Photo courtesy DSE
Following a trend from previous years, several high-profile Canadian digital signage projects are among the finalists that were announced in early January for the 2013 Digital Signage Expo (DSE) Apex and Content Awards.
The Apex Awards honour innovation in the development and deployment of technology for digital out-of-home (DOOH) applications in 10 major user-based categories. As such, the nominees are the end-use installation sites.
Toronto-based Westbury National Show Systems, for example, nominated the University of Waterloo’s (UW’s) campus in Stratford, Ont., after integrating a towering video wall of MicroTile displays manufactured by Christie Digital Systems in nearby Kitchener, Ont. The university is now one of three finalists in the education and health-care category.
Another university project, however, is a finalist the event venues category. Haivision, based in Saint-Laurent, Que., nominated the University of Oregon, where its encoders support displays throughout Matthew Knight Arena.
Meanwhile, Christie nominated its own headquarters’ west-wing lobby, where more MicroTiles have been installed (pictured). That project is a finalist in a category covering business, industry and government.
Montreal-based Arsenal Media saw three of its nominations named as finalists, including Tourisme Montérégie in Brossard, Que. (in the hospitality category), Dee Daa Restaurants in New York, N.Y. (food and beverage), and its own Arsenal Media Fountain of Content (business, industry and government).
Apex Award nominees are individually assessed and judged on the basis of innovation and originality by a panel of journalists who have reported on the digital signage sector over the years, including Richard Lebovitz, DSE’s editorial director.
The Content Awards, on the other hand, recognize originality in digital signage content, so the nominees are the developers of that content, whether advertising agencies, network operators or network owners. Examples among this year’s finalists include Montreal-based X2O Media, which created content for Cherokee Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa in Catoosa, Okla., and Toronto-based Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which produces its own MLSE Live programming for the Air Canada Centre (ACC).
Arsenal Media is a five-time finalist for this year’s Content Awards, acknowledging the content it created for the American Association of Museums’ (AAM’s) Discovery Wall, the Dee Daa digital signage network, Tourisme Montérégie’s Experiential Tower, Christie’s lobby and its own Fountain of Content.
Unlike the Apex Awards, the Content Awards nominees are assessed and judged by a panel of digital signage industry professionals. This year’s judges include Craig Huff, graphic design manager for Bell Canada at the Vancouver Convention Centre; Maria Kozlova, art director for mkgrafix.com; Nancy Hoffman, client relationship leader for Animation Dynamics; Florian Vollmer, principal and senior vice-president (SVP) of design for Info Retail; Daniel Wilkins, DOOH SVP for Wilkins Media; and Anne White, principal for Hypehouse.
The winners for both competitions will be announced during a special awards banquet on February 27 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nev., just as the 10th annual DSE opens at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
