The Screen Lights Up New York...
Launch of THE SCREEN USA draws the cream of the American digital signage industry to New York...
New York, NY (PRWEB) July 2, 2010
The Screen Forum USA’s kickoff Breakfast Briefing served up the top tier of digital out-of-home advertising specialists for its transport focused half-day session titled “Planes, Trains & Automobiles”.
Jointly hosted with the Digital Screenmedia Association, the event was held in the fine surroundings of The Crosby Hotel in the fashionable downtown SoHo district of Manhattan. Booking a 100 seater screening room for a launch event might have seemed a little bullish - but The Screen’s reputation (built up in Europe over the last few years) proceeds it, for the venue was absolutely brimming with the great and the good.
Hovering over the pastries and coffee cups were decision makers from the mass transit authorities and big outdoor companies, key consultants and creatives, and an interesting selection of vendors from both Europe and the USA.
The main draws on the day were Rich Ament, Senior Vice President at CBS Outernet and Eric Bottema, director of Kinetic’s Aviator North America. They were ably supported by Denise Macdonell of Harris Corporation and Lou Giacolone, ex-of-Titan and founder of software provider Coolsign.
Rich Ament talked about CBS’ high profile digital outdoor sites all across New York and how transport is the platform on which they intend to build their whole digital strategy. Not surprising given Eric Bottema’s comment that the equivalent population of the whole USA is on the move through the country’s airports every year. A fact not missed by the world’s brands and advertisers, who are already spending over $500M on media aimed at air passengers.
Harris were keen to show that they were the organization to talk to - referring to case studies of cutting edge technology on moving vehicles in Raleigh. It all added up to a lot of potential for media development - but it still left CoolSign’s Lou Giacolone wondering where the money to build the infrastructure was going to come from. For him, the industry was still struggling to persuade media owners that the industry could install and manage these network cost effectively.
The sessions were peppered with fascinating Q&A - and top-and-tailed with good opportunity for more detailed conversations and networking.
Hat’s off to Digital View and Magenta for persuading The Screen to bring its magic to the USA. According to compere Bob Michaels (CEO of Magenta Research and Executive Committee Member of The Screen USA), this is to be the first of many such educational and networking events, ‘Watch This Space!’
The Screen will be posting videos of the presentations to its website. To find out more about The Screen visit www. thescreen. org.
About The Screen
Established in 2006 in London, The Screen is an independent group dedicated to the ongoing development of the digital signage industry. Its members include representatives from all aspects of this rapidly growing medium, and its events aim to promote best practices across the industry through the sharing of expertise and thought-leadership. For more information, visit www. thescreen. org.
About Digital Screenmedia Association
The purpose of the DSA is to advance the growth and excellence of the global digital signage, interactive kiosk and mobile community through advocacy, education and networking. For more information, visit www. digitalscreenmedia. org.
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