Insider interviewed Will Shanklin last month about Baltimore’s spectacular 52′ by 42′ LED Billboard which is located across from Penn Station. The sign sells digital ads and also features local artists and supports community events. Insider talked to Formetco’s Jim Shimmin and Joel Hurst about the installation and operation of the sign. Hurst is Director of Creative Services at Formetco. He helps clients to better sell and schedule their displays and troubleshoots software issues. Hurst has a terrific youtube video of the billboard in action at the Baltimore 2015 Artscape.
Jim, how difficult was it to install a 52′ by 42′ Digital sign in downtown Baltimore?
We put in quite a bit of work on a site survey and provided two techs to assist in the install. Selective Structures did the fabrication. They were on site for about a month doing prep work and modifying the structure to handle the digital sign. The actual install took about a day.
Joel tell us about the creative programming things Formetco does with during Baltimore’s artscape?
We worked with the crew at LED Baltimore to bring the Arts to life on a huge scale. In 2014, our first year at Artscape, we utilized common digital billboard practices like displaying social media feeds to live animation by a local artist from the roof of the building where the display resides. In 2015, we really wanted to bring out all the big guns, from live broadcasting of artists working on projects during the festival to live video of the opening night festivities, including a concert and live video gaming by hooking up an original Nintendo system kitty corner to the display, where passers-by were able to play Super Mario Bros. and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out on a grander scale than they though possible. Will Shanklin and his team have been great to work with, in coming up with ideas, and luckily we’ve been able to help figure out how to get everything to work seamlessly. Wait til you see what’s in store for 2016!
In what ways do you assist clients post install to make sure they are getting the most our of their signs.
I always tell our customers that the word “no” doesn’t enter my mind when they come up with a request. I truly believe in this medium, and want to push it to be the best it can be, with Formetco at the forefront of innovation. Clients reach out to me with their ideas, and our team thrives on the challenges of bringing them to life.
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