What I’d Like to See at DSE

I’m on the plane en route to DSE and am very excited about the week ahead! A big agenda for me at the show is to share the benefits of the NanoLumens offering and what makes our product so unique. Additionally while there, I’m looking for a few key trends and ideas that I believe will further enable success for the industry. Here the few things I’d like to see at DSE:

1. Closer progress toward platform standardization (maybe even consolidation)– There are too many systems running out there that are very different in terms or what file types they play and how CMS commands are initiated. It is stifling to innovation of new concepts like content apps and peripheral features. The web guys only have to deal with 3-4 browsers, the phone guys only a few operating systems, but us digital signage folks have over 200 different platforms to deal with. There needs to be some consistency so we can advance our offering. I’ve heard news of advancement on the open source DS front here, and this is one exciting area that I will be following up on.
2. Aesthetically pleasing content that fits the HCI model – there are a lot of users who still haven’t learned that content needs to be relevant and contextual. OK, you can lead a horse to water……I believe however that the next step in content innovation (in correlation with interactivity) is for that content to become beautiful and more user friendly. Interactive or not, let’s consider our display technology and what looks the best on these devices, then lets consider further how the human brain interpretates digital information for the best impact/response. There is tons of research out there on this topic and most agencies can share some great learnings. Hopefully, with more and more content companies at the show, we will be able to learn who is paying attention to these things and incorporating them in their offerings.
3. An independent “consumer reports” style resource with user generated content that compares digital signage offerings – This one may be a stretch but there are over 200 Digital Signage SW offerings! Which one does what? Which doesnt do X? Which are buggy/unpredictable, user friendly, robust, or just plain awesome? Most importantly, given my objectives, which is best for me and my organization? We have a directory and I’m sure that there will be printed one at the show, but where are the independent reviews and user suggestions? Build me the Amazon reviews equivalent of DS software and I believe that you may have something.
4. Strong filtering, moderation, & curation in user generated content on displays – I love LocaModa, and anyone else who is pushing the envelop of DOOH interactivity, but when I brainstorm new ideas in this department, I get a little caught up thinking about how the content will be moderated. LocaModa has a great whitepaper on this topic here and I’d like to catch up with them to see how dealing with this has advanced since then.
5. Progress of DOOH Aggregators? – These guys were the talk of the show in 2009. I’d like to meet Rob Gorrie at Adcentricity and catch up with Rocky Gunderson from SeeSaw. I believe that there is a lot of opportunity in these offerings that add up disparate network inventory but I haven’t seen much buzz or news on them over the past year. Hopefully, my head has been in the sand. Really, what I’ve seen instead is consolidation through acquisition like the RMG buzz.
6. Presence of OOH Guys and Agencies –  The reasons here are pretty obvious. These guys have $ and brand control. Yeah sure, they need us and we can make their world better…but we need them even more. Basically they are the cats meow.
7. GREAT PROJECTS! – In my opinion, the project hotline has been on fire lately. Let’s keep it up! Its so much easier to get down to business and uncover details of projects when the right people are physically present alongside the technology. This is where we make a living!

Well, thats whats on my mind for now. That, and of course how long will I last at the craps table? 🙂