#SXSW2015 ‘Space as Theater: The Future of Digital Displays’
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
We are definitely voting for Phil Lenger, president of Show + Tell, New York, to be one of the speakers at #SXSW2015 this year – and you can can vote for him, too, here.
In fact, he’d appreciate it. Last year, there were 4,500 possible submissions, so the competition to be voted in as a speaker is strong. But with his suggested creative DOOH talk titled ‘Space as Theater: The Future of Digital Displays’, it would be great to get that topic in front of the discerning SXSW audience.
Certainly a person of such knowledge and talent as Lenger speaking on behalf of digital signage can ONLY benefit the industry.
You see, the panelists for this event are chosen by web voting, with public votes counting for 30%, while votes by the Advisory Board, a group of industry experts from around the world, count for 40%,and the votes of the SWSX staff count for 30%. The Staff votes are important because the experienced staff weighs in with feedback and works to fill any gaps in subject matter, and tries to strike a balance between new and veteran speakers.
On his topic of Space as Theater: The Future of Digital Displays, Lenger says that the practice of designing physical environments (architects, retail, interior) is becoming challenging. When walking into a new space, audiences, visitors, and communities are expecting more.
He says in his submission that the environmental design exercise is becoming more exciting and creative. New tools appear in the designers’ kit of parts. Reactive and interactive components create living spaces: ‘skinnable’ spaces or ‘dynamic environments’. These places are flexible and create infinite variations for the visitor. Interactive display technologies, in the discerning designer’s hands, will continue to transform experiences for the life of the media and owner.
Thinking about the environment’s theatrical facilities, ones that change and adapt with the ‘show’, helps designers create a new kind of sustainability and re-usability like never before. Treating visitors as an audience, and creating methods for changing the sets and shows, transforms the way designers deliver even more engaging dynamic environments.
He’d be answering questions on such topics as:
- Why is content still fundamental in the world of digital displays?
- Being relevant: What are the best ways to conceive and develop content for targeted, smaller audiences in specific environments?
- When to be interesting: Why should digital display experiences be compelling only SOME of the time?
- Supporting performances: How can digital displays most effectively support the environments around them?
- Space as Theatre: What are some traditional and dramatic storytelling techniques to employ with digital displays?
Launched in 2007, the PanelPicker is a two-step online process that allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming SXSWedu, SXSW Interactive, SXSW Film, SXSW Music and SXSW Eco conference activities (presentations, panels, discussions, demonstrations, etc.).
STEP 1 encourages the community to enter proposals for daytime conference programming for all four SXSW events.
STEP 2 allows the community to browse all of these ideas, leave comments, and vote for what they think are the best fit for the March event.
So we encourage votes for Lenger, but the panel picker website also lets you browse and see what other topics potential speakers are proposing.
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