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Improvements in the availability of broadband Internet connectivity and advances in voice and video communications technologies are leading savvy executives to utilize video and media services to reduce travel costs, stay connected to their increasingly remote workforces, and find new ways to engage customers and prospective clients.

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3 Must-Haves for a Great Video Conferencing, Streaming Media, Webcast Experience

Employees are increasingly bringing their own communicating devices. This way, personal notebooks, tablets and Smartphones are creeping into companies. Managing all these different tools is a problem. At meetings, multiple employees want to share their content from all these different types of peripheral equipment and… this creates quite a mess as well as a whole host of technical issues.

The Unified Meeting

High-Quality Connectivity at… the Right Price!It has become just as essential as having running water: Having an Internet connection at an event, a meeting or a convention.Let’s not forget a new fact: Each participant arrives with several mobile devices in their hands or pockets! The obvious assumption is that they must have Internet access.

How does it work? What is the nature of the relationship the user has with the device? Does he think it’s easy to use? Does he want to use it again?

The difficult quest for the good user experience

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Conferences, meetings and intelligent signposting!

A single site for all English and German language education. This year the IMEX-CIC Inspiration Centre – the main education theatre on the show floor – will provide a single site for all English and German language education, with the exception of daily German keynotes which will take place each morning in Hall 9.

IMEX 2014 stimulate new ideas

The connected store

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Companies Losing out on Opportunities for Bottom Line Results

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IMEX 2014 stimulate new ideas A single site for all English and German language education

This year the IMEX-CIC Inspira-tion Centre – the main educa-tion theatre on the show floor

– will provide a single site for all English and Ger-man language ed-ucation, with the exception of daily German keynotes which will take place each morn-ing in Hall 9. The Inspiration Cen-tre will also house a new Creativity Zone, Hot Topic Tables with moderated peer-to-peer conversations, plus a new Meet the Expert Clinic. As in previous years, the Centre will also be home to all IMEX 45-minute campfires, one hour seminars and the Research Pod.

Technology

New to IMEX Frankfurt is the Tech Hub which provides a quick and easy techno-update and a look at the lat-est and most innovative technolo-gy solutions for the industry. Lead-ing event technology experts, will

present interactive sessions featur-ing guides to event technology inte-gration, social media strategies, best

practice in hybrid events and much more.The Tech Hub will also feature excit-ing new products that will be in use during the semi-nars taking place h e r e , every day at the show.A brand

new App is set to be launched at IMEX in Frank-furt enabling users to log in and view personalised in-formation including their di-ary and appointments.

IMEX in Frankfurt – New angle on preshow customer service

A new pre-show concierge service to help first-time hosted buyers get the most from their attendance at IMEX

in Frankfurt is being launched later this month.

The service is one of several new ideas being introduced by the IMEX Group to increase business and net-working value for buyers attending the trade show. Each new buyer will receive a telephone call from the IMEX concierge team giving them the opportunity to ask questions re-lating to travel, appointments with

exhibitors, the edu-cation programme or other subjects.

Says IMEX Group CEO, Carina Bau-er: “This new serv-ice typifies our market approach and our company

values: high standards of customer service and a desire to ensure that both buyers and exhibitors receive excellent ‘return on attendance’. This service complements the live webi-nars we already offer to exhibitors which, in turn, help them maximise their business return from the show.”Registration is now open. http://por-tal.imex-frankfurt.com/register.php

Carina Bauer: CEO IMEX Group

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Hotels must sow to reap a better harvest Due to the heightened competition in the hotel business, hotels are looking for ways to improve their services. They

are targeting a host of user types, such as women, businessmen and senior citizens - in short, they are trying to

accommodate different lifestyles.

The idea is to create a strong brand identity, promote cus-tomer loyalty, adopt a respon-

sible approach to the environment, focus on treatments and wellness, and integrate the latest technolo-gies.

Reinventing the traveler’s experience

The aim is to reinvent the traveler’s experience, beginning with his arriv-al and including the services offered in his room and during conferences or events. For example, very soon, on arrival at Fairmont hotels, drivers of elec-tric vehicles will find places in are-as equipped with charging stations, in both the US and Canada or at oth-er international destinations. This is already the case for electric or hy-brid vehicles at the Fairmont Châ-teau Frontenac in Quebec City. It’s a strong hotel policy that is based on a future change in attitudes, for, in reply to the question «Does it make any difference to you if a hotel invests in efforts to protect the environment? «, only 24% of customers say that they look for establishments to stay at that invest in environ-mental protection. At the same time, 37% are not concerned about this, but expect that envi-ronmental programs be in place at the hotels where they stay. On the other hand, 39% are more focused on the price of the rooms.

Free dry-cleaning of 5 items of clothing in one hour!

A service greatly appreciated by businessmen and based on their newly acquired habits has been set up at Langham Place on 5th Ave-nue in New York. In the past, busi-nessmen often arrived on the eve of an important conference, which gave them the opportunity to pre-pare themselves properly. Today, many of them arrive «just in time», that is, a few hours before the be-ginning of the meeting. On their ar-rival, the hotel offers them the free dry-cleaning of five items of clothing, with the assurance that they can re-cover them within the following hour. This service is particularly appreciat-ed by women, for whom the Julien Farel Express Salon has also been set up – a beauty business that of-fers manicuring and pedicuring serv-ices, as well as hairdressing servic-es, during the hour of waiting. For

its part, the Marlowe hotel in Cam-bridge, Mass. offers its guests the free use of bicycles - a service that is very popular even with people who do not use it (knowing that the hotel offers the service seems to be a sat-isfaction in itself).

A complete multimedia experience

And then there is technology. Here you need to pay close attention, be-cause this is not small beans… In re-ply to the question «Would you stay in a hotel that doesn’t offer free Wi-Fi «, 57% of those interviewed say «No way»; 26% would stop there IF it is their company that pays for the Internet connection, and only 17% say «Yes». Travelers use Internet access for emails first of all and then to read the news on their computers or tablets. The Ocean House in Rhode Is-

land provides an iPad in each room, which, among other things, has complete and free access to the Wall Street Journal and other news sites. Customers preferring a print version are provided with one, of course. Offering free Internet access can en-tail bandwidth management prob-lems. To prevent a handful of in-tensive users from penalizing other customers by slowing Internet ac-cess through the downloading of large volumes of data, the Hawks Cay Resort & Villas in Florida is thinking of setting up a system that offers a certain quantity of data free of charge and that, if this quantity is exceeded, passes to «premium use», for which a fee is charged, In conference rooms, the aim will be to create a complete multime-dia experience. At Morgans Hotel, for example, a conference room de-signed for 20 persons is equipped with an 85-inch screen and pos-sesses high-quality audiovisual equipment. This room has a 75% occupancy rate and the return on investment is high.

Wellness offered in

countless variations

Long gone are the days of the expen-sive and snobbish minibar. Today, ho-teliers are rethinking the minibar fa-cilities entirely! Hyatt Andaz hotels offer snacks and alcohol-free drinks free of charge, and the Peabody Or-lando stocks the minibar with….what-ever the customers want: these lat-ter can pre-order the contents before they arrive, just like they can place an

order at any time during their stay. There are even custom-ized «packages», like «Tiny Bubbles», which combines champagne, Brie cheese and crackers for celebrating, with colleagues or customers, the conclusion of an important agreement. To help visitors stay fit, sports rooms are springing up every-where in hotels. But business women traveling alone some-times hesitate to visit, early in

the morning or late in the evening, an almost deserted room. The James New York offers them, twice a week, a yoga program for women only. At Omni Hotels & Resorts the custom-ers can request weight-lifting equip-ment, a carpet for yoga or stretching exercises and other sports equip-ment during their arrival at the ho-tel. Tom Santora, marketing officer at Omni, explains: «We think that cer-tain people prefer to stay in their room and do exercises». He estimates that 8% of customers avail themselves of this type of service («fitness kits») - mainly persons between 35 and 55 years of age and female customers. This gives an idea of the number of kits that the hotel has in its posses-sion. But wellness goes beyond simple physical exercises. Hotels have un-derstood this very well and offer packages that include massages, body care and suitable foods. Aro-matherapy is also used and the pro-grams are extremely varied. Another trend, already observed in upscale catering, is the linking of ho-

tels with adjoining farms. The products pass directly from the fields to the table (or from the henhouse to the table), which ensures that meals are excep-tionally fresh.

«Satisfying customers in a way that exceeds their expectations»

As can be seen, the customizing of offers to accommodate a specific cli-entele opens up new horizons, and hotels will be able to easily create a brand identity and achieve a strong differentiation. This expansion of the offered services is also going to at-tract new travelers. In any event, ho-tels will have to invest in order to offer them. As Mike DeFrino from Kimpton hotels says, «The customers do not expect these services - their reaction is one of very pleasant surprise when they learn about them». He contin-ues: «We’ll keep on trying to find new ways of communicating with our cus-tomers and satisfy them in a way that exceeds their expectations».

Charging Station Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth Montréal

In room iPad Ocean House

Keizershoevestraat, 262610 Wilrijk - BelgiumTel: +32 478 948951Fax: +32 3 2397516Email: jp.thys@cbsmedia.bizWebsite: www.cbsmedia.biz

Publication ManagerJean-Pierre Thys

EditorJean-Claude Lesuisse

TranslationBabel Ophoff Vertalingen

PrintingLowyck

PublisherJean-Pierre ThysKeizershoevestraat, 262610 Wilrijk - Belgium

Communications Business Solutions is published5 times a year. Online registration forms on ourwebsite will be considered for a regular free copy.Subscription Print: 55 € (Belgium) – 60 €(Europe), 85 € (other continents).

All reproduction rights reserved for all countries. Re-productionof the texts (even partial) is prohibitedwithout permission of the publisher.

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STEM Association’s move to create specialists

The international association representing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics cities with a STEM agenda (STEM States Incorporated), has an-nounced today that it has contracted the Global Indus-try Development Network to assist in the establishment and training of a Meetings Industry International Task-force for STEM Conferences. The taskforce will include up to a dozen international as-sociations as well as meetings industry suppliers, and will work on providing specialist STEM industry knowl-edge and skills to suppliers interested in hosting or managing conferences in the fields of science, technol-ogy, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “This is a great initiative which will mean we are clear on who the world’s leading suppliers are for STEM con-ferences and meetings” says Professor Dr Nader Bar-soum, President of the Asia Pacific Society for Hybrid Technologies and Energy and one of the organisations backing this specialist training of meeting industry suppliers.

The reason behind the taskforce was explained.

“The information age has led to some remarkable changes and this has meant that governments, asso-ciations and companies have the opportunity to bet-ter use conferences as a catalyst for growth. Howev-er, there is a divide between what we are really trying to achieve through our conferences; what suppliers fre-quently offer; and equally about what associations think are available to us as meeting organisers. We see that it would be advantageous to all associations in the fields of STEM to have specialised suppliers available to them who actually know where we are heading and what we actually need” says David Goncalves, President of STEM States Incorporated. “Just take one of our big picture goals. Imagine the role of a teach-er changing over the coming dec-ade, from that of an information pro-vider to more a co-ordinator role as students sit behind ipads and tablets and work through units at their own pace, with the teacher download-ing update reports and assigning students into work groups on a dai-ly basis, based on the students ac-tual needs”. Governments around the world are starting to move down the path of implementing tablets in classrooms right now, and there are a range of ways this agenda can be progressed or developed through conferences. The technology is available right now and with the right pitch Governments and industry would fund these tech-nologies at conferences. The prob-lem is that there is a miss match between how the meet-ings industry sells these services and what associations or corporate meeting organisers know is available and how they can be funded. So our goal is clear. We aim to spend 12 months train-ing up meeting industry suppliers on the needs of the STEM conference sector; how to inform and to upsell correctly to them; and how and where they can obtain the funds to use these products in their conference. The aim is to have a specialist suppliers list which can be circulated amongst international associations and

organisations listing who can not only help them to or-ganise their conference or meeting, but can really help them make the meeting something which achieves their development goals. “Conferences are more than just meetings” says Scott Campbell, Executive Director of the Global Industry De-velopment Network, “Conferences are powerful tools for economic and social development. As an industry, we need to be offering the services and skills that en-

able meeting and con-ference organisers to achieve the real out-comes they are looking for, not just limit these based on what products and services they think are available and they can afford”. “It does come down to financials” continues Campbell, “most asso-ciations look at these new technologies and believe they can’t afford them, but the reality is that many of these tools are perfectly aligned with the State’s or in-dustries direction, and they would get behind their funding and use if

only they knew about them and what the flow on bene-fits of using them actually would be”. “As such, we plan to work with industry to assist them to get in the door of associations and to showcase not what the product does, but rather what the product could do to support in the bigger picture of growing the industry”. The project team is calling on suppliers such as con-vention bureaus, convention centres and venues, ho-tels, professional conference organisers, destination management companies, and technology suppliers to

contact us if they would like to start now on positioning themselves as specialists in STEM conferences. Participants accepted into the taskforce will be asked to attend a monthly 1 hour video call and training, and participate in an annual 2 day training conference host-ed as part of the STEMfest event. After 12 months the organisation will be certified and included on the STEM Sector Specialist Suppliers List. In addition, the project will have financial benefits, with all participants be-ing given access to the GNR8 business matching app where they can download new business leads over the 12 months and put their new network and skills to work on business development. STEM States incorporated is investing USD$212,000 into the project. Each meeting industry participant will be asked to contribute USD$180 per month to cover their 12 months of training, conference registration and new business leads. Meetings industry suppliers can contact us for more in-formation or to register to participate in the taskforce at info@globalidn.comAbout Global Industry Development Network Pty Ltd The Global Industry Development Network (GIDN) are business development consultants who provide sup-port with bids, tenders, grants and sponsorships. GIDN have team members in 16 countries who provide in-market support to our convention bureaux, professional conference organisers and convention centres. GIDN is a member of the International Convention and Congress Association (ICCA) and provides support services to ICCA members, destination marketing or-ganisations, and venues with their business develop-ment activities within the association market. For more information on Global Industry Development Network please visit www.globalidn.com For Further Media Information Contact : Please contact James Jackman, Media Liaison, Global Industry Development Network at jjackman@globalidn.com or on + 1 212 653 0671 Images attached: David Goncalves (left) from STEM States Inc and Scott Campbell (right) from Global Industry Developm

International STEM Association’s move to create specialists to run conferences with real

outcomes!

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High-Quality Connectivity at… the Right Price!It has become just as essential as having running water: Having an Internet connection at an event, a meeting

or a convention.

Let’s not forget a new fact: Each par-ticipant arrives with several mobile devices in their hands or pockets!

The obvious assumption is that they must have Internet access.

Evaluating consumption

Many personal mobile devices did not exist three years ago! Moreover, meet-ings are becoming increas-ingly dependent on technolo-gy, with presentations relying on streaming video, placing even greater demands on the existing Internet infrastructure. In this context, one can leave nothing to chance anymore; one has to plan, in advance, Internet access in the same way as one does the transport of the participants or their ac-commodation. To ignore this need is to risk having a disas-ter on one’s hands or, at the very least, a very unpleasant «experience» of the event in the minds of participants and organis-ers alike.Now, it is important to realise that while planners, site managers and all kinds of

technicians share responsibility for pro-viding the necessary Wi-Fi capacity, many of them are not prepared to start discussions about the necessary band-width requirements.It was not so long ago that the screen-ing question of organisers was limited to, «do your systems have ‘wireless’ capability?».

14 million for 13 hotels!

The solution, according to Ste-ve Enselein, Vice-President of Catering and Convention Services at Hyatt Hotels USA, is to «coor-dinate with the technological part-ners on site and with the audio-visual companies working in our hotels». «These people are very well informed about the Internet connectivity needs and they can help organisers ask the right ques-tions as to their bandwidth needs».

Organisers will have to estimate the level of use of the participants and of the pres-entations, as well as the number of devic-es they are likely to carry.In any event, meeting the Internet needs of large groups is expensive, but, as

with everything, quality comes at a price. And there is also a mentality that needs to change: Organisers always feel they should benefit from free Internet access, but given their bandwidth needs, that posi-tion is simply untenable.To make it more concrete, it should be not-ed that MGM recently spent 14 million dol-lars on its 13 Las Vegas hotels. Mike Dom-inquez, Vice-President of Sales for MGM Resorts International believes that «the rates should reflect the expenditure in or-der to have a return on investment».«The expansion of bandwidth is expensive and, since the improvements are invisible, some people hope this will be free».

Conferences, meetings and intelligent signposting!

The company’s brand image is also at stake and it must be associated intimate-ly with the signposting that will have to be

put in place.

Coherence makes for the «good form»

Most importantly of all, the said signposting must be coherent. It must be recognisable at a glance. The company’s logo and the colours used must be rep-licated from sign to sign and thus become a «good form» that will be spotted quickly: as soon as the eye «knows» what it must recognise, it finds it much more easily. Of course, the relevant locations must also be deter-mined. To do this, visit the site beforehand and walk around like the average visitor. Where is the obvious place for a sign? Where are most people likely to lose

their way? Use a floor plan to plan the signposting in the light of your observations and add (open your eyes and observe!) the flow of people to it. Continue your visit and make your way to the room where the discussions will take place. It will be nec-essary to provide a new sign at every turn and at

stairs that are climbed or descended, and, of course, a large poster must be placed at the main entrance of the room.

Give special thought to first impressions!

If, in terms of staff availability, the event permits it, add «human signposts» next to signs indicating the way. A member of staff wearing the T-shirt and badge of the event……that always makes a big splash! The person will be liberated from this role a few minutes

after the event has begun and will then be able to en-gage in other activities. The check-in area must be given special attention be-cause this is what the attendees are going to encoun-ter first and it will therefore make a good or bad im-pression. This first impression, although not indelible, is going to have a marked effect on visitors. If check-in is carried out at different desks you should there-fore make sure that the directions are readable and clear: “names starting with letters A to C” for check-ins based on the first letters of names, and, if present, «VIP» or «press» lines clearly indicated. There is nothing worse than having to queue up and then be-ing forced to do it again in another line!Personalise the room in your own way, but never for-get to indicate the way to the toilets. There is nothing worse than crossing a room and then having to cross it again in the other direction!

Organising conferences or meetings is not an easy business. Everything must be considered and this goes

well beyond food and drink planning or designing the overall timetable.

Business Meeting Hyatt Hotels

Steve Enselein

7

Team Building: Companies Losing out on Opportunities for Bottom Line Results

“Team Building”. These 2 words have come to mean different things to different people.

At one time, team building was unders-tood as the on-going process through which teams deve-

loped into cohesive, highly functioning units working to-gether to help organizations achieve their objectives.

A simple search for the term on Twitter or Google will reveal a disturbing trend that has wa-tered down “team building” to refer to any activity in which a team participates whether its paintball, bungee jumping or going for drinks after work.

The reason for this shift has come from 2 sources. Companies find it easier to release

funds for recreational activities if they lump them into the team building bud-gets. Suppliers of recreational activities discovered that, by marketing their pro-grammes as “team building”, they could attract more corporate clients. In doing this companies and suppliers seemed to be unaware of the fact that they have been killing the goose that laid the gol-den egg. The stage was set for team building to be perceived as a discretionary activity that can be eliminated with minimal im-pact whenever the economy dips.

Do social and recreational events have a place on the corporate agenda? For sure they do. In fact, they are an impor-tant barometer of organizational health. No one wants to work for a company at which co-workers can’t stand each other. An environment in which no one laughs, smiles or has fun is a sign of corporate ill-health but fun and games and cor-porate play days don’t boost the bot-tom line. The amount of “fun” the group should never be the litmus test to deter-mine if team building is effective.Corporations are not recreation centres or

country clubs created for the purpose of entertaining employees.

They are intended to ge-nerate a profit and improve shareholder value. If team building is to re-gain the respect that it has lost, it must be firmly grounded in that reality.

An organization’s mis-sion, strategy and goals should shape the objec-tives of team building. Once these objectives have been set, the next steps are to:

determine the phase of team develop-ment identify any gaps in team perfor-mance and as-sess the learning styles of team members

This should drive the content and approach to team building. At times, the fun factor will be an impor-tant ingredient of team building. If the team is ex-periencing a lot of conflict or bog-

ged down in misunderstandings, it will be important to address the concerns of

team members directly. In fact, trying to engage a team in recreational activities prematurely after lay-offs, a dramtic turn for the worse, or other corporate trauma is likely to backfire.

Expertly facilitated team building with tangible benefits in terms of R.O.I. is one of the most powerful tools available for executives to unify a team and get all team members to pull in the same. Team building benefits can include:problem-solvingresolving conflictbreaking down silosreducing costly red tapeboosting the effectiveness of cross-functional teamworkgenerate solutions for business chal-lenges through brainstorming

As long as companies continue to subs-titute corporate paly days for “real” team building, thee benefits will never be realized and we will continue to see team building placed on the corporate backburner.

Anne Thornley-Brown, M.B.A. is the foun-der and President of Toronto-based Exe-cutive Oasis International. Their expert team building facilitators travel throughout Canada, the USA, Dubai, Oman, Singa-pore, Malaysia, Europe, and the Carib-bean to help companies achieve bottom line results through facilitated team buil-ding.

Team Building Facilitators http://www.executiveoasis.com/team-buildling.html

Anne Thornley-Brown

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The Business Breakthrough (BB) Event is more than just a conference ...The Business Breakthrough (BB) Event in London and Paris is more than just a conference ...

Business Breakthrough Event to Highlight Impact of Unified Communications on En-terprise FutureConference to focus on new solutions that can drive growth in revenues and profita-bility

Imago Group Plc, “Europe’s largest dis-tributor of video communications” and Wainhouse Research, the leading market research firm focused on business com-munications applications, have teamed up to host the Business Breakthrough Confe-rence & Exhibition to be held May 29 in London and June3 in Paris.

This event will help business leaders and senior executive understand how they can benefit from technology and cultural shifts that are changing the competitive lands-cape and profitability potential for all.

Business leaders in attendance will learn what Microsoft Lync and other unified communications solutions can and can-not do for global enterprises, how mobile applications can help businesses improve workflow as well as customer satisfaction, how to evaluate cloud services that may be in their future, and how new techno-logies can enable new services and drive

business growth. One of the many topics on the agenda of concern to today’s business leaders is the changing work environment as digital-sa-vvy millennials enter the enterprise. At-tendees will hear from a Wainhouse Re-search analyst on recent research results detailing the nature of workplace cultural changes now taking place and how en-terprise planners can prepare for these changes while enhancing productivity, employee retention, and decision making speed.

Channel partners will have an opportuni-ty to meet with leading vendors, indepen-dent analysts and consultants, and end users in the audience to explore new so-lutions and new relationships.

On display in the exhibition area will be the latest solutions for video conferen-cing, unified communications, meeting room designs, digital media, and integra-ted automation and control systems.

Further information regarding the agenda, sponsors, and registration is available at

London event (29 May 2014)Paris event (3 June 2014)

About Imago Group PLc

From its beginnings in 1991, Imago Group has specialised in supplying video communications products and services as a trade-only distributor, and this has today resulted in the company becoming Europe’s largest video solutions compa-ny, supplying video and audio conferen-cing, video streaming and Internet TV as well as HD cameras, interactive white-boards, LCD displays and video projec-tors.

Imago has been operating successfully in the French market since 2003, and has since established subsidiaries in Belgium, Holland, China, South Africa and Spain, and as a result of the growth in its over-seas sales featured in The Sunday Times International Track 200 - a listing of the UK’s fastest-growing international compa-nies - in 2012.

See more at: www.imagogroupplc.com

About Wainhouse Research LLC

Wainhouse Research, based near Bos-ton, MA, provides insight and intelli-gence into the global markets for audio, video, and web conferencing, real-time unified communications, and enterprise streaming and webcasting. The compa-

ny publishes market studies and provides strategic consulting to both industry ven-dors and end user organizations. Wain-house Research conferences in the US and Europe provide a forum for the indus-

try and its customers to discuss critical is-sues for industry growth. For more infor-mation please visit www.wainhouse.com.

Andrew.W. Davis Senior Partner Wainhouse Research

Ian VickerageManaging Director Imago Group plc

The Brewery 52 Chiswell Street

City of London, EC1Y 4SD

CAP 15 1/13 Quai de Grenelle

75015 Paris

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10

Communicating Spaces that Create EfficiencyThough businesses recognise that working in groups and meetings are essential to success, they are still finding it difficult

to offer effective communication spaces.

Historically, meetings were scheduled in a formal manner (in such place, at such time and with such participants).

So de facto, businesses created formal meet-ing rooms designed to facilitate the work of large groups as well as decision-making.

Moving from personal to collective

But two basic elements have changed,

both for the employees and for the busi-nesses. For the former, collaboration must be associated with social ties and person-al commitment. As for the latter, they re-quire operational excellence and search for innovation to succeed.Operational excellence is tied to the ef-ficiency of the processes, including the speed of collective decision-making. Inno-vation, for its part, feeds on informal, so-cial and creative interactions. This situation has created new demand for a greater variety of collaborative work spaces.In other words, the workplace is increas-ingly changing, moving from a “personal” environment to a «collective» one, from «me» to «we».But there is many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip; it is not always easy to get what one aspires…

Promoting innovation and decision-making

Some companies have begun to literal-ly copy the concept of successful public spaces (pubs, bars, marketplaces, exhibi-tions), hoping, mistakenly, that the varie-ty of social interactions taking place there will reflect in a workable setting for the business.They are also keen to promote innovation; but they can only go so far in encouraging interactions and… waiting for the «mag-ic to happen». This way, many business-es have come to realise that their working

group spaces are less effective, but they don’t know how to remedy that. In an effort to answer these questions, Ratekin Consulting, which specialises in research on work environments, collect-ed information on collaboration environ-ments around the world using electronic surveys and talks. The participating busi-nesses were chosen according to their leadership in the creation of effective col-

laborative spaces. In light of the foregoing, it is not surprising to note that is to pro-mote innovation and to increase the speed of decision-making that the businesses are working to change their organisation of collaboration.

Continuously evolving!

The third reason is that the em-ployees can support the busi-ness, by allowing for the pool-ing of the expertise of individuals and the creation of teams which are adequate to obtain tangible results within the shortest possi-ble time frame.Indeed, a very wide range of lay-out options is used for working in groups. The study counted some 32 different workspaces, with the

majority of participants using at least sev-en types of configurations. It is the lack of adequate places to accommo-date the most extensive col-laborations which is the main concern, along with the lack of adequate technological equip-ment.Another lesson: The collab-orative spaces continue to evolve. The most «evolving» category is that of the func-tions of brainstorming, of «in-stant» meetings, videoconfer-encing and the work of project teams.A warning also: In the future, the majority of the collabora-tive spaces will need to offer technological characteristics that facilitate communications, that enable people to share visual information, as well as offering stewardship support facilitating intellectual work (food, drinks, light of day).

Good technology and the right dimensions

Having the right technology is essential for a collaboration space. It involves technology to allow for the recharging of the devices and for them to be connected via WiFi. Also re-quired are interactive white-

boards on which to use and to project the images from tablet PCs, smartphones and notebooks. But all of this technology must be sound and, above all, easy to use. For example, when switched on, it must not hamper the establishment of spontaneous meetings or interactions. Additionally, the spaces must offer the level of comfort and privacy necessary to engage in sensible talks. They must be easily accessible to avoid people be-

ing discouraged from holding spontane-ous meetings due to the wasted amount of transport time.

The size of the spaces must be adapted to the number of participants. For exam-ple, having a small group of people meet in a large room leaves a very unpleasant impression.

Room&Technologies Medialine

“Put an end to necks craning to see a presentation at the other end of the room. No more communication interrup-tions while checking one’s monitor on or in the tabletop.

The overhead projector module projects presentations, con-trol interface or blueprints onto the table’s surface. An invisi-ble senor layer inside the table top allows to control room and media devices. Touch panel and wiring is a thing of the past.

Leading principle of this system is to place the main part of every conference – the participants – into the center. Pres-entations, draft and graphs should only underline strate-gies and not be the dominating part of conference.

It offers a wide range of possible application”

Digitech GmbH - Room&Technologies MedialineE-mail: info@room-and-technologies.com

Website: www.room-and-technologies.com

Room&Technologies Medialine

Room&Technologies Medialine

11

Animating a Training SessionWhiteboard animations consist of animated images which, in a training context, illustrate an idea or a concept

through a series of drawings which give the impression of having been created live.

As they are short and have sound, they fit very well with the needs of the peo-ple in training and constitute a very ef-

fective tool in technology-assisted learning.

Miracle Solution

It should be noted that in view of the con-tinuous advancement of technology, e-learning developers have to constantly ad-just their products to make them available through a wide range of different devices: laptops, mobile phones, tablet PCs and oth-er smartphones. The fact that these devices can connect to the inter-net opens the way to the display of rich multime-dia content that will have a significant impact on the people undergoing training.Of course, creating from scratch true profession-al, personalised videos in a particular field is akin to buying powerful tools which imme-diately draw attention. The downside? They are not easy to create.Among other things, one has to have good actors, control lighting and sound, and take

into account numerous factors during the shoot before starting post production (edit-ing) and dubbing. That is why whiteboard animations, based on drawings, offer a miracle solution of sorts – much easier to pull off.

Tips and Tricks

There are some very useful tips you can fol-low. Here are a few…You have to have a solid script. Clearly de-fine the learning you have in mind and then

turn it into short, brief and strik-ing wording. The script also has to state the length of the programme and determine the points of transi-tion between images.The duration of the animations should be short: between sixty seconds and five minutes per an-imation, and the flow should be smooth, not jerky.Naturally, the visual aspect is the

backbone of whiteboard animations! Creat-ing eloquent patterns and images can take time, but it is an investment that will bear fruit. You should also consider the socio-cul-tural characteristics of your surroundings. Therefore, you should avoid making ‘private

jokes’ that can only be understood within a restricted cultural framework.Above all, don’t forget to add music and sound effects! These are powerful tools which maximize the effect and add to the re-alism of the script. For instance, if you see a door opening (even in a video sequence), the effect will be increased tenfold if the images are accompanied by a squeaking sound.Once the drawings are created, it is very easy, using appropriate software, to record all the animations and make them appear at the desired time, just as if you were drawing them in real time! Subsequently, you can put them on the internet and make them availa-ble to everyone.

The Unified MeetingEmployees are increasingly bringing their own communicating devices. This way, personal notebooks,

tablets and Smartphones are creeping into companies.

Managing all these different tools is a problem. At meetings, multiple em-ployees want to share their content

from all these different types of peripheral equipment and… this creates quite a mess as well as a whole host of technical issues.

Nothing short of true magic

wePresent has come up with a solution that is nothing short of true magic: they have suc-ceeded in integrating all these different tools into a single, fully operational and wireless unit.Let’s take the wePresent-1500 for example.It is an extraordinary presenta-tion tool! It enables groups of up to 64 users to display information from their computers (Mac or PC), Smartphones or tablets using Wi-Fi or a wired connection.The wePresent can be hooked up to any VGA or HDMI (1080p) moni-tor. The wePresent software allows for the simultaneous display, side by side, of content broadcast by 4 users.The moderator can manage the various participants and decide who gets to broadcast content when.

iOS and Android Smartphones and tablets can be used to control and project the con-tent from Mac computers or PCs.

Much like «plug and show»!

Moreover, a «sender for galaxy» applica-tion allows for a mirror image of a Smart-phone screen to be displayed on the projec-tion screens.The device smoothly projects PowerPoint, Excel, Word presentations as well as oth-er visual content from tablets and Smart-phones. The participants can get views of the presentation on their browser, on their own

Wi-Fi device, and record them.(Important) icing on the cake: An interac-tive white screen connects easily to the sys-tem -- still wireless. Additionally, it is possi-

ble to create a “virtual» whiteboard on the monitor, and to then write, draw and annotate using an «air-pad» (a portable tablet specially designed for that purpose by weP-resent). The advantage of using this type of solution speaks for it-self. But it is even more interest-ing as the hazards associated with start-up and functioning are re-duced to an acceptable minimum. Indeed, the start-up is much like «plug and show»! No hassles!

wePresentInternet: www.wepresent1000.com

SMART Technologies

SMART Technologies

12

The Microsoft Lync Ecosystem ExpandsBy Alan D. Greenberg, Senior Analyst & Partner, Wainhouse Research agreenberg@wainhouse.com

In late February Microsoft held its 2014 Microsoft Lync Conference and – in attendance – were more than 1,600

members of the Lync / Skype ecosys-tem. Anyone interested in the future of unified commu-nications (UC), telecommuni-cations, collaboration, video conferencing, web conferen-cing, and the like should be paying attention, as Microsoft has picked up momentum in the past few years and is now a force in the enterprise (large or small) when it comes to UC.

Whether organizations are going with premise-based Lync servers or Microsoft’s cloud-based offerings, Micro-soft is reporting significant market gains.

Here are a few details offered by the company:

1/3 of all global long distance takes place over Skype130 million out of 300 million Skype us-ers are on Android and iOS devices60% of all LARGE enterprises are de-ploying LyncThe Collaboration division is now ex-ceeding $1 billion in revenue, with 38 quarters of double digit revenue growth

We cannot verify some of these claims, but they point to the force that Microsoft has become in the overall marketplace. Gurdeep Singh Pall took the stage af-ter a two-year leave of absence from the collaboration group (focusing on artifi-cial intelligence for Microsoft) and light-ly touched on his new role as Corporate Vice President for Skype and Lync. As GM some years ago he helped develop the strategy that led to the formation of

the Real-Time Collaboration division and the acquisition of PlaceWare, and he oversaw the launch of Live Communica-tions Server in 2003, Office Communica-

tions Server in 2007, and Lync Server in 2010. Derek Burney, Corporate VP for Mi-crosoft Lync & Skype Strategic Relations and Solutions with-in Microsoft’s Appli-cations and Servic-es group, conducted most of the keynote demo, which includ-ed various demon-strations of Lync to Skype video, a swipe at traditional video conferencing room systems (com-plete with a call to a cobweb-encrust-ed TANDBERG sys-

tem) – well, you get the picture. There was a fair amount of jockeying taking place against the “vendor who shall not be named” – namely, Cisco.

Specific announcements to note: 1) Lync-to-Sky-pe video (last year Bur-ney demonstrated audio and Instant Messaging – this year video is the next frontier in terms of bringing these two sep-arate capabilities togeth-er); 2) new Lync support for Android tablets, which will be available sum-mer 2014; 3) Lync serv-er video interop with leg-acy “TANDBERG” units; and 4) browser extensi-bility with integrated Lync voice and video content through a jLink API. All of these are promised to be in customers’ hands by the end of 2014. Also announced: the ability to make and receive standard plain-old-telepho-ny-service (POTS) / public switched te-lephony network (PSTN) audio calls from Lync Online and enhancements to large meetings in Lync Online.Microsoft has a vibrant ecosystem, and a number of vendors and service provid-ers showed a variety of peripherals like handsets and headsets, as well as Lync Room Systems, contact center solutions, and even persistent IM integrated with Lync. Here are a few members of that ever-growing ecosystem we visited with or otherwise heard from:Emulating POTS- to-cellular call handoff first pioneered by the cellular industry a few years ago, Plantronics demonstrat-ed new applications that work with Mi-crosoft Lync and Plantronics’ sensor-en-abled wearable devices to help improve

productivity for users, particularly when they are on the go. Plantronics specif-ically demoed how a connected worker can use his / her headset to seamlessly transfer an active Lync call from his com-puter to his mobile phone as he moves away from his desk. In addition, Plant-ronics showcased how its Smart Pres-ence application can provide more ac-curate presence information in Microsoft Lync when a user is on a mobile or desk phone. Lync Room System vendors Crestron, SMART Technologies, and Polycom (the latter showing off its OEM’d Crestron LRS system with a bundled CX5500 Unified Conference Station) revealed varying de-grees of focus on driving their products into conference rooms by playing in the Lync sandbox. SMART announced an enhanced SMART Room System (SRS), adding interactive sharing that enables touch and inking into any software ap-plication; integration with SMART Meet-ing Pro PE (Personal Edition) software; and the introduction of “unbound work-space;” as well as new display sizes and combinations to bring collaboration to more work spaces. Crestron showed its Crestron RL – pushing its ability to inte-

grate into a business’s infrastructure via room controllers, etc., etc.

We visited with MindLink, a purist’s ex-ample of how the Lync ecosystem is en-larging opportunities for vendors large and small. MindLink is a UK-based start-up offering a purpose-built enterprise persistent chat that integrates with Lync. Why not use Lync alone for persistent chat? MindLink would argue that its chat adds to Lync’s persistent chat by adding mobile device management (MDM) sup-port, advanced alerts, advanced integra-tion, better social media “secret sauce,” better compliance features, and moder-ation features. Is there a future for this kind of small fry? Financial services firms already on the Lync adoption curve are eating it up. Logitech showed off its Lync-certified ConferenceCam CC3000e, recently an-

Gurdeep Singh Pall

UK-based Mindlink Software’s Annekathrin Häse and Alan Greenberg Wainhouse Research

Microsoft’s Derek Burney Onstage at the Lync Conference Keynote

13

nounced to fanfare for its sub $1K price point and 1080p video, as well as its abil-ity to off board onto the camera H.264 encoding.The Lync Conference brought together a fan base genuinely pleased with progress to date, happy OR skeptical vendors hitching their wagons to Microsoft’s short and long tail, and others there to learn and figure out how to leverage UC. Oh yes – it’s no longer Unified Communica-tions. Microsoft has rebranded the en-tire category Universal Communications, in light of the familiar experience of Lync and Skype, aspects of content and ap-plication intelligence built into its entire suite of products (from Xbox One to Of-fice, Bing, SharePoint, etc…), mobility and cross-device story, video interopera-bility story, and global reach through the cloud. Seriously, a sold-out conference of more than 1,600 attendees, up from 800 in 2013, shows Microsoft’s ability to build buzz. Another way to look at it, howev-er, is that Microsoft is becoming the force in UC that Cisco was a few years ago. The titans continue to clash, the race is on! We give Microsoft credit for driving a rich, complex ecosystem that is helping push UC further into the enterprise. As the Wainhouse Research team in at-tendance tossed around our respec-tive takes on the event, we came away impressed by a few things, concerned about a few significant “omissions.” We do believe that Microsoft Lync offers a

powerful value proposition in its real-time unified client, integration with Active Di-rectory, Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, Office, and now Skype. We believe Gur-deep Pall’s return signals an important organizational shift that will affect both market positioning and product develop-ment. Lync as a UC solution represents a very broad commitment from custom-ers – Microsoft-centric IT / telecom cus-tomers will likely make that commitment. Others – particularly small-to-medium businesses that are less Microsoft-cen-

tric, may be more cautious. The addition of PSTN dialing to Office 365 does now make Lync suitable for small-to-medium businesses – but this capability is not ex-pected until 2015. We have much more to say about where Microsoft is taking this juggernaut in our Wainhouse Research subscription serv-ices. In the meantime, we offer kudos to Microsoft for assembling yet another well-orchestrated, well-catered meal – even if a few courses are still leaving us hungry for more.

Lync, the Great Communicator

This way, all company staff can work to-gether as though they were in the same office.

Full integration

In addition, the Lync tool is easy to under-stand and easy to use, guaranteeing that the staff will embrace it quickly, and thus use it repeatedly until it becomes routine, greatly benefiting in-company communica-tion.Whether using mobile devices, PCs or Macs, the user experience is consistent.Lync allows you to manage attendance, instant messaging, voice, video and con-ferences.Users can switch from one device to anoth-er depending on their needs.Lync allows for the es-tablishment of HD vid-eo communications, as well as content shar-ing.

Lync integrates with Outlook, SharePoint, OneNote and other Microsoft Office appli-cations, enabling users to not having to exit the application they are working in when they want to contact other people. Users have access to a «contact card» (for each of their contacts) showing the profession-al identity of the various interlocutors, rath-er than just a number (telephone or other) which provides a lot less information.

Whole host of possibilities

It is possible to organise a meeting in ad-vance through Outlook, including with peo-ple who are not part of the company. The guest will receive an e-mail containing a link which allows them to download a web appli-cation that can only be used at the time of the meeting. What’s more, if the guest does not have a computer, they will be able to join

the meeting by phone, simply by dialling a particular number and entering the conference login when asked.

In short, Lync allows you to call, chat, share files; it allows you to find in the blink of an eye the correct details of peo-ple; it communicates directly from the other Microsoft tools; it allows for easy communica-tion with people outside the company; it enables you to at-tend any meeting or discussion without the slightest problem; it allows you to organise efficient meetings and it provides infor-mation on the activities of col-leagues. A whole host of possibilities!

If one had to describe Microsoft Lync in a few simple and easy-to-understand words, one would say that it is

a solution that enables people to work together from remote locations in the best possible manner.

SMART Technologies SMART Room System for Microsoft Lync, for more information visit:

www.smarttech.com/thenextlevel.

14

3 Must-Haves for a Great Video Conferencing, Streaming Media, Webcast Experience

By Mark Maxey, Senior Vice President, Yorktel Media Services.

Improvements in the availability of broad-band Internet connectivity and advances in voice and video communications technolo-

gies are leading savvy executives to utilize vid-eo and media services to reduce travel costs, stay connected to their increasingly remote workforces, and find new ways to engage cus-tomers and prospective clients.

While video conferencing, webcasting and stream-ing media have the potential to play a positive role in addressing these business needs, there is a sig-nificant challenge that must be addressed before this medium can become a viable replacement for in-person engagements: audience distractions. Un-like in-person meetings where participants are in the same physical location, video affords people the op-portunity to participate in meetings remotely from the comforts of home, which includes distractions from phone calls, emails, instant messages, and social media, just to name a few. Before using visual com-munications as an alternative to a face-to-face meet-ing, one of the first orders of business is to have a

well-prepared presentation with relevant content that will draw your audience in.

Another type of distraction that’s just as important as the first one comes from technical problems, such as poor video quality, video and audio stutters, or dropped pack-ets. Any of these issues can alienate your audience and compromise your results.

Assuming you’re able to address the first challenge, coming up with a compelling message and good con-tent, I can offer some helpful tips to ensure your technol-ogy doesn’t leave you hanging. Following are three best practices you should follow to ensure your video confer-encing session operates smoothly.Use Adaptive Bitrate Streaming. In the early days of the Internet, if you wanted to watch a video feed, you had to select a box to indicate your connection speed. At the time everything was hardcoded to deliver the media at a specific bit rate and quality. During this same period, video conference presenters were lim-ited to using very specific (and often proprietary) vid-eo hardware, media encoders, and software. As video conferencing technology evolved, so have the deliv-ery methods to carry the content to viewing audienc-es. Adaptive bitrate streaming technology is now avail-able to help mitigate issues of shard bandwidth and overburdened workstations. Adaptive bitrate technolo-gy contains built-in intelligence that can detect the us-er’s bandwidth and CPU capacity in real time and adjust the bitrate of a video stream accordingly. To enable this

technology, one must use software and/or hardware to encode a single source video at multiple bit rates and then transport the stream on an adaptive bitrate carrier format, such as Microsoft Smooth Streaming. Multicasting vs. Unicasting. A common challenge faced by large enterprises that incorporate video conferenc-ing meetings among their remote workers is ensuring their internal network doesn’t become overwhelmed by the video packets they’re streaming, which can be dis-ruptive not just for the video conferencing participants but other users accessing their network, too. In these situations, multicasting can be used to alleviate poten-tial bandwidth problems.

A unicast presentation creates a one-to-one connec-tion, whereby each viewer is routed back to the presen-tation origin, no matter where the viewer is located. This means that if there are 50 viewers in an office in Cal-ifornia watching a 300 kilobit presentation from an of-fice in Paris, each one of those viewers is pulling their own 300 kilobit stream. This is a huge burden to a cor-porate WAN.

Multicast, on the other hand, uses a one-to-many con-nection. In the previous scenario, multicast would generate a single 300 kilobit stream between Par-is and California, allowing the 50 viewers to pull their streams from their local router rather than mak-ing 50 separate connections back to New York.

Using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Depending on the size of your intended audience and the type

of content you’re delivering, it may not be feasible to deliver your presentation from your on-premises fa-cility. Instead, it may be better to use a CDN Provid-er (e.g. Akamai, Amazon CloudFront, Windows Az-ure.) These companies have tens of thousands of web servers located around the world and specialize in de-livering video content from the optimal network path to each participant. For example, if participants in Lon-don and Rome are both trying to watch the same we-bcast/video conference, the geo-location aware CDN may route the presentation simultaneously to its data centers in England for the Roman participant and Ire-land for the London participant, to ensure the content travels the shortest distance possible over the public Internet. This minimizes latency and packet loss while increasing quality, reliability and scalability, resulting with a consistently high quality end-user viewing ex-perience globally.

Although video conferencing and video streaming have come a long way over the past decade, cre-ating a crisp viewing experience for one’s target au-dience can still be challenging for the average busi-ness executive — or even for many IT admins for that matter. Fortunately, that doesn’t mean you have to prolong using video conferencing solutions or gam-ble with your video quality. A media and video man-aged services provider can be a great resource to help your company acquire the video conferencing technologies you need and deliver the quality vid-eo and audio experience your audience demands.

Mark leads Yorktel’s award-winning video broadcast and event production operations globally. His work has appeared on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNBC, CNN, Discovery, FOX, Military Channel, MSNBC, MTV, NBC, and PBS. Yorktel Media Services pro-vides a full suite of turnkey professional media serv-ices for the creation, production and distribution of audio and video communications. Yorktel’s com-prehensive suite of video service offerings includes broadcast-quality video production, post-production editing, live event AV production, streaming media webcasting and managed media services.

JMRConnect

JMRConnect

JMRConnectwww.JMRConnect.net

15

The retail display has a(no) futureBy Bram Nauta, Director General of the Instore Shopper Marketing Institute, on the occasion of the

EuroShop 2014 trade fair.

The retail display is (still today?) the most ef-fective medium for in-

fluencing purchasing beha-vior at the point of sale. But will it manage to survive the wave of new technolo-gies? How do retailers view the retail display? In fact it is regarded as a disrup-tive element. The retail dis-play is a necessary evil in the distribution chain. The brand manufacturer, for his part, sees his return on in-vestment constantly falling at the points of sale and the-refore prefers to take the path of least re-sistance: cost savings. A summary of the situation and a review of retail displays by Bram Nauta, Director of the Knowledge Hub for Shopper Marketing at the ISM Institute.

Must we conclude that the retail display has no future? Not at all, but it’s time they were given se-rious thought. When I wander through the halls of the EuroShop 2014 trade fair, I am struck in particular by the similarity of the products presented. Nothing real-ly innovative compared to the edition of three years ago. If the sector is not care-ful, the retail display will become an easy option. And we all know the consequenc-es of such a development.

But you have always championed the retail display and considered it to be the best medium for a brand manufac-turerIndeed, it is, and I hope it will always be so. However, there are other considera-tions which pose a threat to the retail dis-play. For example, the available space in the store. In the retailer’s view, the retail display is still too often a disruptive ele-

ment, both as regards distribution and in the store. Another shortcoming is the or-dering party’s often limited knowledge of promotional materi-als in general and re-tail displays in particu-lar. The retail display is too often the last item of the budget, the one with which the “junior manager” is entrusted. Alas, this person has never been confront-ed with retail displays in the course of his training, not to mention communication at the points of sale or even shopper marketing. To-day, retail display man-ufacturers spend more time calculating how to complete a production drawing in the most ad-vantageous way possi-ble. We even see brand manufacturers integrate their retail displays in their pro-duction and packaging lines.

This is a particularly grim scenario. What is the other scenario?We think that this grim scenario must not necessarily occur. We see some real opportu-nities, for example in the integration of online and offline retailing. Take su-permarkets. It is expect-ed that a large portion of the sales of supermar-kets will be generated by online ordering in a few years, the merchan-dise being picked up at the store or at a collec-tion point, or delivered to the customer’s door. These will be the well-known routine purchas-es. From packs of dia-pers and crates of beer through sacks of pota-toes and bottles of lem-

onade to packets of coffee, the assortment presented in the shelves will shrink. The space thus freed will be occupied by “per-ception”, whatever the meaning that will be given to this notion. Everything is im-aginable, from the creation of your own coffee aroma to the discovery of new prod-ucts. In short, a surprise. Things to which the consumer is willing to devote some time. That’s where we see opportunities for the retail display version 2.0, since it’s in this sort of situation that the basic func-tion of the retail display, to create a sur-prise, will really come to the fore.

Will this approach also bear fruit in non-food stores? Of course. There too, we notice that in-tegration between “online” and “offline” is rapidly taking shape. Perhaps even more

quickly than in food stores. Cees Bosma, a partner of the institute, calls this development the ‘new store’. This means that the semi-permanent retail display will undergo the same transformation as its lit-tle cardboard brother.

What is the ISMI doing to favor this develop-ment?First of all, we are of-fering the suppliers our assistance in transition-ing to shopper-centric thinking. In the coming years, you will have to speak the language of the new economy if you

want to remain a dialog partner of your or-dering customer and be able to offer him added value. Furthermore, we are un-dertaking an initiative to “closely link” the brand manufacturer, the retailer and the supplier. Within the framework of new col-laborative projects we will examine the dif-

ferent ways of giving concrete shape to the transition that retail dis-plays and other promo-tional material will have to undergo. We will also taking steps to increase the level of knowledge regarding promotion at points of sale and real displays by means of training courses. The volume “Shopper In-Zicht” (Savantis, 2012) already appears in nu-merous book lists and shopper marketing has become a permanent component of the pro-gram of several training courses.

Bram Nauta: GeneraI ManagerInstore Shopper Marketing Instituut

16

The connected storeIncreasingly, devices installed in stores have the ability to communicate with one another, creating a new experience for

the consumer.

Technology is constantly evolving. It’s changing the way retailers interact with their customers.

Everything is in evolution

The retail display signs, labels and oth-er printed displays in stores have been re-placed by digital signage, that is, by flat screens with video. Here QR codes can also be found that consumers can scan with their smartphones to get detailed additional information on the products, to visit a web-site or view the product using augmented reality. At the checkout counter, screens in-form customers about the free services of-fered by the store and the advantages asso-ciated with the brand loyalty program. For its part, the store’s printed catalog has been replaced at the POS by kiosks ena-bling customers to view all items and to have purchases sent to their homes. On their side, the sales personnel instantly check the inventory with their tablets, with-out having to run to the warehouse to see whether a certain item is in stock. But stores that are content to replace a printed display by a flat screen delivering an endless loop of special offers are miss-ing a unique opportunity. The ability of dig-ital devices to communicate with one an-other, respond to consumer interaction and record the result of this interaction gives stores the opportunity to provide their cus-tomers with the information and help they need at the moment they need it. And this way of doing things ultimately leads to customer satisfaction and an increase in sales. These devices, which are also part of an intelligent system, are giving rise to a new type of retail sales environment: the connected store.

An intelligent system that exchanges information

Today, a large retailer is likely to be a com-pany that distributes and sells the latest products on markets in constant evolution. Moreover, the ubiqui-tous Internet has made consumers infinitely better informed than they were in the past, with the result that they often know as much or even more than the sales staff. As a consequence, the relationship be-tween customers and stores has changed and the new technology available and used by the two parties requires a new sales commitment. Stores are now able to con-nect customers with specific information that creates value for both the seller and buyer. When digital technology was first in-tegrated into stores, the use of digital sig-nage and other screens was relatively cir-cumscribed in that, in most cases, the

information was limited to the simple display of stat-ic images or the rerunning ad infinitum of video pro-grams. Of course, the information was presented in a more engaging way, but it re-mained as it was, whatev-er the customer’s interest. In the connected store, digital displays, POS ter-minals and kiosks are no longer isolated but are part of an intelligent sys-tem that exchanges infor-mation between devices and the store’s network. This offers greater cus-tomer retention and a sig-nificantly better customer experience, and it enables the sales staff to help customers with their decisions, and therefore to make the right purchases. Jeff Collard, chairman of Omnivex (Toronto), says: «In the con-nected store, digital displays and other sys-tems recognize and respond to the custom-er’s action».

Finding the best electric drill!

In the connected store, the information pro-vided via digital signage can be modified on the fly, depending on numerous condi-tions. By operating with the variables, the display rules are able to allow each display to determine the right message to be shown at a certain time for a certain type of per-son. The system determines the content to be displayed at a specific location, ensur-ing that it has the highest relevance for and

is of maximum interest to the viewer. Furthermore, because the system records customer contact in-formation it can be used to create a di-alog with the cus-tomer that extends far beyond the store premises.

«In a dynamic and multi-channel environment, stores need a completely new level of integration in order to satisfy consumers’ wishes», says Kevin Dallas, general manager of Windows Em-bedded.According to the Microsoft perspective on intelligent retail systems, stores use a touchscreen management panel to moni-tor access to the POS data and control the maintenance of buildings. This panel is also used to manage the messages displayed in the store and introduce sales promotions specific to one product or another. «By connecting popular personal devices, business applications and cloud computing services in a large, intelligent organization

system, retailers can plan their sales with more accuracy, develop dynamic price mod-els, better understand the consumer and create new values based on these innova-tive sources of information» (Dallas). Let’s imagine, for example, a hardware store with a display of various electric drills. When a customer picks one up, the «intelligent» shelf senses it and, as a result, a digital dis-play shows information relating to this par-ticular product. The store’s systems record this information, measure which products generate the most interest and trigger the inventory systems in order to increase the stock numbers for those products that gen-erate the most customer interaction. Conversely, if the store is full of large num-bers of an electric drill model, a custom-er’s interaction with this model will gener-ate a «special offer» message on the digital display, which will help to reduce the stock numbers for this item. At the same time, if the sales staff is equipped with tablets in-terconnected with the store’s digital signage system they will be able to come to the cus-tomer’s aid. In fact, the data comes and goes in real time between the different devices, creating a specific experience for a specific customer.

Everything is ready for this new mode of interaction

The connected store generates unique indi-vidual experiences and is built around these experiences. We have witnessed a funda-mental change over the last ten years with regard to the way people interact with tech-nology. Today, infrastructures are ready to allow a new mode of interaction. With this innovative «connected store» concept, re-tailers use technology to anticipate the spe-cific needs of consumers and are able to present instantaneously the information de-sired by the customer. Even if a store does not make any sale during a visit, the inter-action will enable it to follow up with the cus-tomer via offers related to his/her topics of interest and likely to generate later purchas-es.

17

Digital Signage: Who Creates The Content?Digital signage has quickly become a part of our daily lives.

It has reached a market penetration stand-point where sometimes we don’t even re-alize that we’re interacting with it anymore.

Take fast food restaurant menus for example. Previously the same menu would be on display 24 hours a day and would provide all prices and menu options. Now, though digital signage, there can be separate breakfast menus, lunch menus, and even a late night menu that go be-yond menu item and price to show enticing im-ages of the food to encourage the patrons to try the latest sandwich or other new items.

The restaurants employ teams of peo-ple that work for the company specif-ically to provide analytical information about how people interact with the im-ages and the ordering behavior of the patrons. This allows the restaurant to determine when they should put new item combinations togeth-er, what items should be more prominent-ly displayed to increase awareness for ordering, and even customize the menu based on the hab-its that region of custom-ers displays. This same logic applies to any lo-cation where digital sig-nage is being used to encourage purchasing.

Other applications where we see digital signage in our daily lives is more information based. Think about a hotel or business lobby. It’s becoming much more com-monplace to enter into these establish-ments and see news, weather, or oth-er information about the establishment prominently displayed on a large for-mat touch panel screen. This way of handling and displaying information al-lows customers to quickly see the ba-sic information and take control of it themselves. We live in an era where most people have a touch screen in their pocket. In-teracting with content im-agery has reached such a high comfort level for peo-ple that one could even make the argument that there’s more comfort inter-acting with a screen rather than a person.

From the perspective of a business, when you are looking to provide a new marketing campaign that utilizes the latest tactics and strategies you consult a marketing team. That team then utilizes their un-derstanding of psycholo-gy, sales, graphic design, and advertizing to cre-ate a message and brand

around your company to draw peo-ple to want to purchase from you, work with you, or entice them to take action and find out more information.

From the perspective of the Audio/Visual integrators of the world, we see an opportunity to provide you with the hardware to perform this function. The Audio/Visual industry, just like your IT professionals, mar-keting team, and sales force, is a specialized skill set. The members of the A/V community have an un-derstanding of what equipment is avail-able, and through a process of asking the right questions can discover ex-actly how you intend to use the equip-ment to ensure that they provide you

the best solution possi-ble.

Digital signage is a unique application in the modern work place be-cause it crosses through so many different dis-ciplines that all need to find a way to work to-gether. The market-ing department does re-search to determine what kind of images or interactive content they want to show. Once a plan is in place to imple-ment a digital signage

solution, the very next step that should be taken is to reach out to an A/V inte-grator or consultant. The reason this is step two is because these are the people that should be most up to date with how the technology works in this day and age. Now, the marketing di-vision will have someone to discuss their plan for customer interaction, de-termine whether or not it is even possi-ble to achieve the goals that they have in their minds based on how the tech-

nology functions, and where they have to change their ideas. Additionally, the A/V integrator or consultant can assist in explaining how the technology in-stallation can be deployed. As digital signage systems have very expansive abilities when paired with network con-nections, this point is when the IT de-partment can be involved to make cer-tain that the system implemented can be incorporated into the current net-work infrastructure.Digital signage might seem like a sim-ple piece of the puzzle to add to your existing business practices, but it will only be so with proper partnership across multiple disciplines. With each digital signage system there must be original content developed that caters to your customer base and encourag-es some form of interaction. No one knows how your business operates or what the company message needs to be better than your marketing depart-ment.

But that same department does not necessarily have the full understand-ing of what modern technology can provide them. They need to be aware of how the content is going to be dis-played in terms of indoor vs. outdoor, resolution sizes, single screen display vs. multi-screen video wall installation, and interactive vs. static advertise-

ments. Use your marketing department to your advan-tage, but make certain that you bring in the audio/visu-al contractor or consultant before final decisions are made. With their consultation your digital signage system de-ployment will be much more seamless, effective, and could even provide you with more possibilities than the marketing team originally considered.

We all rely heavily on tech-nology in this day and age. Make technology work for you when you expand into the digital signage realm – call an audio/visual profes-sional.

Josh Srago

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Let’s drop the polemics and savor the quote! To criticize 3D printing by pointing out its weaknesses is to forget one thing: the technology is immature, to a certain extent

still in limbo, and…..it’s quite normal that there are imperfections and failures.

But it has huge potential and its evolu-tion has been spectacular! As for the quote, here it is, to be properly sa-

vored before reading further: «The 3D print-ing revolution is comparable to the advent of word processing for the printing industry. With these new printing machines, everyone will be able to create their objects.» (Glenn Lewis, designer and CEO of Jewelry of Dis-tinction, a maker of jewelry in the US.)

All-out personalization

And «everyone» includes businesses, ob-viously. At the very beginning, 3D printing was reserved for the making of prototypes. Today, it is used for small series production. 3D printing is used extensively in the F1 world, where it enables parts to be tested in wind tunnels. Businesses that have made the leap have, moreover, changed their habits: instead of sending parts to one an-other, they send files! According to Pete Basiliere, head of re-search at Gartner, 3D printing also enables the personalization of objects produced in large series. Thus, one can already imag-ine the production of car dashboards, for limited series or personalized in-teriors. But is goes even fur-ther: Rolls-Royce, the re-nowned maker of aircraft engines, has announced that it will resort to 3D printing for the manu-facture of certain engine parts. It will be able to de-sign different parts this way and this will ultimately reduce aircraft weight. 3D printing by injection is intended for the gener-al public and its principle is comparable to that of inkjet printing. The 3D la-ser printer draws the ob-ject in the material: a tank

of resin (the material most fre-quently employed) is used and the laser beam traces the contours of the desired object. Another method uses LEDs instead of the laser - a much more rapid operation.

Even Lamborghini and Nike!

3D printing also excels in the implementation of prototypes and is used very success-fully in the areas of creation and packaging. Nothing bet-ter for creating a model and submitting it to perception tests, for exam-ple! This way a spectacular acceleration of the process of designing new products can be achieved: there is a direct transition from the 3-dimensional model to the physi-cal part. Example? To create the body of its prestigious Aventador model, Lamborghini would have needed 4 months for the work and it would have had to invest 40,000 dol-lars, using conventional methods. Here,

thanks to 3D printing, the job took twenty days and cost 3,000 dollars!

But let’s cite Nike, which uses 3D printing to produce its «Vapor Laser Talon» (a foot-ball boot equipped with cleats integrated in its structure, the whole boot weighing only 159 grams) intended for footballers, which is the first model in history that is not manufac-tured but printed.

Of course, it’s also in the field of implants and re-constructive surgery that 3D printers work won-ders! Customized implants have been created and fit-ted successfully to replace fractured skull bones. Den-tal bones and implants, ob-viously, but also exact cop-ies of a patient’s anatomy, which enable operations to be prepared by repeating them at will, testing differ-ent strategies and drill an-gles. And to conclude, it must be pointed out that printing is already being done in metal, porcelain or biodegradable material, and that nylon bones are under study!

3D Systems: Cube Printer, Lifestyle

Materialise: Owls Wear and Snowey Owl Brooch

3D Systems: 3D Printed Dental Waxups on Projet 1200 Materialise: Slot Car Championships 2014

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Value and content against information overload!

Another reference value: a volume of in-formation equal to that published be-tween the invention

of writing and the year 2003 is now produced ….every two days!

Fluidify the flow!

Xavier Delengaigne speaks quite aptly of in-formation overload… «When information is cheap, attention be-comes expensive». The information? But it’s everywhere, we are overwhelmed by it, it’s freer, more accessible and immensely more abundant! The result? We are caught up in its immediacy and risk losing our sense of analysis and ulti-mately our critical faculties. Xavier Delengaigne points out that, as early as the Middle Ages, scholars com-plained of information overload, but today it has reached record levels. It’s linked to several factors, which include the lower-ing of the cost of producing information and redundancy, amplified by the success

of social media. However - and this has been demonstrat-

ed by the psychologist Miller - the human brain has limited cognitive resources, its «work-ing memory» (or our «buffer memory») capacity is limited to 5 (9 at the most) different el-ements. An «overabundance of infor-mation» then results in the feeling of constantly working under pressure, higher stress levels and the fear of missing an important piece of informa-tion. In these conditions, one must learn to manage the infor-mation overload. First of all, one must fluidify the informa-tion flow and make sure not

to transform oneself into an «information polluter».

Avoid redundancy, look for analysis

In order to obtain a coherent «personal in-formation system «, one must apply com-mon sense and keep «everything in its place». For example, according to Xavi-er Delengaigne again, «many company

employees use their email system as a secondary storage location, although an email system should resemble a sort of rail marshalling yard. Let’s take an exam-ple from everyday life: when you deal with your correspondence, you don’t leave it in the letter-box – instead you empty the box and then sort the mail, throwing away the junk mail, archiving the bills and reply-ing to certain letters. Why work differently with the in-box of an email system?»With regard to information, one needs to become proactive. There are a multitude of free tools that automate the process of collecting and handling information. You can create alerts based on the name of a company so as to follow its online reputa-tion, with Google Alerts for example. One must also distinguish the disparate facts from the analysis. Certain media generally limit themselves to reeling off the different news items, while other pub-lications try to extract the substance from them. Endlessly repeated facts lose their interest, and this redundancy is harmful to the mind. On the other hand, analyses make it possible to deepen one’s under-standing and whoever gives meaning to events creates value. And, today, content makes all the differ-ence!

We are voracious readers! Every day, we read around 100,000 words, the equivalent of

a novel.

The difficult quest for the good user experience

These questions apply just as much to can-openers and lawnmowers as they do to technical devices!

Crank handle versus ignition key

Let’s consider the infancy of the automobile. We progressed from the crank handle to the ignition key. The two methods produce the same result but most of us prefer the design of the ignition key. That’s what actually creates the user experi-ence. A design that’s easy to use and to un-derstand, and that enables the user to obtain what he wants without trouble……Such a de-sign is also absolutely crucial for mobile devic-es. When you download an application, no training manual accompanies it. You do not WANT to have one, because you want to use the appli-cation immediately. Its designer must therefore make sure he does things properly right from the start as the number of applications that are launched and then irrecoverably thrown into the trash can is astronomical. The number of abandoned projects is estimated at 70%. To successfully design and create a good user experience, you must first know the public that will use the application. You must understand the group you are targeting - with regard to de-

mographics and consumption. Is the user an employee, a company, does he work with An-droid or iOS? And then, how will he use the application? Where will he use it?

No idle chatter, just analyses of observations

Let’s take an example…A restaurant chain wants to install a kiosk en-abling the placing of personalized orders and payment. The users will be teenagers, young adults, women with families, and elderly persons with im-paired vision. You must de-velop a strategy that takes ac-count of these characteristics. When designing and devel-oping the application, you do not need to talk with users, you must OBSERVE the way people interact with the proc-ess in order to determine their thought processes and tackle the shortcomings that you will detect. Achieving a good user experience involves passing through a series of stages that may prove to be long.

Visual design is also an essential element of the way people interact with an application. It’s important to involve designers right from the beginning of the process of application crea-tion so that they can confirm that the design can be realized.

One must avoid all haste: being the first in the market is not the be-all and end-all! On the oth-er hand, it’s absolutely vital to be the best in the market! A mediocre user experience does more harm than good and can really damage a brand.

How does it work? What is the nature of the relationship the user has with the device? Does he think it’s easy

to use? Does he want to use it again?

Visionect

Xavier Delengaigne

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