DSE's new industry barometer suggests blue skies ahead

June 23, 2009 by Dave Haynes

The Digital Signage Expo people seem to be wisely building their brand and activities beyond running an annual trade show, revising the Web presence to be more of a portal and now producing what is promised to be a quarterly “Business Barometer” tapping the mood of people in our space.

I think it’s a clever idea, and with time this will provide some good, regular indicators on where we’re at.

That stated, it’s based on an email blast in late May and the first response only got 560 completed surveys back from the 11,000 targeted. I don’t remember getting an email, though lately it has been hard to keep up with where I hang my hat. The survey is described as being 95 per cent valid.

The umbrella statement is that nearly all of us maintain a positive or mostly positive outlook toward the industry. I think it could be pretty easily argued that people who were pessimistic or scared silly, or just too stinkin’ busy, didn’t fill this in and offer a contrary opinion on that.

Intuitively, if you have made the decision to invest your money or career in this space, you also need to stay positive to stay sane in the heat of this recession. And while I have been kicked hard in the nether regions twice this year, I am among those who are quite positive about where things are going.

But there’s much more than cheerleading in this thing, with breakout charts on a bunch of areas asking about the verticals respondents are in, network size, capital spend plans, business model and on and on.

There’s also a lot of comments from respondents about their attitudes and insights. Interesting to me is how many of them are from people I would  consider on the fringes or pretty much outside the industry – presumably people who’ve gone to the DSE show at some point.

I could argue there’s too much in this thing, and a shorter survey and tighter report would boost its appeal. But it’s a good first effort. 

The report is online or you can download it as a 20-page PDF.

 

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