Mixer Sponsor Profiles: Cineplex Digital Solutions

February 18, 2013 by Dave Haynes

The original DSE Mixer was a near impromptu thing held at a very strange but oddly cool place on the strip, with lots of red velvet, brass and flaming fire pools.

I’d never been there when I told readers, “Hey, let’s go there!!!”

So I walk in, and the first two people I see at the bar are Steve Harris and Jeff Wismer from Cineplex Digital Solutions, then known as DDC. A year later, the first official Preset Group mixer was at a bar in the Palazzo, and when the idiot manager tried to say our leftover PRE-PAID drink tickets had expired after three hours, I said nuh-uh (the actual words were a little saltier), and rounded up some DDC/Cineplex guys to deal with said leftover tickets.

Next day = ouch.

Anyway, the Cineplex guys have always been big mixer supporters from the start, and for the last two years, they’ve actually been buying the drinks as a sponsor.

I asked Steve, the VP and GM who has been managing the DDC business forever, to handle my five merciless questions as a 2013 Sponsor.

Q – Can you give me an overview of what Cineplex Digital Solutions is all about and what you guys do? 

A – We are a division of Cineplex Entertainment, the largest movie exhibition company in Canada, and together with Cineplex Media, offer a broad range of digital signage and interactive solutions, tailored to meet the objectives of our clients.  As a solutions company, we work closely with our clients to develop, deploy and manage digital signage and interactive networks, often providing advertising sales and complete creative services as well.   We have grown into a full service communications and marketing agency, specializing in place-based media, with a strong focus on the retail and banking markets.

Note: Cineplex has its main office in Toronto and maintains a big office in Kitchener-Waterloo, also home to Christie Digital and RIM, now called Blackberry.

Q – How many are you – not in the overall company – but working in this sector?   

A – Cineplex Digital Solutions employs about 40 people, supported by many others from both Cineplex Entertainment and Cineplex Media.

Q – Are you active in other countries or is the focus Canada?  

A – We are active in the US, but our primary focus is the Canadian market.

Q – What trends do you see emerging in the next 12-18 months? 

A – Tablets, Software, hardware and display options continue to get better and less expensive which will lower the cost of integrating digital and increase overall adoption.  It’s likely that large marketing and advertising agencies will enter the market as better technologies makes it easier for them to offer place-based solutions directly to their clients. There will likely be continued consolidation between the various software companies and service providers.

Q – You have a pretty big crew going to Las Vegas for DSE. Are they on various missions? 

A – As a solutions company, DSE allows us to stay on top of the trends and assess the emerging technologies that might serve the needs of our clients. The seminars are usually pretty good, and of course, it’s a chance to re-connect with many friends in the industry.

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Great bunch of people, and bunch is the operative word. There are at least 10 people coming down, as well as a client or three. Look for the company’s video on the sponsor reel at the event. Nicely done and very different.