San Diego Center Adds Digital TV For Exhibitor Ads

<B> San Diego Center Adds Digital TV For Exhibitor Ads</B>

By Elaine Cipriano

The San Diego Convention Center is utilizing the new technology of digital television to expand the volume of exhibitor advertising and promotions that can be displayed on video screens in the facility. The center is the second, after Tampa's, to receive the Convention Visitor Broadcast Network, marketed by San Diego-based Visual Media.

While video has been present in convention centers for years, digital television is a significant advancement because it allows simultaneous multiple screen displays, rather than just one video image at a time.

With digital TV, a convention center can broadcast revenue-generating advertising or exhibitor promotions at the same time it shows information such as schedules, weather, news and sports.

A trade show or convention will find it less costly to use the CVBN to display information, compared with traditional video display systems, said Visual Media executive vice president Tom Cuomo. And show managers will have the option to help sell use of the system to exhibitors and share in the revenue with the convention center and Visual Media.

"Previously, we had a static display that occupied a lot of space," said Carol Wallace, president of the San Diego Convention Center Corp. "This system lets us do more with less space, which gives us more revenue opportunities."

At the Tampa center, executive director Wilhemina Boyd said the system "gives air time for the facility, promotes corporate business and gives wider exposure to exhibitors." Show managers in Tampa have been able to deliver pertinent information to attendees and earn revenue from exhibitor sales while exhibitors have increased booth traffic.

Peter Mangelli, president of the Trade Show Exhibitors Association, said digital TV may prove successful if costs are less than other advertising methods.