Digital Signage Connection

Join workshop moderator and program coordinatory Steve Gurley as he welcomes attendees, introduces presenters and reviews the afternoon’s objectives. He will then share with attendees the top 25 mobile trends that are the most relevant to the convergence of digital signage and mobile technologies. As he reviews the trends, Gurley will highlight the top five trends that received the greatest interest and attention during his year-long “Reasons Why” Twitter series. 

Steve Gurley is responsible for all aspects of global marketing and new market development for Symon Communications, a leading provider of visual communication and digital signage solutions. He also has executive oversight of Symon’s Creative Content and Content Subscription businesses. Prior to joining Symon, Gurley spent eight years as the president and CEO of Pyrim Technologies Inc., a mobility-focused business and new market development firm that he founded in 2000. His association with Symon dates back to 2005, during which time he provided Symon with strategies for entering new markets and developing new lines of business principally directed at the convergence of digital signage and mobile technologies. Previous to founding Pyrim, he was with Electronic Data Systems (EDS), a $22 billion information technology outsourcing firm that was recently acquired by Hewlett Packard, where he held executive positions in business development and sales and was responsible for growing EDS’ presence and business in the wireless industry throughout the U.S. and Europe. Gurley has a degree in finance from Abilene Christian University.

What happens when a university embraces wide-scale use of mobile devices among the most connected generation in history? Disruptive change that threatens established practices of teaching and learning – and that’s only the beginning. In this session, we will provide an overview of the lessons learned from four years of education’s first and widest-scale mobile learning deployment of iOS devices. This session will present how one university foresaw the future of education by looking very far into the past and realizing the path of future may forever change education as we know it.

George Saltsman is the executive director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning at Abilene Christian University (ACU) and winner of multiple awards, including Campus Technology Innovator of the Year and The New Media Consortium’s Center of Excellence. As a leader of ACU’s Connected Mobile learning initiative, he researches the impact of mobility within education.

This session will provide insight into how digital signage is being used in corporations to communicate real-time performance information and how that information is being used to influence the behaviors and actions of target employees. We also will discuss how digital signage is used for general employee communications. We then will discuss how, once a digital signage level-set is established, that real-time information is communicated to the mobile devices of corporate management. This session also will show how mobile devices are being used to display information that augments that shown on the digital signage. 

Ben Guthrie is the manager of mobile product management for Symon Communications. He is responsible for overseeing the continual evolution of Symon’s InView Mobile product offering, which is a mobile platform for delivering a broad range of user-definable, location-centric and interactive content.

This session will review recent initiatives to connect large, public displays with mobile technologies. As the chief strategy officer at Screenreach, a mobile startup whose digital media platform makes any screen two-way interactive, Weinfeld will speak to his company’s innovative executions for Newcastle United, the Rugby Football League, and Ocean Outdoor. With Ocean and car insurance provider Swiftcover, Weinfeld and his team broke new ground in turning user’s smart devices into motion-controlled steering wheels for on-screen cars. From innovative uses of Foursquare to SMS-based deployments, this session will focus on the opportunities and challenges that exist in connecting mobile and outdoor signage. 

David Weinfeld serves as chief strategy officer at Screenreach, a mobile startup that makes any screen two-way interactive. Previously, he was a director at Obscura Digital, known as one of the most innovative technology labs in the world. Weinfeld’s experience includes consulting to Fortune 100 technology companies and developing next-generation technology solutions for global consumer brands. He also is author of the “Digital Signage Insights” blog.

On April 28, 2011, Blue Bite and RMG Networks announced that they teamed up to deploy Blue Bite's proprietary NFC (Near Field Communication) technology and its QR Code solution to over a third of RMG's 200,000 digital screens during the next six months. Using this ground-breaking deployment for background, this session will provide a technical overview of how NFC and QR Codes work as well as a live demonstration of the experience. In addition, the session will provide insights into the pros and cons of NFC/QR Codes versus other mobile technology mediums. The session also will include measurable data/analytics obtained from campaigns, including a case study and results from the Hotels.com and NYTimes.com campaign, as well as insights into the future of NFC/QR Codes and signage integration and the impact of any more recent applications at the time of the presentation. 

Mikhail Damiani directs all aspects of Blue Bite’s business and operations including strategic partnerships, sales and client management. Prior to Blue Bite, he worked in investment banking focusing on technology M&A and capital raising transactions. He received his degree in finance and management from The Stern School of Business at NYU.