CHICAGO — A poet might look out the glass expanse of the Navy Pier Exhibition Center, the site of the 2007 Digital Signage Expo, and find metaphor in the view of unending roiling of water, rather than one of land and buildings. In its own fashion, digital signage is an industry resolutely sailing away from a cluster of related industries, driven by the winds of demand.
Chris Gibbs, the expo's show director, was wide-eyed and talking fast about the industry following the opening-night awards reception. He worked a crowd of about 400 at the reception, which was sponsored by NEC and Peerless. He declined to give specific attendance figures, saying finals would not be tallied until next week. But Gibbs predicted the show's attendee totals would exceed the 1,200 or so who attended the expo in 2006.
DSE's show floor is an anomaly in the trade-event space. Gibbs won't sell booth space smaller than 10-feet by 20-feet, namely, he says, because the technology is big and shows well in big-floor spaces. Take LG Electronics' booth as an example. LG showed for the first time a 3-D monitor that effectively renders images so crisp and multidimensional that they look palpable at a distance of about 15 feet.
And the winner is …
Moving on to the awards, 60 nominations were given for six categories, which are listed below. Judges Kristin Godsey, Steve Kaufman and Matthew Hall of VMSD magazine's editorial staff called the picks.
The winners:
- Best in Class: Creative Content in a Public Space: Aquaria, nominated by Scala
- Best in Class: Creative Content in a Retail Store: Zia Sleep Sanctuary Store, nominated by Wireless Ronin technologies
- Best in Class: Creative Content for Financial Banking: Umpqua Bank, nominated by Nanonation
- Best in Class: Creative Content for Hospitality: Royal Caribbean International, nominated by Nanonation
- Best in Class: Creative Content for Environmental Design Integration: Canterbury Park, nominated by Wireless Ronin Technologies
- Interactivity Innovation: Boss U.S., nominated by AdMart Custom Signage
Next year, the Digital Signage Expo moves West, to Las Vegas, on Feb. 27-28.
