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Business & Tech

Bright Lights, Big City Style Hits the Library and all Over Town?

Digital Signage Factory covers all the bases from hardware to installation to content.

If you've been to the new Scotts Valley Library and noticed what looked like a scoreboard stirring new excitement in what used to be thought of as a staid place, you can thank Santa Cruz's Digital Signage Factory for the improvement.

This nine screen digital media wall was one of the company's first big installations.  The screens, donated by Seagate, post information about community events, changes at the library and stream live events like TED Talks.

Digital Signage Factory provided the screen people see at the entrance. This saves the library on paper costs and can be updated instantly with information the public needs.

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The company has jumped leaps and bounds since it started in 2010 with only $9,000 in start-up capital, a grain of sand in the budgets for companies in the interactive display industry.

Most companies jump out of the gates with tens of millions of dollars. But this hurdle doesn't phase DSF Creative Director Peter Biggam. He says the flexibility of the two man operation based out of the old Wrigley Factory on the Westside offers networking and flexibility that large competitors based in the Bay Area can't match.

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“We are technologically agnostic, which means we aren't pushing one brand of hardware. We can work with clients to find the best solutions that work in their budget,” said Biggam.

At its website, the company which is looking for investors, predicts worldwide growth of digital media to be 6.6 percent a year, reaching $2.2 trillion by the end of 2012.

The company can pinpoint the best screen options, offer technical support and create content. The ability to accomplish all these pieces makes them a one-stop shop for digital networking solutions.

“If you have an older population of people in the morning and then a lot of kids coming in at three or four in the afternoon, we can help create content that is relevant to each group and schedule it that way,” said Biggam.

He hopes to install more screens in libraries, schools and government buildings creating networks throughout the community.

“At courthouses there's all these piles of paper. Signs don't have to be huge. You could put in a 15-inch LCD screen and update changes instantaneously, for example if a lawyer doesn't show up, you know right away,” Biggam says.

They have a screen in the Museum Of Art & History downtown to post events and are working to create a network of information sharing between local nonprofits.

“The better they share information the better they can work together,” he says. “They can make sure they aren't having events at the same time, or find out how they can help each other on projects.”

The impact the rough economy has had on the small company is difficult for Biggam to gauge because it is so new, but says the company is marketing itself as a way to save money on printing supplies and be flashy enough to help draw customers in.

Company managers hope to create a network of signs downtown to lead people to the stores they want to reach.

Although its main focus is on networking locally, the company is starting to be noticed by large retailers already on top of the touch screen display trend. Digital Signage Factory just installed 10 display screens in West Marine's newest location in Florida that let people see new products, future deals, and best of all themselves.

“[West Marine] can play videos of customers who have caught the largest fish recently, giving customers another reason to come back to the store,” Biggam said.

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