2013 UBTech Convention presentation "How to Use Digital Signage for Increased Effectiveness in Higher Education" on June 12, 2013 in Orlando, FL

1. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY RELATIONS - WEB
Spencer W. Graham, II MBA DSCE
WVU Information Stations
Manager of Operations
West Virginia University
http://swgraham2.wordpress.com/category/digital-signage/http://swgraham2.wordpress.com/category/digital-signage/
Twitter @WVUSWG
DIGITAL SIGNAGE
NETWORK
How to Use Digital Signage for
Increased Effectiveness in Higher Education

2. How Serious Are You?
• Are we committed to a digital signage network?
(Administration & Budget)
• How many digital signs?
(1 building or campus-wide deployments)
• Do we want / need an Emergency Alert feature?
• How will we staff the network?
(Full-Time / Part-Time)

3. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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Administration Buy-In
Investment That Pays Dividends
• University Relations
• Television Productions
• Web Services
• Creative Services
• Photography
• News & Information
Services
• Visitors Center
• Senior Administration
• Budget & Bean Counters
• Office of Information
Technology
• Individual colleges within
the University
• Individual Departments
• Student Organizations

4. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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• The Wise Manager
herds chipmunks and
sells the concept to
many stakeholders.
Key Peeps You
Need

5. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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• The IT Ninja kills
network problems and
has a laser focus on
technology that makes
life easier.

6. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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• The Content Jedi
creates spinny / shiny
things that capture
attention of many
audiences.

7. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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• The Engineer Wizard
makes problems
disappear and assists
with development,
research and
maintenance.

8. Network Design & Deployment
• Emergency messages?
• How many digital signs?
• Where will they be strategically located
on your campus(es)?
• How do we measure our success?
• How much control do we want?
– Total control of content and
branding?
– Network control BUT client takes
ownership of their messaging?
– Will we create a revenue model?

9. Network Design & Deployment
Strategic Site Surveys
• Site survey is critical to success!
• Think about HOW the audience will
view your digital signage at the site.
• What size of digital sign will be ideal at
this site?
• What sort of mounting solution will we
use at this site?
• How far away is the data closet?
• How do we get network and power
drops behind the monitor?
• Who will perform the installation of
network, power and mounting?

10. Network Infrastructure
Software Decisions
• Software Type
• Stand-Alone
• On-Site Client/Server
• Cloud-Based SaaS (Software as a Service)
• Is it scalable?
• Is it proprietary?
• Licensing arrangement (Individual, Grouped, Site)
• Brand Awareness & Marketing
• Social Media support
• Twitter
• FourSquare
• Facebook
• LocaModa / Wiffiti
• Other

11. Network Infrastructure
Hardware Decisions
• Consumer grade vs. Commercial grade
– Warranties (90 days vs. 3-4 years)
– Duty Cycle (12 hours vs. 24 hours)
• Indoor or Outdoor deployment
– Climate Control
– Brightness
– Additional power
• Monitors
– Size
– Duty Cycle 24/7/365 ?
– PIN lockdown to prevent foolishness
• Mounting solutions
• Media Player vs. PC

12. Sticky Wickets
ROI vs. ROO
• (ROI Model) Temptation to off-set
network costs by selling advertising
– Revenue model is a challenge
– Selling real estate on each page
– Bugs, Logos, Sponsorships and Ads
– Sales Force + Sales Metrics = WORK
– Will sales force cover their own costs?
• (ROO Model) Brand Management /
Brand Loyalty
– Promoting YOUR brand above all others
– Institutional Value Creation
– YOU control every message w/o fear
(Tiger Woods, LiLo & Lance Armstrong)

13. Sticky Wickets
Busted & In The Dark
• Assume every “dark and busted”
monitor has a personal injury attorney
attached to it if you have an emergency
alert feature!
• Have a spare monitor and computer
• Does your content management
software let you see every computer on
your network and what it is playing?
• If it’s busted, fix it fast! Dark monitors
leave an impression that you don’t care
and clients get cranky quickly.
• 90 day warranty vs. 3-4 year warranty
• Mean Time To Failure ~5-7 years
• Go out an check monitors periodically

14. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY RELATIONS - WEB
Content is King!
• You know good content when you see it!
• Every page MUST be engaging to the eye!
• Does the message promote the brand?
• Is the client proud of the message?
• Is the page well designed?
• Is there a defined “Call to Action”?
• Is there motion on the page?

15. What makes a
good design?
You can’t stuff 4 gallons of
water into a 3 gallon
bucket! Just the facts.
What is the core message
for the page?
Does the visual
impression tell the story?
Is the page duration
adequate to transmit the
message to the audience?

16. Content Creation
& Design
• PC or Mac ?
• Many Apple devices do not support
Flash
• Flash being replaced by HTML5
• Will your content pages be flat or will
they be dynamic? (Photoshop / After
Effects)
• Will your content pages leverage the
power of videos?
• Do you have design staff to support
dynamic content and video on your
pages?
Don’t settle for anything
except First Rate Content
Creation & Design!
It is ALL about YOUR brand
and marketing your brand to
your target audiences!
You are developing Brand
Loyalty every day!
A picture is worth a
thousand words! Keep it
simple.

17. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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How Do I Get Content?
• It is probably all around you!
• Identify campus staff designers
• Video productions staff
• Web services staff
• Campus photographers
• Campus news department
• Campus calendars
• Individual colleges and
departments

18. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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How Do I Get Content?
• Athletics departments
• Campus radio station
• IT / Information Security group
• Student organizations
• Career Services department
• Sustainability groups
• Student Union
• Creative Arts departments
• Student Health department

19. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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How Do I Get Content?
• Journalism department
• Student newspaper
• Campus libraries
• Transportation department
• Campus police department
• Campus YouTube videos
• Student government groups
• Student Recreation Center
• Club sports / Intramural sports
• Research departments
• Civic engagement groups

20. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
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Content that Grabs the Eye!
• Understand the power or
limitations of your network
• Know what types of data your
software will support
• Know what your network can
handle regarding data
transfer speeds
• Emergency Alert?
• Keeping it FRESH
• Branding (Main / Sub)
• Current Weather
• Calendar events
• Flash Galleries
• Streaming video
• RSS Feeds
 Headlines
 Calendar of events
 Databases

21. Campus Daily Events Calendar
Pulls from the main campus calendar database
and uses a campus seasonal background video

22. Information Security Poster

23. Mountaineer Sports Network (MSN)
Short weekly sports highlight video
inset into the page.

24. Student Government 3 Week Voting for Poster Contest
Voting via cell phone texting. Voting database updated daily. High maintenance
but was a fun idea with a lot of student engagement.

25. LIVE Streaming Video
from the Swearing-In Ceremony
of President Barrack Obama

26. Current Weather Page
Tied to RSS feed. Uses a seasonal video background of iconic sites
on the WVU campuses. Updates every hour.

27. WVU Arts & Entertainment Poster
Event Posters rotate upward on right side panel from image database.
Upcoming events pull from database on the left side panel. Date, Time and
Temperature pulls from databases and computer.

28. WVU Health Sciences Center Poster
Well designed poster. Good balance of content design
and concise messaging.

29. WVU Libraries Page
The static background image is a desk blotter. Left side panel pulls from campus calendar and weather
data. Left side images are historical campus photos from a database and book page turns every 5
seconds with fresh image. Very popular page highlighting our campus heritage.

30. Wiffitti Social Media Page
Very popular during special events on our campuses and for “road shows” targeting social
engagement for prospective students in a recruiting venue. Text or email to the signage.
Human content moderation recommended.

31. WVU Summer Course Promotion
Well designed. Concise message. Obvious call to action. Drives the viewer to
a website for more information. Excellent imagery.

32. WVU Information Security Anti-Virus Promotion
Clean design. Easy to understand call to action. Drives viewer to a website for expanded
information. QR code is probably too small and would require a longer page duration for
someone to scan the QR code.

33. WVU Health Sciences Campus & Football Stadium Aerial Shots
Provides a sense of campus community. Doesn’t need to be heavily
branded and breaks-up the loop of information.

34. Seasonal Scenic Photographs
Provides a vision beyond the confines of your campus. Promotes scenic areas in
your state or region for exploration and tourism.

35. New Student Welcome
6,000 In-coming Freshmen at the WVU Coliseum.
Beginning of the Fall Semester. Mandatory attendance.
Opportunity to use social media prior to events.

36. Campus Iconic Images
The WVU President
Relationship Building
The Mountaineer
Brand Loyalty
It is ALL about a positive message and marketing for the future!

37. What gets your campus Jazzed ?
Sports The Arts Research Community Service Student Life

38. WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY RELATIONS - WEB
West Virginia UniversityWest Virginia University
Information Stations TeamInformation Stations Team
Spence Graham Steve Stavar Jen GillumSpence Graham Steve Stavar Jen Gillum
Thank You !Thank You !