibbs, executive vice president of ExpoNation LLC, organizers of the show.

Although Philadelphia may mean cheaper expenses than Vegas for those involved, Gibbs says the real benefit lies in the potential customer base in the area.

"You don't build a show around the exhibitors, you build it because you are trying to attract the attendees," he said. "We really wanted to give our exhibitors the opportunity to dig deeper into the East Coast market."

Click image to view interactive show floor map.

"We're partially responsible for the location," said Dick Trask, director of marketing and public relations for Scala, based just outside of Philadelphia. "Chris [Gibbs] wanted to have it in New York and I said it was very expensive, with the hotels and all. I suggested a more centrally located city on the East Coast, such as Philadelphia, and he took that suggestion."

With the show in its backyard, Scala plans on targeting its InfoChannel 5 content-management system to the East Coast attendees. At the last Digital Signage Expo in February 2008, Scala announced the acquisition of MISC, a Canadian ad management firm. Trask said that the company's main focus was showing the Ad Manager product, which integrates InfoChannel software with MISC's ad-planning capabilities.

Click to view photos from Digital Signage Expo in February 2008.

And while Scala might only be traveling a few miles to the show, other exhibitors are planning to travel thousands.

Genr8, a content provider from Sydney, Australia, will make the journey from down under to Philadelphia for the show.

"Located in Australia, it's extremely important that we travel to the U.S. to showcase our entertainment content and have a physical presence that goes beyond a voice at the end of a phone line," said Jason Thompson, manager of international business for Genr8. "The majority of our business is located outside Australia so we travel a lot."

Navori International is located in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will exhibit at DSE East to help launch a subsidiary and U.S. sales team. Navori makes the TYCOON media player and server designed to run content on digital signage networks.

"We consider this show as a significant digital signage exhibition for the U.S. market," said Jerome Moeri, chief executive of Navori International.

A focus on content

The new location isn't the only unique aspect of DSE East. After receiving feedback from attendees to the February show about the need for a greater focus on content, Gibbs and Exponation decided to host "Content Day" as part of the show. Content Day is sponsored by BroadSign and will be held Tuesday, Sept.16, a day before the expo floor opens.

"Content is very top-of-mind in the digital signage and out-of-home space for our attendees," Gibbs said. "We decided to serve that by dedicating a day to gather experts and learn how to develop rich content."

Click to listen to Chris Gibbs explain Content Day.

Gibbs said that Exponation also is planning to include a specific content area of the show floor for the next Digital Signage Expo in Las Vegas in February 2009.

Digital Signage Expo East had 36 exhibitors registered at the time of this writing, which is considerably smaller than its February counterpart, regarded as the largest digital signage show in the industry.

"It is always a leap of faith when a second show is created where the first show has grown so dramatically," said Ken Goldberg, chief executive of Real Digital Media, a DSE East exhibitor. "No one really knows how much 'unmet demand' there is for East Coast companies not wanting to go to a Vegas show in February. There is no doubt that overall, demand for digital signage information and technology is expanding, so it is a calculated risk for both the event organizers and the exhibitors."

But the small size could prove to be beneficial to both exhibitors and attendees, particularly those searching for East Coast business.

"With a smaller exhibit hall, there is less competition amongst exhibitors to see attendees," Gibbs said. "The larger the floor, the more the attendees are spread out. Between the small floor and the day-long education session on the floor itself, it keeps the attendees focused on the exhibits and technology."

The Content Awards

In conjunction with DSE East's content focus, the show will host the Content Awards for best practices in content design for the first time. As opposed to DSE's "Digital Signage Awards" handed out at the February show, content providers don't have to exhibit at the show to be nominated for the awards. Submissions can also come from anyone; they are not limited to digital signage companies.

"This format is really much more open to the industry," Gibbs said. "This way we can find the best of breed out there."