KEY TO SUCCESS

Company: Boyd Sign Systems  Project: Hotel kiosk system

Key to success: Creativity, dedication and the ability to merge classic design elements with modern signage technology.

Here is an example of a digital kiosk display built and installed by Boyd Sign Systems at the Sheraton Hotel in Denver, Colo. Boyd Sign services several high-end clients in the area.

Jim Zazenski, president of Denver-based Boyd Sign Systems, describes the company’s relatively new involvement with high-tech digital signage as a “leap” into a different kind of industry and business model.

But progress has never compromised the company’s dedication to craftsmanship, which is why company owner Dan Boyd counters, “It’s been a journey.” And you have to believe it must have been a journey—one that has lasted 65 years so far.

BADGE OF HONOR

It began with the wholesale business—Boyd Distributing Co.—established on the outskirts of downtown Denver in 1945. For decades the company’s divisions distributed a diverse line of products that included electronics, major appliances, steel, records, beverages, golf carts and commercial power equipment. They were a major distributor for brands such as Kitchen Aid, Capitol Records and Sony. The Sony distributorship grew into a significant portion of the business until in 1989 Sony eliminated its distributors and began selling direct.

Boyd says losing Sony was a blow, but things have a way of working out. He decided to start three more companies to make up for the loss. He later sold two of the new companies, but kept the third, a business making hand-carved wood plaques for Christian bookstores.

This 900 pound outdoor kiosk is robust, airtight, watertight, and is completely interactive, with active heating, cooling and even a ventilation and security system. It underwent significant testing before being installed.

Fast forward to 2010 and that company, Boyd Sign Systems, is headquartered only a few miles from the warehouse the original company occupied for decades, but in a state-of-the-art sign manufacturing facility that has been set up to balance the demands of large roll-outs with those of custom one-off projects that require the creativity and dedication of skilled craftsmen.

“We excel at our finishing, state-of-the-art painting and the safety, quality, and fit and finish of our products,” says Zazenski. But it’s a badge of honor to him when he declares that out of 20 craftsmen on staff, there are six, “Who you can hand a piece of Sign Foam and say, ‘Here. Carve this,’ and they can hand-carve a masterpiece.” Those carvings are often made into molds from which thousands of pieces are cast to become components of architectural sign systems for a group of very discriminating clientele.

“Our focus is on our people,” says Boyd. Several of those people have been with the company since the beginning. “They have great attitudes, they are great craftsmen, artists and sculptors. The sign business gives them an outlet to do what they love to do.”

The company’s client base has grown to include familiar names like Hilton and Sheraton hotels, as well as places like Denver’s famous Brown Palace Hotel. A number of custom hand-carved wood signs are still part of the mix, but so is a system of digital kiosks or a 30,000-piece system of ADA wayfinding and room signs for places like the Venetian and Palazzo Resort and Casino, or the Vdara Resort at City Center in Las Vegas, or the Hilton in Washington, D.C.

A prototype kiosk enclosure for Navy recruiting centers.

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL

Zazenski jokes that only a few short years back they could spell “digital signage,” but that was about the extent of their involvement with the industry. It didn’t occur to them that digital signage had any connection to their product line. But things change.

“It started when Byron Frizell, one of our sales guys, had a request for digital signage,” he says. Frizell’s inquiries led him to Four Winds Interactive, a digital signage software and content provider that happened to be headquartered only a few miles away.

It turned out to be a perfect match because Four Winds, predominately a software company, was not set up to build enclosures or to carry out detailed installations. “They saw they could use us as an avenue to help sell software,” Zazenski says, “because they were getting requests all the time to install these systems, with a nice surround around the screen.”

Four Winds also had requests for freestanding interactive kiosks, some of which would be installed in very high-end locations where aesthetics was a priority.

Zazenski says that for a year and a half a project manager and designer were assigned to investigate the feasibility of entering the digital signage market. “It sounds easy until you consider all the monitors out there and how quickly they change and the bezels and mechanics necessary to just mount a monitor. It’s one thing to put a surround around a monitor and another thing to get it mounted securely on a wall. They didn’t want anything to do with that part of it. So we did all of that original legwork and engineering. They gave us the job and we proved we can meet crazy deadlines.”

Boyd Sign Systems’ relationship with Four Winds Interactive has exploded into dozens and dozens of successful digital signage and kiosk projects, ranging from a simple 15" monitor to dual 42" interactive cabinets.

Final touches in the shop.

RECOGNIZING THE NICHE

Zazenski sees the expanding market for these kinds of kiosks to include museums, outdoor venues, public parks and nature trails. But outdoor situations come with a unique set of demands: clarity in direct sunlight, robust construction, protective surfaces, the ability to withstand degrading UV light, intense summer heat, bitter winter cold, dust, rain, snow, ice, and vandals–to name a few.

Most of those challenges have been met, Zazenski says, pointing to a prototype kiosk in its last stages of testing.

The unit is a robust, airtight, watertight freestanding indoor/outdoor kiosk that weighs 900 pounds, is completely interactive, with active heating, cooling and ventilation and a security system. Testing has included being baked in ovens, left out in the rain, snow and ice, and doused with a garden hose for days.

While there is growing interest in digital signage throughout all market sectors, the technology is still new enough that it takes some digging to first discover a client’s needs and then match those needs to what is growing into a broad selection of digital signage and kiosk choices.

“We have a questionnaire to help decipher where the customer is in the process,” Zazenski explains. “Some know the monitor and PC they want, and have a preference for the content software. Some don’t know and they do a lot of hand waving. So our job is to match them up with things we’re familiar with. Our piece of the puzzle is assisting with the hardware, the manufacture of enclosures, mounting mechanisms and ventilation. We can specify the components; we know which ones we’re comfortable with and we build the cabinet around it.

“We’re also happy to go out and do a complete installation. We work hand in hand with the content software folks. We’ll go fire up the PCs and get everything mounted. We’ll be there hand in glove to make sure it functions properly.”

SUCCESSES AND OUTLOOK

Digital signs and digital kiosks have been labeled “disruptive” and there is no doubt some digital signs are putting pressure on producers of various types of static signage. Zazenski acknowledges that high-tech signs are displacing some of their own architectural product lines such as welcome boards, directories and sliders for meeting room announcements. But in the big picture, these are a small part of an overall architectural sign package.

So when asked if he is worried that there may be some drop in demand for some product lines, he answers, “Absolutely not! I think they are a perfect complement to one another. They are replacing a very small segment of our traditional market, but at the same time they are enhancing and creating a new segment because, like a PDA, it’s something new that we didn’t have before.”

Zazenski believes digital signage software companies like Four Winds Interactive are riding a wave and the role of sign companies is to support them and be with them to meet their customers to talk about digital signage. “It’s a higher budget item that is often discussed with folks who are not involved in the architectural side of things,” he says. “Now we’re doing that, and that’s why the Hilton in D.C. was such a big win for us. We were able to lock it all up—architectural and digital—ship it all out and install it, taking advantage of all the economies of scale, and show the customer an efficiency because of that.”

Still, efficiencies aside, the company has no intention of giving up on its original premise of delivering top-notch craftsmanship. As evidence, Zazenski points to the recent digital signage installation at Denver’s Brown Palace Hotel and calls it, “a testimony to the craftsmanship of our folks.” The Brown opened in 1892 and ever since has been a symbol of impeccable style and craftsmanship. “We had to blend kiosks and displays into the existing woodwork, match some of the paneling and have it all look like it’s been there forever. They trusted us to do it. We’re very proud of the result. Butted right up to the state-of-the-art screen is Old World wood craftsmanship.”