Jeff Hastings

Jeff Hastings

Jeff Hastings is CEO of BrightSign. He joined BrightSign in August 2009 while it was still a division of Roku Inc. In late 2010 with digital signage activities growing so rapidly, BrightSign became a separate firm. The holder of eight U.S. patents, he also has a history of tech industry leadership, including as president of mp3 pioneer Rio. Reach him at jhastings@brightsign.biz.

Powering Down Your Digital Signage

Five Simple Steps to Reduce the Power Consumption of Your Displays and Players With energy costs rising at 30% year over year, businesses are increasingly concerned about reducing consumption. Digital signage is way below heating, lighting and air conditioning in terms of energy consumption in most offices and retail outlets. Nevertheless, the displays are very […]

Powering Down Your Digital Signage

Powering the Next Generation of Immersive Digital Experiences

I’m energized to see our industry emerge from the pandemic stronger than it’s ever been. As people return to their normal routines, they’re welcomed by immersive experiences at every turn. Interactive, sensory installations like the All Blacks Experience and Weta Workshop Unleashed in Auckland, New Zealand serve as prime examples of AV technology taken to […]

Powering the Next Generation of Immersive Digital Experiences

Context-Sensitive Signage Is Raising the Bar in Interactivity

Smart use of sensors is enabling the creation of context-sensitive signage that will transform what we mean by interactivity. In the future, signage will look and listen and feel, responding to the surrounding environment so that interaction with it becomes natural and closer to interaction with another person. For example, if you select and pick […]

Context-Sensitive Signage Is Raising the Bar in Interactivity

Why We Need A More Collaborative Approach To Education In The AV Space

No matter where you live within the AV ecosystem, chances are a big part of your job is studying up on the latest technology. After all, if you’re going to offer your customers a compelling solution, you need to keep your finger on the pulse of technical innovation that’s continuously happening throughout our industry. Traditionally, this […]

Why We Need A More Collaborative Approach To Education In The AV Space

How the AV Industry Is Getting Smaller (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

As 2022 gets underway, one can’t help but reflect on how transformative the past two years have been. The AV industry endured pandemic-driven changes that nobody could have anticipated. With the benefit of hindsight, it’s becoming clear that our industry is not only changing, but it’s becoming smaller (which is good, and I’ll explain why […]

How the AV Industry Is Getting Smaller (And Why That’s a Good Thing)

See You at InfoComm!

If we’ve learned nothing else from this pandemic, we’ve certainly learned the importance of adaptation in the face of ever-changing circumstances. Like any crisis situation, countless times we’ve needed to quickly assess a situation, measure risks and make the best decision possible with the information available at that particular moment. Even once decisions were made, […]

See You at InfoComm!

Making the Case for Cellular Connectivity in the AV Space

Mobile connectivity is indispensable in our personal lives. Our phones are our lifeline — our conduit to virtually every aspect of our digital lives, from social networks to email to countless apps and other web-based portals. There’s no denying that cellular connections are our on-ramp to the connected world, especially when we’re outside our homes […]

Making the Case for Cellular Connectivity in the AV Space

The Lockdown Boom in Retail AV

It’s been a good year for retail AV sales. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The truth is, there were winners as well as losers this past year, and the winners won big. BrightSign received the single-largest PO in its history right in the middle of lockdown. That PO came from a retailer.  Retailers whose business was […]

The Lockdown Boom in Retail AV

Security Before Performance in our Connected AV World

In the connected world of cloud-based signage, security has to take precedence over performance and functionality when operating over corporate IT networks. This is often painful for AV managers. Even the flashiest, most impressive AV systems are inherently flawed if there is potential for a network to become a point-of-entry for hackers. In my experience, […]

Security Before Performance in our Connected AV World

5 Things We Learned About Digital Signage During the Pandemic

The past year demonstrated how the immense flexibility of digital signage helped many organizations quickly adapt to operate safely during the pandemic. And while we’re not yet out of the woods, this is a good time to reflect on some takeaways from the COVID-19 crisis. 1. The flexibility of digital signage has been a lifesaver […]

5 Things We Learned About Digital Signage During the Pandemic

Digital Signage Lends a Helping Hand to New York’s Mass-Vaccination Efforts

The digital signage space just emerged from a year that none of us could ever have anticipated. And while the temporary closure of stores, restaurants and other businesses put a great deal of pressure on our industry last year, we quickly learned how indispensable digital displays were to safely navigate the pandemic. Digital signage became […]

Digital Signage Lends a Helping Hand to New York’s Mass-Vaccination Efforts

Connectivity During a Pandemic Is Essential Business

The pandemic has illuminated the importance of connectivity in our lives. We’ve had to adapt how our kids learn, how we socialize with friends and family, and how we work. Technology has and continues to play a key role in bringing people together while we’re physically distant. This paradigm shift holds especially true in the […]

Connectivity During a Pandemic Is Essential Business

The Importance of Investing in the Future

One thing that’s become clear to me over the past several months is how critically important it is that each and every one of us stay engaged and involved through this tough time. Despite the promising vaccine news that’s been trickling out recently, we still have a long road to recovery. And how quickly we […]

The Importance of Investing in the Future

The Touch-Free Future of Interactivity in Retail

What’s old is new again, at least as it relates to interactive digital signage at retail. Years ago, when touch screen interactivity approached mainstream adoption in retail, customers were adapting to a new workflow. The progression of customers understanding, trusting and ultimately using touch-interactive signage took time. After all, retailers were resetting shopping behavior that […]

The Touch-Free Future of Interactivity in Retail

Processing the Demise of DSE

Earlier this week, DSE show organizers confirmed what many of us had suspected for months — that DSE would not happen as planned in 2020. What came as a bit of a surprise was Exponation’s entry into Chapter 7 bankruptcy — such an abrupt and terminal move by the organization that lifted up our industry […]

Processing the Demise of DSE

Thoughtful Deployment of Temperature Screening During COVID-19

Throughout the world, organizations of all sorts are grappling with the challenge of safely operating against the backdrop of COVID-19. Retail establishments, restaurants, professional offices, public spaces – they’re all looking for ways to resume operations while mitigating pathogen spread. A basic but all-important precaution of doing so is to screen temperatures upon entry. It’s […]

Thoughtful Deployment of Temperature Screening During COVID-19

Four Ways the AV Industry Will Influence the Trajectory of COVID-19

COVID-19 has been a gut-punch for much of the AV industry. Not since 9/11 has the business world faced such an abrupt pause, followed by an uncertain future. In the case of this pandemic, how the future plays out will be dictated largely by viral spread, and our collective response to that threat. And while […]

Four Ways the AV Industry Will Influence the Trajectory of COVID-19

The Road Ahead for AV in Self-Driving Cars

As we turn the page on the 2010s, there’s a great deal of speculation about what this new decade will bring. Of course, nobody really knows what the future holds, but I’ve thought a lot about what’s ahead for the AV industry. One segment I find particularly interesting is the automotive space. At the CES […]

The Road Ahead for AV in Self-Driving Cars