#BigPic16: Exhibition Hall Saw A Varied Group of Exhibitors
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
There was an interesting mix of exhibitors in the spacious room adjacent to the main ballroom where most of the speaking engagements wee taking place this week at the TAB/OAAA Convention and Expo in Boca Raton.
Unlike an expo like DSE, many of the exhibitors were as unfamiliar with DailyDOOH as we were with them, so it was good to meet them. Some handle ‘backend’ and such aspects as lighting, printing, and structures, but even some these are trying to break into the front side of the business. And green (as in environmental) was the operative word for many.
Of course, companies like Ayuda, Daktronics, Watchfire and LG-MRI are here, but it seemed to me that there were fewer exhibitors in total compared to last year’s event. On the other hand, the room in Boca Raton was considerably larger, so perhaps that was more illusion than reality.
I was rather fascinated by one of the smallest sized exhibitors: Jetstream Intelligent Energy Systems. Founded in 2012 by Steve Cornelius and located near Nashville, Tennessee, this company offers off-the-grid billboard power.
”It draws 80%-to-90% from solar and wind power for billboard systems,” I was told. “It can support the front and back of a 50’ x 18’ board, and can do up to 15 boards at a time. Our goal is clean power. You buy and then with the payback, there are no more costs for most of it.”
Another interesting company exhibiting was Apparatix, based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Founded 10 years ago by John James, it started off by developing software at the request of Next Media. While Next Media was eventually bought by Lamar Advertising, Apparatix kept going and growing and now claims about 1,000 users, some with as small as 30 ad faces and others, such as Signal Outdoor, with about 15,000.
Vertigo Digital Displays, a 10-year-old Toronto-based company founded by Ralph Idems, was showing off a ruggedized LCD digital display that’s ultra-bright and can be used outdoors in temperatures ranging from -10 to +50 centigrade. It can be single or double-sided, has a built-in cooling system and is easy-to-maintain.
Prismatronic, a LED digital display brand from Prismaflex International, was there. Prismaflex, with global manufacturing offices in Shenzhen and France, was founded 30 years ago but got into digital as a direct manufacturer about five years ago.
I met up with Volta, which is selling the advertising on the electric car changing stations that we saw at #dse2016 in association with Peerless AV. Volta had one of its charging stations on display.
Among numerous others I met were BBD Outdoor, a Monroe, New Jersey billboard manufacturer; DOmedia, which was launching its supply-side platform for Out-of-Home advertising; the earlier-mentioned Watchfire, Daktronics, and Ayuda; and Lightking Outdoor which was launching its new Air Series LED billboards with a patent-pending design and a 10-year brightness guarantee.
And we met with LG-MRI whose spokespeople told us that they are supplying 1,700 units for JCDecaux, – mainly for London’s Bus Shelters, Ed, as well as some destined for New York and for other major cities. In addition to that $40 million contract, the company is also doing bus shelters with Astral Outdoor, and another company, which we believe is Quebecor Media, for Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City. It is also ding work with the Oxford Properties malls in Canada.
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