We had the opportunity to talk yesterday to Andrea Varrone, show director of Digital Signage Expo [1] who is responsible for the overall management and direction of #dse2016.
[2]Varrone joined Exponation [3], the owner and producer of DSE, in 2008 as a sales associate, after successful careers in the real estate and human resources fields.
She was promoted to sales manager in 2011 and subsequently to business development manager before becoming responsible for DSE’s show direction.
Varrone is quickly putting her own stamp on this year’s show, making a number of changes to give attendees a bigger choice of events to attend and things to see.
“One change that we are making is that, rather than having two keynote speakers, we will only have one,” she said. “Instead of a second one, we are having a luncheon during which Planar [4] – which is currently running the Clear Concept Awards competition [5], co-sponsored by the Society of Experiential Graphic Design [6] (SEGD) and DSE – will present the awards and a panel will discuss the winning entries”. This first Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) transparent display design competition, is designed to encourage inspiring new applications for see-through installations, and comes following Planar’s launch of its own Planar LookThru OLED transparent display [7].
And, to keep things interesting, Varrone said, “For our one keynote speaker, we went outside the box with the idea of appealing to a broad audience. The keyonote will be given by David Meerman Scott, a marketing and sales strategist and author of 10 books [8], who will speak on the ‘New Rules of Marketing and How It Relates to Digital Signage’.”
Another innovation this year will be, rather than a sitdown dinner where the APEX and CONTENT Awards are presented, this year they will be given during the networking reception at the end of first day of the show.
“It should keep things lively and more people will see them,” said Varrone. “We’ve had a huge number of entries, exceeding last year’s combined total.”
On the Tuesday, the Digital Signage Federation [9] will hold a golf tournament, an event held in the past but not in recent years. It will take place at the Desert Pines Golf Club [10].
Exhibits are apparently tracking ahead of last year at this time and Varrone sad that this year’s event will include a small self-service pavilion where kiosk manufacturers can be grouped together and display their wares.
“We found that some kiosk companies were feeling lost with the demise of the Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) so wanted to give them a place of their own to exhibit,” Varrone said.
Another change will be the inclusion of two Spanish-language seminars during the show, rather than on the preceding Educational Day. Varrone said that ones held over the past couple of years during the education day proper had less than expected attendance, thereby prompting the change.
The Digital Signage Association Mexico [11] is expected to be involved at the show again this year although what kind of an exhibit it will have is still not decided. Nor is it clear yet what involvement the Digital Out of Home Association of Brazil will have. The Brazilian contingent to DSE in past years has been comprised of as many as 90 persons, but this years Brazil held its own DSE Brazil [12] so Varrone isn’t sure yet what role the South American group might play at this year’s event.
We are writing separately about the various educational seminars being held the day before the actual exhibition, but our readers are invited to register for these and the show on the DSE website. [1]
#dse2016 will be held March 15-18 with the Exhibit Hall open March 16-17 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.