NEC Solutions Showcase Bedrock Of London Digital Signage Week

If you work in the digital signage industry and can possibly make it to London in mid-May, it’s definitely the place to be.

The NEC Solutions Showcase ^[1], now in its 6th year, will underpin a week long calendar of events as the AV industry hits the Capital for what has become the UK’s biggest AV and digital signage event of the year. And new for 2014, the NEC Showcase will run over a two-day period, May 14-15.

At the DailyDOOH Gala Awards ^[2] in November last year, Dirk Hülsermann, manager of VUKUNET NEC Display Solutions, Europe, called for a London Digital Signage Week, similar to that held in New York in October, citing London as the leader in digital outdoor media. Coining the hashtag #LondonIsThePlaceToBe, Hülsermann, supported by Adrian Cotterill, editor-in-chief of DailyDOOH, has championed the formation of a formal gathering of the industry in London, with the already established NEC Showcase at its core.

Currently, London Digital Signage Week has attracted numerous industry events to run in parallel to the NEC Showcase. These include:

• The DailyDOOH Media Summit, (aimed at digital media owners, both large and small, in the UK and continental Europe) at The David Lean Room at BAFTA, May 13;
• VUKUNET Media Dinner, May 13;
• The International Scala Conference, at The Timber Lodge, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, May 14;
• The Screen Forum Breakfast Briefing, at The Velodrome, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, May 14;
• DailyDOOH’s Employee Communications Thought Leadership Summit, The Velodrome, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, May 15;
• AV User Group, The Timber Lodge, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, May 15.

The 2013 NEC Showcase at Tobacco Dock in London attracted approximately 1,200 attendees, a 20% increase on the previous year.

Simon Jackson, vice-president, NEC Display Solutions, says, “We are anticipating a similar number of attendees to last year, so by spreading the event over two days we are enabling a greater period for dialogue and customer engagement.

“The Olympic venue was chosen as part of our blueprint for finding new and interesting venues in which to host the Showcase,” says Jackson. “We strive to offer an experience to our visitors as well as educating and informing them about what’s new in the AV industry, and the venue goes a long way to providing a theme and delivering that experience. The Velodrome represents an iconic landmark in British Olympic History, something NEC is proud to be associated with as we continue to establish the best AV industry event in the UK calendar.”

The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park ^[3] will start to open its gates to the general public this Spring, and the NEC Showcase is one of the first events to take place as Olympic Legacy plans take shape. The Olympic Park is one of the most accessible destinations in the Capital and offers plenty of scope to host events throughout London Digital Signage Week.

Register here if you plan to attend ^[1] The NEC Solutions Showcase at The Velodrome, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London, May 14-15, 2014.