Danger, Will Robinson!

Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief

Observant readers will know that last week, after a very secret squirrel meeting at #InfoComm11 in Orlando we “Learnt of plans of (an) upcoming ‘three most dangerous men in digital Signage’ story” from someone well known in the industry.

Intrigued we reached out to them to find out more and got permission to take their idea to the next level and gather industry feedback for a fuller, more rounded post.

So. who do you think are the three most dangerous people in the Digital Signage Industry?

We don’t usually encourage anonymous comments but in this post we will make an exception. So come on folks tell us please who you think is doing more harm than good to the industry at the moment?

You can also email in comments. Everything will be kept confidential but bottom line be honest please.

You can trust us to total up all the votes, make a top three and do an extensive write up – even if that includes people we love or even ourselves!


35 Responses to “Danger, Will Robinson!”

  1. anon Says:

    1. The purveyors of bogus digital signage Doctorates.
    2. Those that accept them.
    3. Everybody who doesn’t have PhD after their name.

  2. Duncan B Says:

    Lyle Bunn, Steve Gurley, Phil Cohen

  3. DS SW CEO Says:

    Minkus, Brian Roberts (CEO of Comcast) and the IT Project Manager

  4. Vincent Rice Says:

    Well it ain’t me unfortunately. The power-crazed social misfits in IT are definitely a good call though!

  5. Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief Says:

    Vincent Rice, Vincent Rice and Vincent Rice

  6. Ranting Office Guy Says:

    Gotta be this guy: http://onthecspot.com/archives/567

  7. Dave Haynes Says:

    I am still not sure what this post is all about, but I am nonetheless voting for myself because of my massive ego and because after a couple of beers I can tend to go Italian and talk with my hands. Pint glasses get knocked over and nearby heads whacked without warning. It all gets terribly dangerous.

  8. oldsignguy Says:

    ME! for calling a spade a spade. or you a Wanker.
    One of the worlds oldest sign guys! Ha! oldsignguy MPE

    Somebody please disown non-certified sellers of speed learning and certified expert level DS snake oil. Only 1 source has ever had certified expert level users and that was Scala. The expert users group formed in the mid 90’s. If you weren’t part of that group, then your simply not old enough. ๐Ÿ™‚

    PS
    -Budget price software

    – Filling Clients heads all full of false expectations of free, cheap, easy, forever sustainability, future releases, mobile version, candy canes.

  9. Doctor Smith Says:

    1. “Dr.” Bunn- eventually people will see thru his act.
    2. The self-dealing powers at DPAA, helping noone but themselves.
    3. Pierre Richer- All hat, no cattle. Vukunet set the industry and NEC back 2 years.

  10. Luis the anonymous Says:

    Numero uno its Adrian. No question.
    Numero two. Gonna say adrian
    Numero three, between Adrian and Adrian.

    ๐Ÿ™‚
    He is dangerous.

  11. anon Says:

    1) DS software companies claiming to been involved in networks they are not

    2) DS software companies selling cheap software which does not get them the deal but enables the customer to beat up the real software providers to drop their price

    3)DS companies who believe their own hype

  12. Roxanne Says:

    It used to be Sir Fabulous Fabian of the Steaming Stool as his bite was infinitely worse than his bark. Mind you since he was retrenched yet again, it’s akin to being savaged by a dead sheep. Today’s greatest menace must be the ‘ Proclaimers’ from the panel manufacturers promising cures for all communication ailments.

  13. Mark Solomon Says:

    “three most dangerous men in digital Signage”

    Anybody who runs whilst carrying a plasma display.

    Anybody who runs whilst carrying a Microtile.

    Definitely anyone who offers to buy you lunch at any of the quick-serve units at a digital signage exhibition, particularly the RAI in Amsterdam.

  14. Conscientious Objector Says:

    Why not the most dangerous women in Digital Signage – you know you are out there.

  15. Dr. John Robinson Says:

    Dear Conscientious Objector if you insist …

    . Lisa Rokny at CBS Outdoor for not understanding pretty much anything
    . Sue Danaher for being a Mike Da Franza lackey at the DPAA
    . Phil Cohen’s harem at Saddle Ranch Productions

  16. Roxanne Says:

    Alain Bodenstedt at Scala EMEA HQ.

  17. Vincent Rice Says:

    I love you Adrian xxx

    Roxanne – OUCH! You go girl.

  18. Mike Hunt Says:

    This is easy to have a rant about and these names may not be relevant to DOOH really anymore but….

    Andrew Prodromou
    Gary Truman
    Adrian Cotterill (This one probably isn’t true but I see a bandwagon to jump on!) ๐Ÿ˜€

  19. Mark Solomon Says:

    Dr. John,

    Firstly, to be a pedant – wasn’t the character in LiS a Professor not a Doctor.

    Secondly, can’t claim any knowledge of #2 and #3 on your list, but my very limited knowledge of Lisa is that she’s quite switched on, but seems to restrict her interest to the things that truly affect her role at CBSO where she can add value rather than treading on the toes of the other specialists in the company.

    Your mileage may, of course, vary.

    BTW, I have no commercial interests in CBSO in any way.

  20. Raffi Vartian Says:

    No additions here (hence listing my name) but is there any chance you can implement a FBesque “like” system in place? There’s sooooooo many comments I really, really LIKE.

    Raffi

  21. Vincent Rice Says:

    How about the three shopping-mall contract plumbers that forgot to put the sprinkler heads on before a pressure test (true story)

  22. Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief Says:

    Wingman. We have dozens of email ‘votes’ as well. We will give this thread a week or so then collate and will do a poll. We like the idea of ‘like’ and our R&D boys are looking at it.

  23. Dr Bunn's love child Says:

    It has to be without a doubt the self proclaimed, most innovative digital signage platform ever in the history of the world….COMM CADDY
    Or should I say, glorified napkin holders with someone else’s hardware and software

  24. Half truths and fake freebies Says:

    Definitely the most harmful people in the industry are those that pretend their stuff is “Free” when it most definitely is not. It muddies the waters for the rest of us.

    1- CEO of MediaSignage. Your software is not free, and it is not even remotely good. Just go away and die already. Unfortunately, they won’t, because they have good SEO and pay dearly for google ad sense.

    2- deleted by editor in chief

    3- The CEOs of all the “me-too” software companies. The world doesn’t need 500 pieces of software that do exactly the SAME THING. You’re not special, just go away. I heard that “daily deals” websites are hot right now… get your outsourced indian coders to build one of those.

  25. SW CEO Says:

    While bunn & co, etc. are the easy answers, the correct answers are the CEOs of PRN, RMG and [insert name of other large, visible network here]. If any of these “too big to fail” networks were to actually fail — in particular RMG considering all of the bullshit hype they’ve been generating and/or promoting

  26. Conscientious Objector Says:

    To call PRN and RMG too big to fail is ludicrous. I was in the industry for 12 years. It existing in nascency for 5 or so before that. So in 17 years this industry has created two companies each of which generates $40MM give or take $20MM that can be classified as too big to fail ?!?!?!? These same folks who guided the growth of these companies should be deemed dangerous for taking their hands off the tiller in the last five years. This industry dreams small and fails big. Mobile Marketing is 1/2 as young and far larger already. Those folks dream big and are delivering innovation beyond aping the analog equivalent.

  27. Pinotage Says:

    The Conscientious Objector makes for truth well told! Well written Peacenik !

  28. Dr. Smith Says:

    “too big to fail” is a term politicians use as an excuse for using taxpayer dollars to rescue failed businesses of big contributors. There will be no rescue for failed digital signage networks or vendors. You are on your own, people. PRN has arguably already failed. RMG is hardly too big, and may not be in the top six grossing DOOH networks out there. Neither is dangerous to anyone who has not invested in them.

  29. been there done that... Says:

    The folks who are most damaging to this industry are those who constantly make the rounds at the industry conferences, endless press releases, ect and discuss sales numbers and growth rates that are simply ficticious. The failures far outweigh the successes yet the stories that are spun would lead one to believe other wise. The same old names (network CEOs) that are ever present, hide behind the “we are a private company and cannot share sales numbers” are simply snake oil salesmen. You would be amazed at how small most of the revenue numbers are…..

  30. Kyle Porter Says:

    The most dangerous men to digital OOH are the ones who give brands a better advertising offering. The most dangerous men in digital signage are those who make the customer think that the solution is cheap and easy.

  31. The Two Most Dangerous Men in the DOOH Industry | Digital Signage Central Says:

    […] Last week, DailyDOOH posted a fun little article asking a rather interesting question: Who are the most dangerous people in our industry? Dozens of commenters (mostly anonymous) proffered suggestions, naming well-known consultants, CEOs […]

  32. Anon. Says:

    Definitely Paul Lindstrom of Nielsen for peddling low quality research as “audience measurement” and getting the DPAA to buy into it. As far as I know, many of the Fourth Screen report numbers are based on fewer than 300 intercept surveys.

  33. signage realist Says:

    1- CEO of MediaSignage. Your software is not free, etc. (see earlier rants)

    2- Venture caplitalists who give idiots like this money

    3- AV dealers who can’t tell the difference between signage products but still sell them claiming to be experts

  34. John Morgan Says:

    1) Integrators who sell and deploy to would-be media network operators without helping them truly understand the consumer, and therefore good business and content strategy.

    2) Media networks and network aggregators who sell media using made-up audience numbers.

    3) Media salespeople who let advertisers run TV creative.

  35. The Two Most Dangerous Men in the DOOH Industry Says:

    […] 13:09:55 Last week, DailyDOOH posted a fun little article asking a rather interesting question: Who are the most dangerous people in our industry? Dozens of commenters (mostly anonymous) proffered suggestions, naming well-known consultants, CEOs […]

Leave a Reply