Yesterday, I ran a great webinar with Sprint (News - Alert), ICG, Popstar and Reach3D about digital signage.

You can watch the event by clicking here.

Or you can read the rest of my thoughts first, and then check it out.

I was taken with the discussion and the ability to use digital signs to support social media during a social event. I came away being aware that presence was going to bring a new dimension to your experiences in the future.

First of all, a bit of a warning. I rarely like being in crowds. So given the experience of watching something on TV versus being there, I have usually chosen the TV. However, I see the use of social media with digital signs as adding to the experience of being there in a way that makes the crowd more manageable for the likes of me. 

Some of the discussion pointed to obvious retail settings and sporting events. Some were less obvious to me, like the ability to network digital signs for bus terminals, food retailers and movie trailers.

While for many people the Reach3D solutions were particularly fascinating, as they explained their ability to deliver 3D images to the digital sign market, I found the mobility of wireless the most compelling aspect.

My retailers never seem to have a clear strategy as to how to sell. Particularly I find them moving displays around. Traditionally retailers have been reluctant to move things around, but if you look at Apple (News - Alert) and most electronics stores, the items have a tendency to shift. I think this is a trend that will continue. 

Particularly as categories crystallize in the market. For example, tablets right now are rarely displayed together. Everyone gets to be the king of their own universe. Nooks are not near Kindles and Xooms are not near iPads, Playbooks or anything else.

In the grocery store, placement is everything. And the digital signs at the cashier strike me as too little too late. However, if they were in the cart and replaced the poor real estate agent desperately looking for name recognition (at an inopportune time) they might have something. Particularly if Near Field Communication were used. 

Right now that real estate agent is looking for you to be sitting there buying bulk and thinking you need a bigger house.    But what if she could share a recipe as you went past her family’s secret ingredients? Now we have a connection.

In particular the social aspects of the digital signs did not get lost on me.

The right sign in the right place still needs the ability to make the connection. Impulse buying to the extreme.   Watch a trailer for a movie at the mall and being able to buy a ticket for it at the same time makes a lot more sense than passing the sign for the movie and having to remember the desire to buy.

This can be overcome by the phone in your hands with Quick codes and other connections.

But the point is to make the content available under the right context.    That makes me not only want to be present; it makes me want to share my presence.

Want to learn more about M2M technologies? Then be sure to check out the M2M Evolution conference, collocated with TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. The M2M Evolution Conference is for those industry professionals interested in capitalizing on a rapidly growing segment of the telecom industry. The M2M Evolution Conference embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media, it showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead. To register, click here.