Digital Signage Expo
April 30, 2012, 6:01 am EDT
By Charlotte Woolard
Producer/Owner: Exponation
What: Annual event serving the growing digital signage industry
Where: Las Vegas Convention Center
Date 2013: March 6-9
Date 2012: February 26-28
Floor space in 2012: 62,440 sq. ft.
Floor space in 2011: 60,260 sq. ft.
No. of attendees in 2012: 4,024
No. of attendees in 2011: 3,614
No. of exhibitors in 2012: 173
No. of exhibitors in 2011: 195
Producer comment: “The industry is made up of a lot of small companies,” Angelo Varrone, CEO of Exponation, said. “There has been a lot of turnover. The companies that take hold are growing, and they are growing their investment in our event.”
Exhibitor comment: “This year, we really had a lot of new prospects who came to see us,” said Ken Goldberg, president-CEO of software provider Real Digital Media. “We will probably get a bigger booth next year to handle larger groups of people. Booth design is becoming very important for us.”
Breakdown: The expo serves an emerging marketplace. Buyers and specialists are still carving out their roles, and educational sessions are in high demand. Organizers have expanded the attendee-marketing plan to reach 20 audience segments, including systems integrators, brand marketers and advertising agents. Investment in attendee marketing has expanded and is the event's largest expense, Varrone said. This year, the company expanded its email presence and launched a Googe AdWords campaign. Exhibitors increased their investment in the event, and the show floor grew by more than 11% despite a decline in the overall number of exhibiting companies—a drop that Varrone attributed to the shifting makeup of a maturing industry. The company debuted a pay-per-view webinar program, making educational sessions available online.