Scott Nowicki is the manager of account services at rEvolution, the marketing agency behind the management of the RV Tour. He says their bus’s externally-mounted ticker may be the first of its kind. “I would say our display is in one of the most unique locations I’ve ever seen. It’s an 8-foot long ticker positioned on the exterior roof of the ESPN RV, encased in a custom Plexiglas case and displaying constantly updated sports scores across a wide range of sports. It gets its updates from a wireless satellite card and its power is drawn from a complex system of generators and marine batteries.”

The idea to add the unique ticker to the bus grew from a desire to improve upon the success of the previous season’s tour. “The NBA on ESPN RV Tour is in its second year now,” Mr. Nowicki continues, “so we wanted to find a unique addition to attract even more attention to the RV and the tour. As ESPN is the wide world leader in sports, we felt it was only right that fans should be able to get their up to the minute sports scores and news from the ESPN RV. That’s when we turned to Rise Display.

The Results
“We decided on Rise Display because of the great customer service we got while going through the sales process, and most importantly because we felt that they had the best user configuration with information updates that we could rely on.”

Finding a reliable expert to help them with the install was very important, he says. “The ESPN RV draws a lot of attention anywhere it goes, so we wanted our ticker to look professional and to display the info that we wanted it to display instantly.”

Now that it’s on the RV and fully operational, Mr. Nowicki and the rEvolution staff are able to keep the content of the ESPN ticker fresh via Display Wire, Rise’s online sign content management system that gives users easy and instant control over the information and appearance of their signs. “We are now able to control everything that’s displayed on the ticker from any computer with an internet connection while the RV is out on tour,” Mr. Nowicki says. “we can add custom logos to the display and we even have a team at Rise Display that will design anything we want to add to the ticker.”

In his opinion, the ticker has definitely enhanced their image and boosted their promotional efforts. “We’ve had nothing but positive feedback from the crew of the RV and the fans that have seen the RV. The rEvolution crew loves it because it’s so easy to use and it brings with it a very professional look to the RV that you can’t take your eyes off. And our client, ESPN, loves it because it’s something that hasn’t been done before.

“The tour’s not over yet,” he concludes, “but we’re very happy so far. We would definitely recommend Rise Display. We plan to use them again in the future.”

Leading the educational front is Joplin’s Missouri Southern State University (MSSU), a school with a busy roster of undergraduate and graduate programs and a statewide mission in international education granted to it by special legislation. The University has taken many steps to “internationalize” its curriculum, including the introduction of theme semesters, study abroad programs and the creation of an International Major in its School of Business Administration.

The Business School recently developed an investment center to give students real-world experience in international markets. To equip the center, they called on Rise Display. According to Brian Nichols, assistant professor of finance and economics, “We needed to communicate financial information such as stock quotes, interest rates, exchange rates, market indexes and the like. We wanted to convey all of that to our students using a ticker display and some form of television display.”

The Solution
The Complete Display Solution that Rise designed for MSSU included a 12-foot ticker and two 46” LCDs housed in a custom wood enclosure. To help the School achieve its communication goals, Rise combined that hardware with live data feeds, software to control and host the content, and attractive designs created by its creative services department.

The displays are positioned in such a way that their presence achieves two important goals: they inform the students inside the classroom, and they impress visitors and passers-by in the hall. Being able to gain both educational and marketing benefits has made MMSU officials “very happy with the display solution,” says Mr. Nichols. “It has met our needs very well. We have received numerous positive comments and compliments about the displays, and our investment center has attracted the attention of the community.”

They are equally happy to have chosen Rise Display to provide their display solution. “Rise had all the display hardware we were looking for, and had the ability to host the data for us. Everyone I worked with at Rise was very professional, courteous and helpful.”

While some institutions adopt electronic signage in a more piecemeal fashion, the planners of Spring Arbor’s trading center decided that from the start, a fully equipped trading center requires multiple LCD screens of varying sizes, a large LED wallboard, a fifty-foot LED ticker and a four-zone world clock.

“Real-world trading rooms utilize a variety of electronic displays to keep their traders informed of different types of information,” explained Randall J. Lewis, the professor of finance who raised the funds and managed the project as the director of the new trading center. “We wanted to equip our students with the very same tools in the very same environment that they will encounter when they graduate.”

The Solution
The trading center director had high praise for Rise Display, the company responsible for all their signs and setup. “Rise met the deadline for our grand opening and did a great job. Everything was up and running in plenty of time. We encountered a few bugs along the way, but they responded quickly and were very easy to work with. Would I recommend them to others? Absolutely, without reservation.”

The completed project is an impressive embrace of new technology that has resulted in a high-tech trading room — one of only a handful of college trading labs in all of Michigan. Thanks to this full array of digital signage, Spring Arbor finance students suddenly have a wealth of financial data at their immediate disposal. One LCD screen displays business news while another features interactive presentations. The wallboard tracks real-time data for security price displays. The ticker keeps stock information in constant visible motion. And the international clocks keep everyone aware of market activity status around the world.

The signage is helping both undergraduate and graduate students learn about, and participate in, financial market activity in a real-world trading environment. With the new trading center, they now have the opportunity to gain practical experience using real-time financial data in areas such as investments, fixed income, equities, corporate finance and foreign exchange.

In addition to educating its current students, the new trading center is also helping to boost enrollment. “We’re getting lots of attention from admissions and prospective students now,” said Professor Lewis. “We anticipate getting a fantastic return on our investment in this digital signage. Everyone loves the room and we get visits constantly. The school of business is definitely hot.”

Communications and Public Relations Director Roz Hutchinson admits that it’s quite a challenge, and to hear her tell it, she’s using every available means to get the message out. “My department is in charge of seeing that important information gets out to employees. To that end, we publish a weekly newsletter, which also has an online version. We also distribute information on table tents placed in the cafeterias, in letters sent to employees’ homes, and we have a communications hub on each of our campuses.”

Still, they needed a better way to reach those employees who are always on the go. “We use lots of different methods to get employees’ attention, but there are always gaps and limitations,” said Ms. Hutchinson. For example, “preparing information in a professional and eye-catching manner for display on our hub’s bulletin boards was extremely time-consuming for our graphic designer.”

The Solution
The search led them to Rise Display and the installation of new electronic LCDs at two of their busiest hubs. The colorful digital sign serves up a steady mix of external news from live news feeds, and internal announcements that they post themselves with the help of Rise’s Display Wire.

The display is also getting thumbs up reviews within her own office. “My team likes it because it doesn’t take nearly the time that creating new bulletin board displays did, much less going to different campuses to put them up and down. Plus, we can run our new ads and get feedback on them. Soon we’ll be doing messages from the CEO as well.”

Asked if they’re pleased with the ways that their new display supports their communication goals, Ms. Hutchinson responded, “Absolutely! We want people to know that when it comes to health care, we’re the technology leader in our service area. Using new media to get that message across internally helps, as the medium truly is the message.”

She offered an equally enthusiastic assessment of their display provider, Rise Display. “Great communication and flexibility are key to any good relationship. We found that with Rise. We especially liked the company’s willingness to work with us to ensure that the product would meet our needs prior to entering into a contract. The technology is great, but we wanted to know that outstanding customer service would be part of the package, and it has been, every step of the way!”

• rows and rows of computers connecting your fingertips to global financial tools and data;
• huge stock tickers spanning the walls to keep both local and global stock quotes front and center at all times;
• a central ceiling-mounted array of large LCD screens making graphical information about the stock markets visible from every angle; and
• a front-wall electronic LED wallboard displaying a constantly-updated overview of the financial markets.

“Our new Global Financial Trading Center will enable students to learn how to apply complex financial concepts in an exciting, virtual, real-world environment,” said Dr. Craig G. Rennie, managing director of the College’s Garrison Financial Institute, “just like what they will encounter in trading and investment banking desks at major Wall Street firms. This state-of-the-art Center, which is one of the largest and best-equipped in the world, will help us to attract, retain and educate top students and faculty.”

Department Chair of Finance Dr. Wayne Y. Lee agreed, explaining the significance of the facility in furthering educational goals: “The new Global Financial Trading Center plays a key role in providing the clinical environment for an interactive, coaching, practice-based approach to learning finance. Students will tackle novel challenges instead of solving routine problems, and will synthesize the big picture rather than analyzing a single issue.”

The Solution
All of the electronic display hardware, software and data that give the Center its distinctive modern look were designed, supplied and installed by Rise Display, whom the College selected for the job because of Rise’s extensive experience equipping numerous other educational trading rooms around the country. “We are excited to have Rise Display as a strategic partner in this remarkable transformation of financial education,” said Dr. Lee.

According to Rise VP Ryan Cahoy, the feeling is mutual: “We were pleased to be chosen as the digital signage solution provider for this prestigious program.” The University of Arkansas Trading Center is one of the largest projects that Rise has been part of to date.

Perhaps Dr. Rennie best expressed the College’s combination of pride and enthusiasm for their new facility when he said, “We wanted to simulate as closely as we could the real-world working environment students will encounter, and promote cutting edge research to advance best practices in an increasingly globally competitive financial services industry.

“Besides,” he continued, “the Center rocks!”

When planning the construction of the new Wyoming branch, representatives at The RiverBank’s head office in Osceola, Wisconsin asked Rise Display to help them design an electronic messaging system that would fit in well with both the decor and the goals of the new building.

Jeff Nelson, vice president of marketing, described the plan: “At The RiverBank, our goal is to provide extraordinary financial advice and a clearly different banking experience. We wanted to use digital signs to help create a neat atmosphere and present a variety of financial information in a dynamic fashion.”

The Solution
After several consultations with Rise, the digital display solution that The RiverBank chose for their new branch was an attention-getting combination of large-format LCD screens, stock ticker, live data, back-end display engine and online access to the entire system using special Display Wire software.

To complement the new building’s decor, the two 40” NEC LCD displays and the 16×360-pixel ticker were built into a custom, free-standing wooden enclosure. Strategically situated near the branch entrance, the impressive display structure serves as a welcoming first impression to visitors as soon as they enter the building. With a full coffee shop and a couple of inviting couches nearby, the area is designed to encourage guests to linger, browse magazines and have coffee while they view the financial information and special bank messages that appear on the display screens.

The images and data on the displays serve up a mix of live stock information, breaking financial news, live TV and special RiverBank announcements that advertise their products, publicize community events and ‘narrowcast’ special messages directly to the bank’s clients. The RiverBank’s head office uses Rise’s exclusive online display management tool, Display Wire, to create their own bulletins and send them directly to their displays in the Wyoming branch.

According to Jeff Nelson, the display solution has been a hit ever since the new branch first opened its doors to the public. “Our customers and employees love it. Rise’s integrated products and services made our jobs much easier and helped guarantee a solution that worked. We’re very happy.”

Derek Fisher, assistant director of the EDS Financial Trading and Technology Center at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, knows all about innovation.

“The Trading Center was the first of its kind in the country,” Mr. Fisher says. “It has been a model for other institutions. We do tours all the time for other schools that have since implemented similar programs.”

The Center is divided between a fund room and classroom/lab. The fund room is used exclusively by the 17 to 20 MBA students who are accepted each year as fund managers. On a daily basis, these students manage a $14 million privately held fund, seeded with investments from UT alumni and others.

The classroom/lab seats approximately 40 people and is a fully equipped media room. The space features all high-definition displays, video conferencing for distance learning, 40 computer stations equipped with finance applications, and four Bloomberg stations. The room offers a state-of-the-art space for mostly undergraduate financial classes. When class is not in session, the room operates
as a lab for finance students who use the computers and different data feeds for their research assignments.

Naturally, the Center also utilizes digital signage. A ticker is strategically placed outside the fund room, where it serves as a focal point in the business school, and an LED tracker is used in the classroom/lab.

Project Summary
In January 2010, University of Texas staff approached Rise Display about upgrading their software packages for both the ticker and LED tracker.

“It came down to an expense issue,” says Mr. Fisher. “We found out about Rise, who offered both the data and the software at a much more economical price.”

According to Fisher, the software also had additional functions that made it very enticing for UT to make the change. Among those was the ability to incorporate news headlines into the ticker, to display corporate logos on the ticker, and include rotating information on the LED tracker.

Fisher says he is satisfied with the software functionality. “I can display one set of information on the board for 20 to 30 seconds and then it will rotate and display another set of financial information for another 20 to 30 seconds,” explains Fisher. “I think the display draws people’s attention because it’s not just static information. It’s always changing. A lot of our professors really like teaching in there because . . . they will refer to the information up on the board. With our previous software, I was limited to what I could fit on the screen at one time.”

Of the software’s usability, Fisher says, “The software has certainly been easy for me to maintain. It pretty much runs itself.” He adds, “I’ve been very pleased so far with Rise’s customer service. They’ve been very responsive. They’ve also been proactive in contacting me to make sure we’re satisfied and that things are operating smoothly. It’s been a very positive experience.”

Project Summary
Founded in 1972, Samco recently topped off a steady succession of plant expansions — which have grown their facilities from 200 to 80,000 square feet over the years — with a complete renovation of their front offices. As part of those renovations, they called Rise Display in to install a new LCD display in the reception area, as a replacement for the old letter board they used previously to display greetings and messages to visitors.

“We display the names of customers who visit for the day, and we wanted to go ‘above and beyond’ this simple process,” said Samco President and COO Bob Repovs. “After we renovated our entire offices, we needed a more professional Reception Greeting Board.”

They considered various options, including LED displays, but in the end decided to opt for what they considered to be the most modern-looking solution, a dynamic 40” NEC LCD display mounted prominently in the reception area.

In addition to providing the hardware and installation services, Rise also hosts and manages the content of the Samco display and provides the company with online access to its unique Rise Display Wire software, which gives Samco the power to enter and display their own daily messages on the board.

Samco chose Rise Display’s complete display solution because it was the best fit for their needs “An integrated approach, with on-going support, was the only way to go for us,” stated Mr. Repovs. “Other companies also offered LCDs, but then purchasing the software would have been our responsibility.”

The Results
Asked whether they’ve been happy with their Rise solution, Mr. Repovs’ enthusiastic reply leaves little doubt: “Absolutely! It met and then exceeded our needs. We are now looking at other options and ideas to make this board even more interesting!”

And how has the addition of this LCD display affected Samco’s business? According to Mr. Repovs, “Overall, it has resulted in a better atmosphere — a world class look and feel when you enter the front office.” He said they have also received many positive reactions both from visitors and from their own staff. “Customers and vendors who enter the building comment on the board. And our employees have said that it really looks ‘world class’ and that it was the icing on the cake for our office renovations.”

On the Ithaca campus alone nearly 20,000 students representing every state and 120 countries choose from among 4,000 courses in 11 undergraduate, graduate and professional schools. Many undergraduates participate in a wide range of interdisciplinary programs, play meaningful roles in original research, and study in Cornell programs in Washington, New York City and the world over.

The Johnson School, Cornell’s school of business, is part of the Ithaca campus. By design, the School is an intense, collaborative community. Purposefully kept small, the school fosters a sense of community. After graduation, faculty and alumni often remain close as colleagues and friends.

Project Summary
When it was time to update the ticker tapes and install a flat panel display in the trading room at The Johnson School, university officials chose Rise Display to provide their display solution. Explains Lakshmi Bhojraj, director of Cornell’s Parker Center for Investment Research: “As director of the Center, I oversee the trading room and its resources and am responsible for all vendor-partner relationships for the software in the room. The Johnson School’s educational program in investment management, which includes an $11 million student-run hedge fund, is cutting edge and we needed a display environment that would convey its dynamism. After considering our available options, it was clear to me that Rise was the right choice for this project.

“We chose Rise because their displays were eye-catching and Rise offered the best value for money. We wanted to convey the dynamic nature of the trading room and the business school’s cutting edge status in investment management education.”

Ms. Bhojraj was happy with the results. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the selection of Rise displays for the business school’s trading room and lobby,” said Ms. Bhojraj. “The displays have succeeded in conveying the Johnson School’s leading status in investment research education and the high energy environment of the trading room.”

Adds Ms. Bhojraj, “We have also found Rise customer service representatives to be very responsive and helpful and always enjoy working with them.

When James Jordan-Wagner joined TTU as Dean of the College of Business in 2007, he brought with him a deep- seeded belief in the importance of experiential learning. For this reason, he spearheaded an effort to incorporate cutting-edge electronic signage in the University’s Heidtke Trading Room, a high-tech wireless lab used as a classroom and site for students to manage three investment funds.

“I think it’s crucial for [business] students to have access to real-world market environments,” Dean Jordan- Wagner says. “We wanted to let them see what kinds of opportunities are out there.”

“I was very happy with Rise,” says Dean Jordan-Wagner. “They were prompt, got everything done on time, on or under budget and offered great support in those couple of instances where we really needed it.”

The Solution
“I’d had the experience at Eastern, so I knew the kinds of things I would like to have [at TTU],” says Dean Jordan- Wagner. “Rise worked with us quite well to set up a modern, clean system that fit within our budget.”

That system includes a panel of six 52” high-definition LCDs which are utilized a single large unit, one 46” display and a real-time stock ticker. The displays are located on the second floor of the Heidtke Trading Room, allowing clear visibility for all of the room’s occupants.

Dean Jordan-Wagner had been instrumental in completing a similar project at Eastern Illinois University, where he taught prior to relocating to TTU. At Eastern, he worked with Rise to implement a large LED display and ticker in the lab utilized by advanced undergraduate and graduate students.

In April 2010, the updated Heidke Trading Room opened its doors. The six-screen LCD wall displays news stations — typically Bloomberg or CNBC — as well as market information, commodities, fixed income and equity and currency boards. A crawler at the bottom of the panel communicates current news headlines. Meanwhile, the individual LCD is used to relay general College of Business information and to facilitate PowerPoint presentations. The real-time stock ticker streams quotes, and is also used to display personal greeting messages for guests, speakers and university donors.

The trading room is now a high-priority stop on university tours and is also the site for advisory board meetings.

“Students love being in this technological environment,” says Dean Jordan-Wagner. “Our alumni are also very happy about it. They see the upgrade as a great step forward for the College of Business.”

According to Associate Dean Bruce McLaren, digital signs were desired for two equally important reasons: to inform and educate their business students and to raise the profile of the business college on campus. “We wanted tickers and video data wall equipment to display financial information for business students who intend to become financial traders, investment specialists and financial analysts — information that would allow them to research security pricing trends and develop individual portfolios,” he said. “We also wanted the signs to increase the financial awareness of our students, faculty and staff. We placed the financial trading room in a high-visibility classroom in our main lobby, near the entrance to the College.”

The Solution
The College chose Rise Display to help them plan their trading room signage, and to supply and install all required hardware, software and data. “We had several vendors make on-site visits and prepare estimates with renderings,” said Dr. McLaren. “Rise stood above all others in responsiveness, flexibility, ability to provide additional professional advice about our trading room and their ability to offer financial programming for the displays — in other words, one-stop shopping. Also, Rise emphasized use of The trading room facility was launched in October 2007 with a captivating combination of tickers and LCD displays to adorn the walls — over 50 feet of scrolling ticker signage as well as three large LCD screens, situated both inside the classroom and out in the lobby. Dr. McLaren attributes a significant part of the success of the new computer lab to the digital signage. “An important aspect of this project is the high visibility of financial services education at our institution. The presence of the displays really helps us present our message to students and other stakeholders, and communicates that we are a cutting edge business school.”

The lobby displays in particular are helping to raise the College’s profile. “The visibility of the project in our main lobby has resulted in many positive comments from students, faculty, staff and visitors to the building,” Dr. McLaren continued. “We are able to use the second ticker in the lobby both for financial information and to welcome visitors to our college.”

Dr. McLaren thinks the signs are bringing other benefits to the College as well. “Clearly there is great pride in having our financial trading room as part of our College of Business, and the Rise systems immediately identify us as a business college. It is a priority stop for admissions tours. We have also used this project as the keystone for fundraising among financial specialists, and have received some significant donations that are tied directly to the trading room project. ”

Project Summary
As a business with a variety of services to offer, the Mauer Eye Center already knew exactly what they wished to broadcast, and to whom. “We wanted to be able to communicate directly with our patients, letting them know about specials we might be running on goods and services within our eye center and medical spa. We also wanted them to be able to learn more about brands we sell and the employees who sell them.”

Because their communication needs were so well defined, Mauer only needed an easy way to control the content of all of their displays. That’s why they chose Rise Display to provide their signage and setup, said Mr. Bantz. “Rise was the only company I could find that offered complete digital signage solutions. I needed a template-based design that was easy to drop content into, through an intuitive interface. I wanted to be able to update often, but not have it be labor intensive. Basically, I needed something that was packaged and easy for me to manage.”

The Solution
They hired Rise Display to install a total of eight digital displays, all controlled by the user-friendly Rise Display Network software. “We have a 65” LCD in the front entrance and several 42” displays in waiting rooms and retail endcaps. The 65” is just an amazing sight as it is built into a shadow box and looks ultra tech.”

As for their new web-based control system, Mr. Bantz said “I now have content going everywhere, managed right from my desktop. Everything is clean and professional looking.”

Mr. Bantz was also impressed by the Rise solution’s ease of use. “Friends of mine in the IT field are amazed at how we are getting all of this to these televisions over CAT5e network cable. Having eight displays centrally managed by a Rise Engine is as easy as it gets. I send all content to the displays over a matrix switcher and VGA extenders. Nothing could be cooler or easier.”

The new displays are a big hit with both staff and customers. “The staff loves it. We’re very happy. It sure beats having plain old cable TV playing in our waiting rooms advertising other things for free. What do we get out of that? We wanted to advertise ourselves. Yes, we still show cable TV on a template within the Rise system, but now there’s a lot surrounding it to attract attention to our facility.”

“The customers also love the dynamic content,” he continued. “They can walk by a display and quickly catch an ad or a college basketball score. And patient recognition of brands and specials offered within our facility has increased. Given the increased volume of questions on our goods and services offered at the eye center and medical spa, we can say that it has generated more interest and purchasing by our patients and spa clients.”

He said adding the new electronic signs has also resulted in a boost in their company’s image. “People are seeing us as technologically ‘with it.’”

Presented by Ryan Cahoy. Ryan is the Managing Director of Rise Holdings, the parent company of Rise Vision (web app provider for digital signage management) and Rise Display (complete solution provider of LED Tickers, Video Walls, and Interactive Technologies).

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In the spring of 2008, construction was completed on Lerner College’s state-of-the-art Exelon Trading Center. At 2,200 square feet, the trading center was designed to replicate trading rooms in investment banks, brokerage houses and Wall Street hedge funds. It is used as a lab for Lerner College’s finance and economics students, and for individual and group project work and research. The lab boasts 22 workstations, each equipped with dual monitors and desktop finance applications such as Bloomberg, Reuters, SASS, WRDS and MATLAB. Crucial to completing this real-world trading environment — and opening it to students — was to incorporate electronic signage communicating financial market data.

The Solution
When Rich Jakotowicz, director of the Exelon Trading Center, joined the University in August 2008, Rise Display had already been selected as a vendor for the electronic signage. Rise had worked with the University to install four digital signs and two ticker boards in both the interior and exterior of the lab: one ticker and one LCD were placed in the hallway outside the Exelon Trading Center, in easy view of students, faculty and staff, and guests, while the remaining LCDs and ticker were installed inside the lab.

“It was my job to determine the content on the displays,” says Mr. Jakotowicz. “And that decision was determined by the students and curriculum.”

Rise worked with Mr. Jakotowicz and other university staff to implement content that would support Lerner College’s curriculum, as well as the university club that allows students to manage an approximately $1 million investment portfolio.

Today, students in the Exelon Trading Lab turn to the two led tickers to assess live stock quotes. Many of those quotes are from the student-managed portfolio, whose value has doubled from $500,000 since the late 1990s. Meanwhile, the LCDs communicate bond yields, stock market indices, foreign exchange rates, commodity pricing and key interest rates. One of the LCDs plays CNBC on a regular basis. And, says Mr. Jakotowicz, “There are about half a dozen events a year for which I’d upload a personalized greeting.”

He adds, “The electronic signage is the kind of thing that only enhances a curriculum. I heard a saying a long time ago that we [university faculty] are immigrants to the world of technology, whereas today’s students are natives. Students who have grown up with technology expect and need that kind of technology [in the classroom]. If universities don’t take the time to acknowledge that need, they’re really missing the mark.”

Project Summary
Although Heritage Valley strives to be uniquely connected to its community, with a large employee base of over 4,300 and two main hospitals 17 miles apart, it was often difficult to make sure everyone received information in a timely manner.

Carlotta Morgan, interactive media coordinator for the health system, remembers having to go to one location to deliver communication and then having to travel to the other location to do the same thing. “Of course,” she adds, “nobody gets the information at the same time.”

Having a central spot for displaying information would help, the hospital administrators decided. Initially, they tried using an LED display in the Sewickley hospital lobby to provide information, but the static display didn’t meet their needs. Heritage Valley wanted a system that could be expanded and used for two audiences: consumers and employees. Mrs. Morgan also wanted to be able to create a more dynamic display.

At first, Heritage Valley evaluated LCD digital displays that could be completely customized. They also considered buying a more encompassing subscription program, but found that those options often had features that weren’t needed and that were to expensive.

The Solution
Eventually, Heritage Valley selected Rise Display. The digital signs allow them to display live data, text, photos, animations, TV programs and videos from a computer and view it on the display screen.

“We used it out of the box,” Mrs. Morgan says. “Rise customized a template that met our branding standards, but other than that, it’s an out of the box solution.”

Heritage Valley bought four LCD displays to use in the main lobbies and cafeterias of the two hospitals. Since that initial investment three years ago, they have purchased four more units. In addition to installing one more display at each hospital, the have put two in their walk-in clinics, located in area Walmart stores.

As with any technological product, parts occasionally wear out. When that happened, Mrs. Morgan was extremely impressed with the customer service she received from Rise.
“They drop-shipped me the unit and I had it the next day. They were there to help me with all the configurations,” Mrs. Morgan recalls. She adds: “I love Rise.”

Heritage Valley anticipates using the Rise displays as an integral part of the hospital’s communication tools. Even now, Mrs. Morgan posts teasers on the displays directing viewers to information available on the hospital website. She looks forward to using the displays to provide real- time wait times at the various locations so patients can determine where they may receive care faster.

“That’s the ease of this,” she says. “Getting (information) down quickly and getting it up quickly.”

FIU’s colleges and schools offer more than 200 bachelor, master and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations and law. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU has been locally and globally engaged for more than four decades finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time.

FIU is also South Florida’s leading business school, with unique expertise in international business, entrepreneurship and a range of financial services from accounting to banking to real estate. U.S. News & World Report ranks FIU among the top international business schools in the U.S. for international business. BusinessWeek reports them among the best accredited business schools in the U.S.

Project Summary
Helen K. Simon, CFP, is a finance faculty member at FIU’s College of Business Administration. She is also the academic director of the School’s Capital Markets Lab.

“The Capital Markets Lab is a 2,200 square foot, state- of-the-art trading, research and teaching facility,” she explains. “The purpose of this facility is to provide hands- on learning experiences for our students in professional software applications and tools using electronic sources of financial, marketing, and investment data.”

One prominent conveyor of that financial information is a new Rise ticker that shows real-time data from fixed income, equity and foreign exchange markets. It’s a striking LED Ticker that stretches a total of 78 feet in length around the lab, with a 90 degree curve that lets it span multiple walls, effectively surrounding the students with a continuous stream of data.

Dr. Simon says the College is very pleased with their digital sign choice. “We’ve received lots of positive feedback. The ticker just creates the right atmosphere in the room — an authentic environment. It draws attention to our facility and starts many conversations.”

Why did they decide on a Rise ticker? “We wanted to communicate an authentic atmosphere to our students, faculty, the business community and potential donors,” says Dr. Simon. “This facility provides data and information technology resources not only for finance courses, but also for a variety of disciplines, including accounting, marketing, decision sciences, international business and IT.”

Dr. Simon has also seen evidence of the educational value of installing the ticker. “Students and staff are beginning to ask very specific questions about security prices and what the trade data means, bringing to light the fact that this adds to their real world education. With equipment like the Rise ticker in our Capital Markets Lab, the College is better able to prepare students for the strong job market in financial services and the ever-changing technological landscape in today’s corporate world.”

The success of their ticker purchase has led FIU to acquire other Rise digital signage as well, including a Rise Engine, content services to run three large 65-inch LCDs, and another 9-foot ticker for their main lobby.

“We knew little about tickers before we started this process, and we have Rise to thank for an education. We purchased our ticker through the competitive bidding process, and no other company came close to Rise in terms of customer service, and value.”

Project Summary
Gary Huether, president of Arooga’s, knew from the onset that he wanted to include high-tech digital signage in his restaurants. “With being a sports bar, being able to incorporate real-time sports scores was very important,” Mr. Huether explains. He also aimed to use the digital signage for advertising daily and weekly specials and special events.

Mr. Huether first came in contact with Rise Display at the Las Vegas Nightclub and Bar Convention and Trade Show. Among Rise’s wares was a vertical display that caught Mr. Huether’s interest. “With so many TVs in our places, some of the horizontal displays can blend in,” he says. “But the verticals really draw people’s attention.” 

Additionally, “We were finding that not too many [companies] offered the live sports feed, which was one of our biggest needs,” he says. “But Rise did.”

Rise Display worked with Mr. Huether to design and install four 42” vertical boards, and many horizontal displays ranging from 37” to 50”, at each Arooga’s location. At least one vertical board is located in each lobby and is used to display rotating specials and advertisements for special events. “While guests are waiting for tables, I think [the vertical displays] get more of their attention than a stand-alone billboard,” says Mr. Huether. “And once we have their attention and are rotating the ads, I think they’re retaining more about our specials because it is something neat and unique.”

Because the flexibility to make content changes himself was important to Mr. Huether, he was provided access to web-based software that allows for changes to be made within minutes. “It’s as easy as uploading a .jpeg to an e- mail,” Mr. Huether enthuses.

Among the 100-plus televisions in each Arooga’s location, the electronic displays keep customers updated with real-time sports scores and game time information. Arooga’s also uses the digital displays for direct marketing and co-op marketing, which was an additional benefit, says Mr. Huether.

“I think the [displays] are great,” he says. “They’re building advertising in-house, and we can upload content by ourselves in a minute. They’re also doing the wow factor. When people walk into the lobby and see a vertical board with our name and brand on it, I think they see that we’re up with technology. It’s something new.”

“We wanted to provide a variety of information on one screen to all our students, faculty and staff,” explained Dick Laird, the College of Business’ director of development, about their decision to install an entire network of displays throughout the building. They were attracted to Rise Display’s solutions because Rise offered “a program that was tailor-made for our needs,” he said. That program included access to the Rise Display Wire, an online control panel created by Rise that lets authorized users create custom messages for their own digital signs and specify precisely where and when those messages are displayed on campus.

Mr. Laird added that there was another important reason for their new display network. “We also wanted to provide a method to relay emergency information to the occupants of the College of Business Administration.” When severe weather systems such as blizzards or tornados arise suddenly, for example, the College can use Rise Display Wire’s convenient “Alerts” feature to quickly type in a message that appears in red and white flashing letters, complete with an audible tone, to let everyone know of the danger immediately. When necessary, they can also switch the content of all their screens from their regular campus communications messages to a full-screen broadcast of the Weather Channel, thereby bringing up-to-the-minute weather information to everyone simultaneously.

Results
Interest in, and reactions to, their new display system have been uniformly favorable, said Mr. Laird. “Though our system is still new, it already appears to be used continuously by students, faculty and staff. We have received several ‘thank you’ comments and positive articles in the university paper about this new service in the College of Business Administration.”

It as also been easy to learn how to use the Rise Display Wire software. “Rise’s support staff have been available and quick to respond to our needs as we learn this new system,” said Mr. Laird. “Rise Display has met our needs and helped us elevate the information format of the College of Business Administration into the 21st century.”

“Without people, our ministries are not very effective. We can’t meet people’s needs if they don’t know what ministries we offer, or how they can be involved to help us meet the needs of others.”

Project Summary
Steve Weir, director of technology services for Grace Point, explains why he recently led a drive to update and improve the church’s methods of communicating with its members. “We wanted to further communicate the needs of our church to our attendees. We also wanted to further advertise the various ministries, and promote them, in hopes of getting more people involved here at Grace Point.”

His recommendation was to add digital signage to the church’s communication strategy. “We had been relying on a weekly paper bulletin and Power Point announcement slides before each service. But not everyone is able to view those. This also meant that we were missing our mid-week visitors and those who don’t receive a weekly bulletin.”

The Solution
Grace Point hired Rise Display to install three new digital LCD signs. “We now have a new display in each of the entranceways to our church,” Mr. Weir explained, “and a third display on our Missions Wall. This third screen displays missions-specific content, including missionary profiles and thought-provoking missions-related videos.”

The ability to include video and other rich content makes the displays useful and attractive. “The more ways we can get information out to people, the better,” he said. “The displays are visually attractive and grab people’s attention as they walk past them. Information is getting out and we aren’t relying solely on the paper bulletin.”

Mr. Weir said that reaction to the new media has been very favorable. “Thus far, our attendees have been rather impressed with the overall look of the displays. They do look great out in the lobby! The displays have really enhanced the aesthetic look and feel of both our lobby and our Missions area.

“The church staff has also been pleased with the new displays and the potential for ministry development and member participation. All of the feedback has been positive. Everyone loves the appearance of the displays and appreciates the additional media through which they can now receive information.”

And demand is growing for additional uses for the signs. “I frequently receive requests to add more content to the displays. Our ministry leaders especially see the potential positive impact the displays can have for their respective ministries. They’re consistently asking to have their ministry featured on the various displays.”

To meet that demand, Mr. Weir uses Rise Display Network, the online digital sign content management software supplied by Rise Display that makes it easy for church officials to change the messages on their own signs themselves. As he explained, “The website for uploading content is easy to use and very convenient.”

Overall, Mr. Weir says that his church is very pleased with the sign project’s outcome. “I have already recommended Rise to others as a premier digital signage solution.”

Project Summary
The Harold H. Bate building houses College of Business classrooms as well as the Departments of English and Foreign Language and Literatures, Business Education, and more. It contains 65 classrooms and labs, 30 of which are tiered, and 180 faculty offices. Associate Dean for Computer Services Richard Kerns says, “It’s a joint building, and it was constructed in a way that makes it adaptable [to technology].”

The building’s adaptability was a decided plus in 2007, when the College decided to incorporate an effective, modern way of relaying news, announcements, financial data, and stock and commodity information. The College originally tried to design their own electronic signage system, but found that it was both more complicated and cost-prohibitive than anticipated. Instead, they chose to invest in a more affordable and convenient turnkey solution from Rise Display.

The Solution
To satisfy the College’s need for a high-technology yet attractive communications solution, Rise designed and installed eight large-screen LCDs in custom wooden enclosures. “We treat the LCDs as four installations,” says Dean Kerns. “Each installation has two screens.”

There are two installations on either end of the first floor and third floor of the Harold T. Bate building, and the College utilizes Rise’s web-based Display Wire software to design, change and control the content of the displays.

Today, three years after their installation, the digital signs are as useful as ever. They display financial and stock data, currency displays and commodities pricing, as well as the weather and one of several news stations. In addition, College-specific announcements — such as scholarship availability, awards and guest speaker appearances — are within easy view of passing students and faculty.

“I often see people standing there and looking at the LCDs,” says Dean Kerns. “Usually for two or three minutes at a time. Quite a few people use them.”

He adds, “I’m very pleased with how reliable [the LCDs] are. I wouldn’t do anything differently today than I did then.”

Project Summary
Until recently, they did not have a very efficient way to communicate the menu to the students and building staff. “We would post a small 8”×10” sign board on the wall in several spots, with the full week’s menu. The students would have to walk to the sign, check to see what was being served in each line and then go to that line. This caused crowding at the cashier stands and delays in the lines.”

What they needed was a better way to display the menus to the students to avoid crowding. Their solution to this problem was to hang a large digital menu board on the wall where all of the students could see the menus without blocking any of the busy lunchtime traffic. “We needed to convey the daily menu for each of the lunch lines, and we also wanted to be able to reach the students at the Senior High School in a ‘techie’ way that they could relate to.”

The Solution
The department selected Rise Display to supply them with everything that they required to implement their plan. “Rise had what we needed and it didn’t look too complicated to run or set up or change,” said Ms. Maas. “To piece together a solution by myself was just not feasible — time-wise, product-wise or content-wise.”  The display solution that Rise provided to Wayzata High School included not only the large LCD screen itself, but also the user-friendly Display Wire software that lets Ms. Maas change the menus herself from day to day.

Results
“We are very pleased with both the sign and its content. The district maintenance staff installed the screens, the district electrician installed the Rise engine and the district carpenter built a box around each screen to match the wood in the rest of the building. The whole setup looks very sharp. One major advantage is that there are no visible buttons. We have received many compliments on the set up.”

And the Display Wire software they use to run the sign? “Once everything was up and running, it all ran smoothly. It has been great. It’s very easy to learn and maintain.”

According to Ms. Maas, their new LCD display is a huge hit with both staff and students. “The staff loved the high school signs. Now the kids don’t crowd around the cashier stands to look at the menus — they can look above the lines and tell very quickly what is being served on each line. Some start looking as they are coming down the hall.”

“And best of all, the kids are constantly commenting on how cool the signs are.”

The Rise Display team installed the two LCDs in January 2010. WCROC staff provided Rise with initial content to be displayed, and Rise held a training session the following month. After that, Ms. Spohr assumed the responsibility of changing and updating content on the digital displays.

Final Result
Both new Rise Display LCDs are located side by side in the main entryway to the new auditorium. The digital signs are in high visibility to university staff, extension staff, and the renewable energy groups that participate in meetings at WCROC. The LCDs feature the WCROC mission statement, images of the recent construction, and WCROC’s calendar. “We make changes to the content every other week as our calendar changes,” notes Ms. Spohr, who uses the Web- based software provided by Rise Display. “When we have events, we’ll add even more information and pictures.”

Project Summary
Right before a big open house was to occur at SPC, the digital display system they had invested in failed them. SPC’s Rich Griffin, network administrator, tells the story:

“System Planning Corporation provides research and development, systems engineering and technology support services to a wide variety of government and commercial clients. We had been using static signage to provide our conference customers with information on where to find the conference room locations for their meetings, but the building owner had become unhappy with our signs being placed all over the elevator lobbies.

So we were looking for a very modest digital sign alternative: dual elevator lobby monitors on three separate floors here at our corporate headquarters, as well as larger monitors in reception areas on the same three floors. As for content, our elevator lobby monitors would be used for corporate PR, new and existing employee spotlights, conferencing schedules for our internal users, as well as conference services we provide for external users, the occasional in-house produced video and cable TV.

When we first discovered Rise Display, we were essentially trying to find an acceptable digital display solution for a failed implementation provided by a previous vendor. We had contracted with a local digital signage provider, but after all the paperwork had been signed, it was determined that their solution would be wholly inadequate for our purposes.

There was a great deal of urgency, because the fact that the previous vendor’s signage product was completely unacceptable forced us to scramble to find another vendor who could meet our now compressed deadline. Basically, we needed to have our digital signage up and running in time for our Open House — which included a walk-through by our CEO to show off our newly remodeled corporate headquarters — that was scheduled quite soon.

I did some quick research and determined that Rise’s internet-based solution would meet our needs and that Rise could implement it within a very tight deadline that we were working under. After trying the Rise Display Network demo before we decided to purchase it, I felt confident that it would be an easily manageable solution.

We liked that it’s internet-based. We felt the combination of the Rise-created templates with our own in-house content, as well as the web-based management approach, was the easiest solution for us.
So we had Rise do the full installation of all monitors and monitor mounts, including three 42” monitors we had purchased from another vendor. They got it all done in time for our Open House. Rise was able to provide us with an attractive web-based solution with low overhead under a very tight deadline.

SPC’s managers and employees alike have been very pleased with the look of our Rise digital signage. The ability to integrate the subscription features, such as the weather, sports, news or stocks, has been a hit. And the overall look of our current templates is exactly what was envisioned when a digital signage solution was first proposed here at SPC.”