Digital Signage

Summary of Discussion
We talked about finding the right balance between static signage and interactive signage.  People who had static signage described seeing people coming  up to screens and touching screens, anticipating that they would be touch screens.  People today expect signage to be interactive and fun.  People don't like not to have control over the screen and have to wait for a PowerPoint slide to come through.
A wide range of solutions that have been tried across campus.  Both homegrown solution (PowePoint + Mac-mini, TV+built-in HTML5 player) and enterprise (Cisco, Oalla.com, UCView) have been tested.  People talked of Visix but no department has tried it yet.  FourWinds used to be used in the GSB but it is no longer.
Use cases were dependent on the level of support that people had for the screen.  Different departments had content creators, designers, technology support, or no support.  The ideal solution would allow the system to leverage the resources each department had and fill in the gaps where the department didn't.
Use cases that were talked about included static signage, way-finding, Twitter, Instagram, menus, integration with SalesForce, use with iPads, AlertSU, and integration with Drupal.
After talking about the digital signage systems, we talked about how content on the screens should be managed.  With a University wide solution, departments still wanted control over what showed up on their screens.   There were many ideas about the different types of content sharing that would support the mission of the University.
Overall, the group was very optimistic about the future of digital signage in the University setting and there was great support for continued discussion and development.