Ben Johnston
RMG Networks

Meet our fictious friend, Samantha. Samantha works in the People and Culture Department (formerly known as HR) of a mid-sized financial services company.

Meet Samantha

On any given day, Samantha and her department colleagues have a lot of information to share with the company's employees. They frantically spend much of their time organizing that information into emails, handouts, and meeting agendas in order to educate the employees on a wide range of subjects. But the problem is that the employees are very busy and distracted, and their calendars are full and their in-boxes overflowing with emails - many of the messages don't even get read or absorbed. And, these are important company messages that could help the employees be more productive!

One day, Samantha goes to a happy hour with her local metro-area "People and Culture Professionals" group to socialize and learn about trends others are using in employee communications. Over drinks, she shares her problem with the group. Then she hears Brian, a colleague from another company, talk about a great solution he has found called Digital Signage.

Brian explains to Samantha that he realized the employees at his company like looking at the TV screens in the break rooms, the lobbies and the conference rooms, which the company used to just play the news. Brian says he realized the TVs would be a great way to reach busy employees instead of clogging up email boxes and holding more meetings. He then tells her he found a company that showed him how to put his important People and Culture messages, company performance data, and even real-time production information up on the screens. They even showed him how to bring in sports, news and weather to keep viewers engaged. As a bonus, it turns out that publishing annoucements on the TVs is really easy to do, as simple as writing an email and dragging in an image in many cases.

Brian's company still uses email for some annoucements and hasn't eliminated the need for meetings yet, but his department's email volume is down and from surveying his employees, he knows their awareness of company events and their engagement with the company's goals has increased. Brian is happy with the results.

Samantha buys Brian a drink and asks him to tell her more. She thinks she just might have found a solution to some of her problems.

On Nov. 7, the evening of the first day of Customer Engagement Technology World (CETW) in New York City, the DSA Party @ CETW NYC will be held aboard the Duchess Yacht from 5-9 p.m.

During the event, the Association will announce the winners of the DSA Crown Awards in a special presentation. Following the awards, attendees will enjoy a buffet dinner, drinks, networking and sightseeing.



The Duchess, one of four ships owned by World Yacht of Pier 81, is a 160-foot long vessel with three decks that can accommodate up to 500 people. The panoramic windows will provide great views of the New York City skyline at night.

World Yacht sails down the Hudson, around the tip of Manhattan, up the East River, under the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge and far enough north for guests to catch a glimpse of the pristine architecture of the United Nations. The ship then turns around and sets sail for the Statue of Liberty, continuing back up the Hudson to its Pier 81 dock. Other well-known landmarks visible along the cruise include the World Financial Center and the shimmering art deco spires of the Empire State and Chrysler Building.

Pier 81 is a short walk from the Javits Center, the site of CETW. Chartered buses will also be available to transport attendees. The ship will set sail at 6 pm and return at 8:30 pm.

Tickets are now available for purchase:

Early registration (until Oct. 31)

• DSA User Members: $25
• All other DSA Members: $50
• Non-Members: $100
  

Late registration (Nov. 1 or later)

• DSA User Members: $45
• All other DSA Members: $75
• Non-Members: $125

Click here to register

Note: DSA Membership is free to organizations that qualify (brands and venue owners such as retailers, banks, restaurants, hotels, government, etc.)

Since Customer Engagement Technology World is the Digital Screenmedia Association’s official trade show, we have all been working diligently to ensure DSA is actively involved with the strategies and plans for the show.  

We have now uploaded photos of DSA activities at the recent Customer Engagement Technology World show in San Francisco to our photo gallery and to our newly created Flickr account.

In our photo gallery, you will see hand-picked photos from:

• DSA Advisory Board Meeting
• DSA Dinner Cruise
• DSA Member Lounge at CETW
• DSA Industry Excellence Awards
• Customer Engagement Technology World

If you want to see all the photos (and download ones of yourself), check out our Flickr photostream.

Enjoy!

During the opening keynote session at Customer Engagement Technology World, the final three award winners were announced as part of the 2011 DSA Industry Excellence Awards. Stuart Armstrong, DSA immediate past president, and Brian Ardinger, DSA president, presented the following awards:

Industry Deployer of the Year
Jared Miller, managing director, Self-Service & Emerging Technology, United Airlines

Network Operator of the Year
Care Media Holdings Corp.

Screenmedia Integration Award
Royal Caribbean International, submitted by Four Winds Interactive

---

Industry Deployer of the Year
Jared Miller, managing director, Self-Service & Emerging Technology, United Airlines

Jared Miller has led the self-service programs at Continental Airlines (and now United Airlines) for over eight years. Under his leadership, he has driven significant adoption of numerous customer enhancing technologies and products. Additionally, he has led the introduction of many innovative, industry-first and value-creating products. Among these are automated check-in and the introduction of the mobile boarding pass (Continental was the first airline to offer this product in the U.S). Mr. Miller’s leadership on this initiative was not only within Continental, but also with TSA and airport authorities to ensure proper approval and support was instrumental in the success of the program. In the past year, Mr. Miller and his team launched the Continental mobile application for the iPhone and Android platforms, which have been well received.

Network Operator of the Year
Care Media Holdings Corp.

With a national footprint of 5,500 place-based TV screens, Care Media Holdings Corp., and its brands KidCARE TV, Women's HealthCARE TV, and PetCARE TV, is the largest distributor of full motion audio/visual, broadband-delivered patient education programming to medical specialty practices in the United States. Launched in 2007, Care Media’s fast track to success has been built on President/ CEO Phil Cohen's relentless focus on ensuring that the network provides exceptional content backed with reporting transparency, accountability, and measurable ROI. The programming, which educates patients on specific illnesses as well as promotes awareness of preventative health care measures, is reviewed by Care Media Holdings’ medical advisory boards to corroborate the validity, accuracy and relevance of content segments. Current programming reaches close to five million female shoppers monthly and 60 million annually.

Screenmedia Integration Award
Royal Caribbean International, submitted by Four Winds Interactive

Royal Caribbean tapped Four Winds Interactive (FWi) to design a highly intuitive, yet complex passenger-facing communication network onboard Royal Caribbean’s newest, most technologically advanced cruise ships, Oasis and Allure of the Seas. With over 200 digital displays operating off of the FWi digital signage network, the system provides real-time data that offers a guest experience like no other and plays an integral part in assisting passengers with navigating the world’s largest cruise ship at 1,187 feet long and 208 feet wide. The signage network is very diverse with everything from passive screens displaying non-interactive information to sophisticated interactive touchscreens providing real-time data and wayfinding.

As 2011 bears down upon us, I would like to pose one simple question to all the brands and venues out there, from retail to travel, healthcare to universities, government agencies to financial services and all the others in the world. What are your strategies to use digital media technology to engage your customers?

Today’s customers – whether consumers, students, patients or employees – are increasingly using technology to perform rudimentary tasks, from check-in to purchase and everything in between.  Fifty percent of airline passengers check-in via a kiosk, the Web or a mobile device, with IATA forecasts predicting  70 percent by 2013.

The United States currently has a mobile population of more than 300 million and a mobile Internet user base on the verge of surpassing 100 million. A Lightspeed Research survey revealed that 49 million U.S.  mobile users have engaged with an advertisement on their mobile phone.  Amazingly, almost 20 million of those mobile users either clicked on the ad and went on to purchase an item directly or ended up buying it online. How will your organization utilize mobile digital media to engage your customers? 

With more “on-the-go” consumers in the world, a new opportunity has emerged for organizations to utilize digital media to engage with these potential customers.  From a university engaging with students and faculty, to a brand engaging with consumers or a hospital engaging with patients, never before has the opportunity existed to educate, entertain and engage with potential customers in their preferred time and location.

According to an Arbitron study, digital video displays in retail locations (including grocery stores, large retailer/department stores, drug stores, shopping malls or convenience stores) reach more than half of American adults in an average month.  Research from PQ Media indicates U.S. digital out-of-home ad spending jumped 15 percent in the first half of 2010 and predicts a 14.8 percent increase in total ad spending from $2.47 billion in 2009 to $3.8 billion in 2014. How will your organization utilize digital out-of-home/digital place-based media to engage your customers? 

Brands, universities, hospitals, government agencies and other organizations now can engage their constituents in a far more impactful way.  From Facebook to Twitter and myriad other social media channels, people are connecting with each other as the social media wave continues to grow rapidly. 

Research  from Empathica Consumer Insights shows 40 percent of consumers are most likely to search for coupons or promotions when interacting with a brand via social media.  And IDG Research Services’ IDG New Media Study reveals 64 percent of respondents interacted with a brand through social networking within the past six months, and this percentage is increasing. How will your organization utilize social media to engage your customers? 
These statistics simply prove how important it is for your organization to integrate multiple technologies, creating a cohesive and impactful digital media customer engagement program. But they also beg the question: What resources exist, and where can you go to get the insights, strategies and technologies needed to make a successful program your first time out?

Customer Engagement Technology World, April 27-28 in San Francisco, allows organizations to understand the strategies and technologies necessary to better engage customers through digital media technologies.  Attendees hear directly from leading DOOH advertising, kiosk/self-service projects and mobile experts representing major brands, agencies, venues and out-of-home media networks. 

As the official show of the DSA, we are excited to offer more than 50 unique educational sessions that enable attendees to better understand the different customer engagement technologies available and how to best integrate them seamlessly into an overall strategy.  Sessions include:
 
Digital signage/digital out-of-home/digital place-based media:

• What Agencies Need To Know About Integrating DOOH Into Campaign Strategy 
• Understanding The Lines of Revenue: The Difference Between Shopper Marketing Budget and DOOH Advertising Budget
• Communicating Your DOOH Network's Performance Metrics To Current & Prospective Advertisers
• Converting Customers And Driving Sales Lift Through Contextually Relevant Content 
• Understanding How To Use Available Research For DOOH Ad Buys
• How To Raise Funds to Start, Grow and Expand Your DOOH/In-Venue Network
• SPEED 2.0:  A 2-part series focusing on Enterprise Media and Media as an Enterprise

Content strategy, engagement and deployment:

• Cooking Up Content provides agencies, brand marketers, network operators, end-user venues, resellers and integrators with real-world examples and insights, highlighting projects that have demonstrated positive customer engagement and led to improved ROI.  Critical elements for creating content will be discussed, including:
  o    Content Strategies for Engagement:  Understanding your Customer’s Mindset
  o    How to create engaging, contextual, ROI driven content
  o    Tying your content to overall campaign goals
  o    How to measure the effectiveness of your content
  o    Content refinement strategies
  o    Content Creation Strategies for Multiple Platforms

Mobile:

• Turning Prospects To Customers: Measuring The Action And Effectiveness Of Mobile Marketing Campaigns
• Integrating Mobile Into Your Customer Engagement Strategy
• Location-Based Mobile Marketing: What It Is, How to Use It, and How It Will Drive Traffic To Your Venue

Kiosk/self-service:

• Aligning Self-Service with Business Objectives
• Intuitive Self-Service: Creating a Sticky User Interface to Increase Kiosk Usage
• Maximizing Your Kiosk Project's ROI And Value
• 6 Things You Need to Know About Accepting Cash In Your Kiosks
• 6 Things You Need to Know About Accepting Credit & Debit In Your Kiosks
• Integrating Electronic Payment Processing Into Your POS Kiosk

Social media:

• Integrating Social Media Into Your Customer Engagement Strategy
• Location Based Marketing: What It Is? How to Use It? And How It Will Drive Traffic To Your Venue

Multichannel and business strategy issues:

• Best Practices in Customer Engagement Technology
• Creating In-Store Experiences That Matter – Tips, Trends & Technologies
• Creating Successful and Engaging Brand Stories through Emerging Technologies
• Inter-departmental Communication Strategies To Avoid Project Death
• Understanding The Critical Ingredients To Eliminate Deployment Headaches
• Why Technology Is Like a Good Referee - You Never Notice It
• How Connectivity Can Cripple Your Project:  The Top Five Pitfalls to Avoid
• Meeting PCI Compliance
• Keeping Your Technology Running - The Overlooked Fundamentals of Servicing Your CET Projects
• Choosing the Right Partners for Project Deployments
• Utilizing QR Codes to Increase Customer Engagement and Action

To understand more about these sessions, to volunteer your organization to speak or to give your company the opportunity to meet with the thousands of pre-qualified organizations that attend Customer Engagement Technology World, visit www.cetworld.com or email me directly at .