Signs of the Times - October 2012 - (Page 85)

of cherry-laden cheesecake would suddenly appear. In Las Vegas, MGM, owns the Aria, Bellagio, Circus-Circus, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Mirage, Monte Carlo and New York-New York casino resorts. Each property has restaurants, casinos, entertainment and hotel facilities (see ST, August 2012, p.51). Their average customer stays 2.6 days. Originally, Randy said, flatscreen EDS had both a “wow” and expense factor, but now, he said, it’s easy to buy, justify and implement. In one venue, the digital changeover – printed signage to digital screens – saved MGM $178,000 the first year in print and labor costs. “I’ve got the spreadsheet to back that figure,” he said. Randy’s systems run on Macs. The primary display technology is through FourWinds Interacitve (Denver), in conjunction with NEC Corp. (Irving, TX). In some areas, MGM applies in-house-developed software. MGM’s management actively analyzes and applies data gained from the digital-technology feedback. For example, touch screens can provide analytical information by reporting on customer searches. Mobile technology will provide similar data. How important are the analytics? True story: A resort restaurant manager complained that his entryway-mounted, touchscreen menu wasn’t drawing customers. Randy’s staff pulled data from the device and analyzed it over a weekend. On Monday, they told the manager that 550 people had perused his touch screen, and the lack of interest was either because the menu wasn’t interesting, or the prices were too high. The restaurant screen soon displayed a new menu. ones and, for such minor-league systems, limit your rigging to one, multi-connect [1 x 4] splitter and three or four screens, to keep the image quality high.) Expect, however, to see a cloud-based system offered in the future, because it’s in high demand. LG’s engineers don’t sit on their hands. Other, higher-end EDS service providers are Scala® (Exton, PA), BrightSign (Los Gatos, CA) and FourWinds Interactive (Denver). Scala has teamed with Hewlett-Packard to create the HP SignagePlayer mp8000 system with Scala’s QuickStart™ software. The system comprises HP’s signage players preloaded with Scala’s online software that, the company says, offers easy entry into EDS. QuickStart is a web-hosted, simplified-GUI version of Scala’s Content Manager, a server-based application for multiple EDS system management. With QuickStart, you can distribute content to Scala-based players via standard, Windows-based networks. QuickStart provides a complete EDS platform for a monthly fee (your contract is with Scala). FourWinds, in conjunction with NEC, has multiple installations at the Las Vegas MGM resorts – the Mirage, Bellagio, Monte Carlo, New York-New York, Excalibur, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Circus-Circus, MGM Grand and the CityCenter’s Aria, Vdara and Crystals. FourWinds also supports the McCarran Airport EDS systems. BrightSign lists multiple systems, including Yankee Stadium, Ripley’s Believe It or Not centers, and the Abu Dhabi Cityscape event. n SIGNS OF THE TIMES / OCTOBER 2012 / www.signweb.com 85 http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - October 2012

Sign of theTimes - October 2012
ST Update
Technology Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Software Update
Technology Review
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
2012 Vehicle Graphics Contest
Entry-level Electronic Digital Signage
The Proposed ISA Reorganization Plan
Enter ST's 2013 Intl. Sign Contest
SGIA Expo 2012
The Value of Signs
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - October 2012