Do Kiosks And Digital Signage Share DNA?

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Lawrence Dvorchik, General Manager of both The Digital Signage Show and KioskCom Self-Service Expo as always makes a very good case in disagreeing with us on our viewpoint about ‘Kiosk shows doing Digital Signage’.

Lawrence kindly took the time to write into us with a comment which we published last week but which we thought should be more widely read and so will share it with you here..

Unfortunately, I once again find myself having to explain all of the previous experienced customer facing technology deployments, and how digital signage (or OOH media) can learn from their successes and mistakes.

As I mentioned in a previous – ASK DailyDOOH –

As a regular reader of the DailyDOOH, I appreciate the insight you provide professionals in this industry. I think we can agree that a thorough analysis of successful Customer Facing Technology (CFT) deployments is an asset and anyone interested in DOOH should seek out case studies on successful deployments and learn from them.

Where I would have to disagree with you, is in your statement that “Kiosk show organizers just don’t get digital signage”.

Actually, many of the important successes that should be examined come from DOOH’s sister market, the kiosk industry.

For 13 years I’ve been involved at all levels of the CFT industry, from kiosks to websites to handhelds to digital signage. I’ve worked with thousands of deployers (purchasers) and technology / service providers, conducted research and industry analysis, and demonstrated the benefits of these CFTs to the mainstream universe – retailers, hotels, travel, government, food service, etc.

My work has brought a number of “hot buttons” DOOH issues to my attention, including: –

  • Securing funding, Senior/Executive level buy-off and organizational support (current and ongoing)
  • Exploring and selecting the appropriate technology for the project
  • Creating relevant and engaging content, and ensuring your content is presented in the right context
  • Improving the customer experience
  • Providing ROI metrics to purchasers
  • Increasing revenues with the deployment while reducing operational expenses

These same issues have been a staple of the kiosk industry. The only difference is that they’ve been discussed and addressed within the kiosk market, and action plans based on these conversations now are used as the platform for many DOOH deployments.

Kiosks and digital signage share an incredible amount of analogous DNA, so I think it would be wise to explore events that cover both areas versus avoiding them because those mediums – exhibitions included – will help them to most quickly launch and succeed with their project.

From an attendee/session perspective (as Jim’s response was), the speakers at our events have been hand selected and vetted thoroughly. These sessions are conducted by speakers who have actually done the implementations so we can inform people (like Jim) of what they can do for successful deployments. We focus on the strategy and how-to’s in those sessions, leaving other areas, including the exhibition floor for technology issues and demonstrations

As in your posting of May 15, 2008 titled “Only Do Great Tradeshows” you clearly agree that is THE critical element, and the organizers of the largest Kiosk and Digital Signage Events make a compelling case.


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