What To Expect at DSE 2023

Hey everybody. Welcome back to Pro AV today. Having a good conversation today about a show that really rose from the ashes post COVID and that is DSE the digital signage experience show that is gonna be co late co located in Vegas this year with LDI. Another massive and wildly successful show for the pro AV and entertainment community. So I wanted to talk a little bit today about some of the things that we can expect to see at the show, but also maybe a little bit on the LDI side of things as well to see how we could find the crossover between our traditional digital science community and that entertainment side of the world. So my guest today is David drain over from DSE. David, thanks so much for coming on the show today. Ben, thanks for having me. Well, look, David. Obviously, things have changed post COVID. Right? That's the understatement of this century. But when you look at DSE and I'll even loop an LDI, obviously, some of that change has been for the better. There there were some challenges towards the end of maybe the old guard DSE, but it's especially looking at last year's show, there's been a lot of success, with kind of the rebirth of DSE. Right? What are some of the things that folks can expect to see this year at the show? You know, we really when we we brought DSE and and we brought it back, we really we changed the name from expo to experience, and that was kind of twofold, I think. One reflecting how digital signage and it does transform and and enhance the experience, but also just to give our attendees, a good experience. And so That is, all the way from just the way that we as people, interact with our attendees and exhibitors and and just try to really take care of them and to the technology and the excitement that we try to bring to the event. This year, we're just excited about you know, we we build our program on education. So I'm very excited about the various speakers that we have. We have keynotes coming from moment factory and from meow wolf who I think are two real innovators in our space and and look at things differently and creatively, and I think we'll stimulate the audience there. We're really tackling all the subjects that, are hot and and people are buzzing about and wanna know more about things like artificial intelligence, things like anamorphic, content and all those sort of things. I think they're also gonna be stimulated by what they see on both show floors, DSE and LDI. Well, you you talked about LDI. Obviously, a show that carries a lot of weight in the, live design, entertainment, lighting, sound world. I love to see really that this show has fully embraced the DSE community. Right? Because Whether it's you talk about to worrying with LED walls or venues and installations, obviously, you look at the sphere. Right? Digital signage is the reason for the most part that folks come to this fear. And we might talk about that here in a second. I know you've had a chance to see it in person. But, you know, I I love to see really the embracing of both sides of the world. What would you say from somebody who's a traditional, a traditional DSC attendee. What are some of the things that they might be able to to, see and learn by venturing on the other side of the eyelet, l d I a little bit. Yeah. Right. Last year was the first time we had these two shows, co located. They were across the hall, so they weren't as, adjacent as they are this year. And I think the folks that ventured over to LDI were really, blown away by what they saw. It's a very exciting show. It's it's a dark show, meaning they they turn off most of the lights because it is a a lighting, show primarily, but there's a lot of digital signage over there as well because the live event space is using LED in particular in a very big way. So there is a lot of crossover that's relevant. And we're excited this year that the two shows will literally be side by side, DSE and West Hall one and LDI and West Hall two and three. And so they'll be easily accessible. Obviously, each badge, each participant's badge can get them into the other show. And so I think that, there's a movement, even in, like, retail, for example, to try to give that's that excitement, that a live event, that a concert even brings and to to to liven up spaces and to do a brand activations and and things like that. So I think there's a lot from the live events industry that the digital signage industry could could learn from and and vice versa as their new relatively to the digital signage space. We have a lot. I think that we can teach them. Well, ironically, one of the most obvious and well known collision points between the the entertainment live design world and the digital signage world is what most people will now see when they fly into Vegas, right, is the sphere. You've got this massive digital display, obviously, on the outside. I I think it's technically the biggest outdoor display in the entire world. But it also integrates with you know, retail digital signage, advertising, and then you step inside. Right? You look at this gigantic screen that during the day is used for you know, great atmospherics. You're able to see a show. I think it's called postcards from Earth. Highly recommend it. Haven't seen it yet, but I highly recommend it. I know you have. We'll we'll talk about that in a second. But, you know, during the day, it's a little bit of a different experience. It's a little bit more kinda laid back. But at night, it's a fully fledged experience with with YouTube concerts and, you know, eventually other artists and things like that. How have you seen installations specifically like the spear continue to to really pull both of those worlds together. Yeah. I mean, we've been talking about immersive experiences for a long time, and this is truly immersive. I don't know how you can get more immersive in a way. So the sphere really is setting the bar. I don't know that everybody's going to go build spherical structures and and and try to copy them, but they really are gonna give people a lot of ideas of what you can do they are a multi pronged, building. I mean, people think, well, what is this building for? And it is for the arts. It is for entertainment. But the advertising component can't be ignored either. I know that when you advertise on the outside of that sphere, the the number of people you reach probably that are gonna see it on social media is greater than the number of people, you know, who will see it in the city at that time. So there's this new paradigm, I think. With with digital out of home where it's not only the audience that's there in the moment to see it, but it's the audience who will see it later on social media. Well, what I've gotta ask to, I'm sure that a lot of folks that'll be there, at the show will try in in some form whether or not it's a YouTube show or a postcards from Earth will want to see something there. Right? And as somebody who lives in the digital signage and experience your entertainment world, I had to ask. You've seen both shows so far, which is the YouTube show and postcards from Earth. What are just some quick reactions from somebody who understands a lot of the technology that happens behind the scenes. Yeah. Just amazing mind blowing. Probably a lot of the adjectives you've read online as people have seen it. It really does, excite you in, in, in a big way. It's it's really well done. It's a full experience. It's not just the screen inside. It's what they do in the lobby as well. Of course, the the YouTube show was, just, just amazing, great you know, I think I worried, to be honest with you about it being, you know, I'm gonna sound old, too loud or the motion of the screen being too much to handle, and it was just perfectly done. The sound is crisp. And the visuals that they used were just spot on. They didn't they overwhelmed you, but on all the good ways, not in any kind of bad way. Then they have a lot of things that even the the the lobby, is, just with the lighting, with the LED that they use, some of the holographic type, screens, that they have projection. You don't see the that there's so they have these robots that you can see if you go to the to the movie postcard from her, that's part of the experience. You spend, oh, half hour, maybe forty five minutes. Before the movie starts to experience all the integrative experiences that they have in the lobby. They had those covered up for the YouTube show, and as they were selling merchandise and and all that sort of stuff. They're being atmospheric music. I'm a big YouTube fan, so they must have created a special playlist, where it was like little notes from songs that they, that they played. You just, you know, I recognized it. I was like, oh, that's, you know, that's from that song. And, they just really thought about giving you all the moments. And I think I mentioned in, in my I did a post about it on LinkedIn. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful and well it's a it's a well staffed facility. And you're used to going just places now where, you know, they're struggling to staff, you know, have adequate staffing, whether it's a restaurant or hotel or whatever. So it's it was refreshing to see, that they had not focused completely on the technology, but they'd also focus on just the human customer experience as well. So, yeah, they're just setting a new bar and, gonna innovate, and they're innovating and they're going to really stimulate anyone who goes to see it, with with ideas on just what can you what what that what does that mean to me? What what what are some of the takeaways? I can't maybe do, you know, I'm not gonna go build a sphere. Like I said, but maybe there's some idea there. That I take back to my business to, excite and and and stimulate my customers. One, you're right too. I love that you mentioned the experiential aspect of digital signage. Right? Because, when you think digital signage, it's everything from way finding to, you know, immersive entertainment and the like. Right? And I think it's so important. And I think this is one of the great things about what I'll call the rebrand and the rebirth of of DSE is that there is a larger embracing of not only technology, but different verticals, different applications, different experiences. A lot of that has to do with just being part of the Questex portfolio. But a lot of that is that there has been some some forward movement within the community. Right? And and you guys have helped lead a lot of that. So when when when say I'm in attendee, maybe even for the first time this year, what are some of the things that I can expect to see, from an industry stamp point. Right? Am I gonna be able to see what's next to technology? You mentioned AI being one of the things that the folks are talking about. What can I as a first time attendee expect to kinda hear about and learn about from the digital signage side of things, especially as we we cross over into different industries? I I think first of all, I'll say that we really do put a lot of focus on the strategy and making sure that the attendees are thinking about their strategy because if you don't have a good strategy, you know, you just go by the next cool thing. You go, oh, that's a shiny cool tech object. I'm gonna put in my store. I'm gonna put in my corporate lobby. And if you don't have a good strategy behind it, like, what am I trying to accomplish? What what is it for? It's not it's gonna miss the mark. So that's, that's an overriding theme. But yeah, and we also just try to make sure that we have something for everyone. So if if you are new to digital signage, that there are, training courses, there are, talks, and that we even help you with, maybe a guided show floor tour to, we have an introductory tour on day one of the show. So that you can get your arms around it because it can be kind of complicated, to an outsider when you first come into it you know, you just you think about the screen. I need a screen. And and then, you know, you realize there's a lot of components to make that all work. And again, kind of going back to the strategy, you know, what is it that you're trying to accomplish. So when people come, I think, and see the show, it's gonna depend on, certainly what they're looking for, what what is their business model. We have some things. If you're in the digital out of home, advertising space. For example, we have some exhibitors that are gonna be targeted to that market. Certainly, if you're wanting to look at all the latest types of displays, those are gonna be there. There's gonna be several, I think, with, transparent LED, which is exciting and interesting. Along with, other LCD and LED technology projection, and projecting on on glass, you know, just all these different formats and you can kinda consider those and see, the tried and true with with the future, as well. Then, of course, you start to learn about things that, you know, people in the pro AV space are are more familiar with, that they need media players and, PCs to, to run it all and and the types of companies that they'll need to, work with on installation or ongoing maintenance. And, there's the software, of course, and the content, which drives it all. And then there's things like people, companies offering specialty services, whether it's, you know, market intelligence and audience analytics. Look, I I I will say as somebody who's been to DSE in the past, it's an incredibly beneficial show for somebody, especially who's newer to the industry, but it's also insanely valuable for somebody who may have have been in a previous job role, even gone to the the the show, pre acquisition, Look, there's so much to learn. Right? And one of the places, this is just my own personal experience, but you look at the verticals like house of worship. And higher ed and so many different places like that that really for the first time are having meaningful conversations around integrated digital signage. Whether that's you know, players like Bright Sign, right, where they're talking about integrating all of their, you know, wayfinding solutions or emergency response all the way to creating immersive entertainment or creating, you know, primary content. Right? There's so many conversations that are happening, and it's so beneficial for people maybe who have it who who have been before to kind of find out about some of these new verticals and meet new folks and things like that. So I obviously wanna plug it from a, a long term attendee or maybe somebody who's been before as well. But, you know, what are some of those other verticals that you're seeing maybe pop out for the first time or or make their presence known at DSE, maybe cross it over from the LDI side. Right. That would definitely be the, you know, the live events space, theaters and, and, you know, other kind of venues. So, certainly, you mentioned, education. We do have a strong, attendee base that comes from the university market from from people who are designing corporate environments. I think you're starting to see some some health care come along, and we've always had retail in restaurants, you're seeing stadiums. There's just really any, as you know, any brick and mortar location is, is a possible place for, for for digital signage and can even be for customer, not customer facing, but employee facing. Digital signage as well. Well, look, David, I can say this. I'm excited about the show this year. There's gonna be a lot of fantastic information. Conversations, thought leadership happening, which I I could tell you. I appreciated somebody, who's been the benefactor of a lot of that content, of a lot of that thought leadership in the past. Wanna encourage you guys to keep going and can't wait to see, how the show plays out. If you haven't signed up yet, highly recommend doing that. But David, working folks sign up, Thanks. Yeah. They can go to digital signage experience dot com. Well, David drain, we appreciate you coming on the show today, talking DSE, talking LDI, and some of the ways that our community continue to collaborate across all sorts of verticals, at DSE this year and can't wait to see the show and, best of luck to you. Thank you, Ben. Great speaking with you. And thank you all for tuning in. Be sure to like and subscribe and check us out next time on ProAV today.