The Minicom Interview

This week we speak to David Weinfeld. David is the President of WA Media Group and also a blogger. He is the creative genius behind Digital Signage Insights.

Minicom Blog: Thanks for joining us David.
David Weinfeld: My pleasure.

MB: Could you please tell us a bit about yourself and the WA Media Group?
DW: I am the founding partner and president. We are a full-service digital signage and new media company that specializes in connecting people with emerging technology. We employ a range of visually engaging and interactive applications, including a portfolio of mobile marketing technologies, thus creating digital signage and new media solutions that are engineered to motivate, entertain, inspire and educate. In addition to acting as the US partner of Motomedia, expanding the reach of an innovative advertising platform that transforms the windows of vacant storefronts in to street level digital billboards, we provide clients with a wealth of services, including content strategy, creative and technical design, business development, operations strategy, and project management.

MB: You clearly believe in the merits of Digital Signage
DW: Yes. It provides great benefits both for the advertiser and consumer. It delivers content and information unlike any other medium and delivers to the network operators who invest in it. It pays greater respect to consumer in terms of being engaging and encouraging participation. It's just a shame that some installations lack a clear content strategy which affects the rest of the industry. A network is only as good as the content it broadcasts and the consumers it engages.


MB: What are some of the installations you're proud of?
DW: On South St, here in Philadelphia we did an installation for the Philadelphia 76ers. We did it in conjunction with Megaphone where people can play an interactive game called "Shoot N Shout". The reaction to this has been overwhelmingly positive. People interact with the players on the screen. They've had the game up on concourse screens inside the Wachovia Center for the Sixers' home games, before the game and at halftime where people have played it. We also did an installation for the Philadelphia Soul, the Arena Football League team owned by Jon Bon Jovi. The project features game highlights, exlusive content from ESPN - a behind the scenes web series created by ESPN for the Soul entitled "Last Man Standing," clips and videos on the Soul's Charitable Foundation and Bon Jovi's connection to Habitat for Humanity.

MB: That sounds incredible.
DW: Yes. There is an enormous future there by combining the interactive elements. People get involved and are engaged by the call to action. Static signage is going the way of the cassette tape. Digital signage drives consumer involvement and does so via its flexibility and speed.

MB: It seems as though the WA Media Group is making great strides.
DW: We are working on some large projects across the country and sharing the MegaPhone technology with digital signage network operators around the globe. Additionally, through our role as the US partner of Motomedia we are rapidly expanding our national presence in transforming vacant storefronts into digital billboards.

MB: Your website seems a bit basic.
DW: Yes it's something we hope to shortly address. The new website is in development. Our Motomedia website details our innovative advertising platform and emerging technology solutions.

MB: How did the blog come to be?
DW: I was participating in different blog conversations and after I while I thought I might as well start my own.


MB: Your blog is a welcome addition to the digital signage blogosphere.
DW: Thanks. I just write down and express my thoughts while trying to educate and inform.

MB: David, its been a pleasure.
DW: Likewise.