9 Ways to Use Event Digital Signage [Plus Setup Guide]

Planning an event is no small feat. Anything you can do to simplify and streamline the process is a definite plus. 

For example, getting rid of printed materials—who was picking up the posters from the printers? Did anybody check them? Oh no! Our keynote speaker got the stomach flu and we need to change the lineup.

Digital signage is an event planner's best friend. Whether you’re organizing a corporate conference, a festival, a wedding, or anything else involving a large group of people, digital signage can elevate the experience while simplifying your job.

In this article, we’ll explore what event digital signage is, why it’s such a good idea, and key applications that will simplify your work while making your event stand out.

I've watched event teams spend the week before a conference chasing print quotes and reprint fees for a schedule that changes twice before doors open. A digital sign fixes that in about the time it takes to upload a new slide, but only if the screen itself doesn't become the thing you're troubleshooting.

What is digital signage for events?

Digital signage for events means putting a screen, like a smart TV, in front of attendees to show schedules, wayfinding, and branding that updates the moment something changes. It can be one welcome screen at the door or a full network covering wayfinding, live social feeds, and interactive touches throughout an event center.

Digital signage displays can be strategically placed throughout the venue to provide critical information to attendees. That way everyone knows what's happening, where to go, and how to stay engaged with your event.

And the biggest perk for a planner, the content can be updated instantly, making it an incredibly flexible solution for fast-paced events.

Why digital signage beats traditional print for most events

Using digital signage solutions is great for you and your attendees. First and foremost, it saves you time and money. Traditional printed signs need to be designed, printed, and installed—and if you need to make updates, you’re out of luck. 

Digital signage, on the other hand, is dynamic in nature. You can update content in real-time with just a few clicks. This means unexpected changes are covered.  And, you can reuse the same displays with different signage throughout the event. 

Welcome sign—check.✅

The speaker is about to start—check.✅

The blue Toyota blocking the fire lane is about to be towed—check.✅

Another major advantage is the level of engagement digital signage brings to the table. You can integrate interactive elements, show live social media feeds, or display personalized welcome messages at sign-in. 

This dynamic nature keeps your audience connected, informed, and excited. And, you can add dynamic content like videos or real-time updates that draw even more attention—take that printed signs​.

Digital signage also gives your event a professional and high-tech vibe. Sponsors love seeing their logos displayed prominently on screens. Attendees appreciate the convenience of digital agendas and wayfinding tools. You get a sliver of comfort knowing you can update the information.

What type of event should consider digital signage?

Digital signage is incredibly versatile. It really is a great fit for nearly any type of event. If you're hosting something with a lot of attendees or multiple rooms, then digital signage is a good idea.

Here are some instances where digital signage shines:

• Conferences and trade shows: Use signage to guide attendees, display session schedules, and showcase sponsors.

• Corporate events and meetings: Keep everyone informed about breakout sessions, keynote speakers, live Q&A sessions, and other corporate event activations happening throughout the day.

• Festivals and concerts: Show maps, lineups, and important announcements.

• Weddings and private parties: Create a custom welcome screen, seating charts, or even display the social media feed from your event hashtag.

• Sporting events: Use leaderboards and highlight scores in real time.

• Product launches and exhibitions: Engage your audience with branded content, live demos, and other event activations designed to get people talking.

9 digital signage application ideas for events

Now, let's dive into some creative ways to use digital signage at your event. Here's our favorite events signage application ideas to get you started.

Across the Juuno platform, 94 percent of businesses display images and 44 percent run video content, so a good event playlist rarely relies on a single format.

1. Wayfinding

Making navigation easy for attendees through digital signage is a great way to reduce the stress of your team. Display maps, directional arrows, and room numbers to guide people throughout the venue without having to ask for directions. This is especially helpful for larger events or spaces with multiple floors.

Below is a great example of a digital wayfinding display posted by Kate McArthur. It identifies both where to go and when to be there. These kinds of displays really keep everybody moving in the right direction.

Other use cases for wayfinding include:

• Restroom locations

• Sign-in welcome areas

• Main event halls

• VIP lounges

2. Agendas

Displaying event agendas on digital screens keeps everyone on schedule and reduces confusion. Whether it’s showing the main keynote or breakout session times, attendees can easily check the event flow. You can even update the agenda in real time if there’s a change.

In this example we can see the sleek agenda for the Polkadot booth at the Consensus 2024 conference. In addition to being eye-catching, we can see how easy it would be to update the day, event and times while staying informative and on brand. 

3. Branding

Digital signage is awesome for reinforcing your event’s branding. Whether you’re displaying your logo, event theme, or sponsor logos, these screens can create a visually cohesive experience. 

Some branding ideas include:

• Use digital signage to greet attendees with branded messages

• Display logos on a loop

• Add subtle branding to wayfinding or agenda screens​

• Feature sponsor shoutouts during breaks

4. Social media walls

Get your attendees involved by showcasing a live social media feed on a big screen. Use a custom event hashtag and pull in posts from Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook or another of your favorite sites. 

Utilizing a service like Curator.io also makes this process simple and economical. Guests love seeing their photos and posts shared in real time, and it builds a sense of community during the event.

This example posted by Digital Cues shows the conversion of a smart TV into a social media screen displaying LinkedIn and X posts. This simple display is great for showcasing hashtag campaigns during your live events.

5. Event registration

Streamline the registration process by using digital signage at check-in. These screens can guide attendees to interactive digital signage kiosks or display QR codes directly for touchless sign-ins. Digital signage makes the process faster, reduces long lines, and frees up your team for other tasks​.

Another benefit of digital event registration is that you can create digital signage that is responsive to the guest. For instance, ticket holders with assigned seating can be provided with wayfinding directions to their seats. Or, digital welcome signs can give a custom shoutout to the new arrivals. 

6. Advertising

Sponsors want exposure. Digital signage offers them premium real estate. And since the signage can continuously change throughout the event, that real estate now has prime time.

You can display sponsor logos, videos, or advertisements in high-traffic areas  like the entrance, registration desk, or near the main stage. Rotating content ensures all sponsors get the visibility they’re paying for. 

If you're feeling bold, you can also offer time slots—offering your top sponsors extra coverage between events. But be careful as you may push away more than you gain.

Here’s a post by Surf | Sui Wallet highlighting the sponsors of the Sui Showcase: Vietnam. This elegant display provides the sponsors with their names and logos while staying on brand of the event.

The same rotation works for promotion, not just sponsor logos. Swap in a limited-time offer, a raffle deadline, or a next-session reminder between sponsor slots, and the screen earns its space twice over.

7. Announcements

Digital signage makes important announcements easy. With a few clicks of a button—or even some pre-automated triggers—Schedule changes, emergency alerts, or general updates can be shared with everyone at once. 

This quick and efficient communication method improves your work, enhances the attendees experience, and provides a greatest level of safety and security for everyone involved—no matter where they are in the venue​.

8. Informational displays

Help attendees stay informed about more than just your event. Use digital signage to display real-time info like local news, weather updates, traffic conditions, or public transit schedules. 

One use case could be to display traffic maps and transit schedules in the lobby towards the end of your event. This can be especially helpful for guests who are visiting from out of town​. And, you’ll be sure to leave a lasting impression.

It's the same instinct behind the image-heavy playlists most businesses already run: give people one clear, glanceable thing to look at instead of a wall of text.

9. Leaderboards

For competitive events like hackathons, gaming tournaments, or corporate challenges, digital leaderboards add excitement by displaying real-time scores and rankings. This fosters a competitive atmosphere and keeps attendees engaged throughout the event​.

In this UUCLA_GIMHSR post we can see the Society of General Internal Medicine using digital signage to combine the leaderboard for their 2024 annual meeting alongside their hashtag campaign of X posts. Such a great way to engage attendees.

How I'd set up event digital signage in a weekend

One agency I worked with ran signage for a two-day vendor expo off a laptop browser the first year, and it crashed twice before lunch on day one. The second year they switched to Amazon Signage Sticks paired with a scheduled playlist, and the only thing anyone touched all weekend was the power button.

Step 1: Pick your hardware before you pick your content

When I set up signage for our own events, I always start with the hardware, not the content. A dedicated player like an Amazon Signage Stick costs less than a nice dinner and means I'm not troubleshooting a browser crash while people are walking through the door.

A browser on the venue's smart TV still works fine for a single, low-stakes screen you can glance at between other jobs. Where a dedicated player earns its cost is a screen that has to keep running for eight hours straight with nobody standing next to it, exactly the situation most events put a screen in.

One in five screens on the Juuno platform run on Amazon Fire TV, the single most popular dedicated player, with another 284 confirmed Amazon Signage Stick deployments across the platform.

92 percent of screens on the Juuno platform run landscape, versus 8 percent portrait. Landscape is the safer default for a wayfinding or agenda screen, and portrait earns its place for a narrow entryway or a single-column schedule.

"Events are the worst-case test for any signage setup. If a screen freezes at a store, someone notices eventually. If it freezes at a wedding or a keynote, everyone in the room sees it happen." — Matt Stone, Co-founder, Engineering, Juuno

Step 2: Build one playlist, not ten

One playlist covering your welcome screen, agenda, and sponsor rotation is usually plenty. Trying to build a separate playlist for every moment of the day just gives you more places for something to go wrong. I build mine in Canva first, since the templates keep the sizing consistent across a welcome slide, an agenda slide, and a sponsor slide without any extra design work.

The average Juuno account runs 3.4 playlists with 5.5 slides per playlist. A single well-built playlist for an event is already how most businesses operate day to day, not a stripped-down version of a bigger setup.

Step 3: Schedule it and test it the day before

Set your schedule so the agenda or sponsor rotation updates itself at the right times, then test the entire loop the day before doors open. Not the morning of. Testing a day early gives you time to fix a typo or a slide that looks different on the venue's actual TV than it did on your laptop.

Only 8 percent of businesses on the Juuno platform use time-based scheduling at all. Setting even a simple pre-event versus during-event schedule already puts you ahead of most signage setups out there.

"We built Juuno's scheduling so a playlist can be set once and left alone. For an event, that means the agenda updates itself instead of someone standing backstage refreshing a slide." — Thomas Garrood, Co-founder, Engineering, Juuno

Get affordable digital signage for your next event with Juuno

If you’re looking for affordable, easy-to-use event digital signage software, then Juuno is your perfect match. With no hardware required, you can transform any smart TV into a digital sign. We make content management as easy as building a Spotify playlist. Just upload your images, videos, or Canva designs, and then schedule them to play at specific times throughout your event.

Our integration with Canva means you can quickly create stunning designs right from the platform. Whether you're managing a single screen or multiple displays, you can curate content like a pro without any stress.

Juuno also supports social media walls, live feeds, and real-time updates, so you can keep your audience engaged without breaking a sweat. 

Ready to up your event game? Try Juuno and see how simple digital signage can be.

If you're managing signage across more than one client's events, our white label program lets you run it all under your own brand, starting at $5 per screen per month.

Event digital signage FAQs

Do I need special hardware for event digital signage, or can I just use a browser?

You can start with just a browser on the venue's smart TV, and for a single, low-stakes screen that's often enough. Once a screen has to run unattended for a full day, like an agenda board or a sponsor rotation, a dedicated player such as an Amazon Fire TV or Signage Stick removes the risk of a mid-event crash.

How far in advance should I set up digital signage for a one-day event?

Build your playlist a few days out, then schedule and test the full loop the day before doors open, not the morning of. That gives you time to catch a typo, a broken link, or a slide that looks different on the venue's actual screen than it did on your laptop.

Can an event planner or agency white-label digital signage for multiple clients' events?

Yes. Juuno's white label program lets agencies and planners run signage under their own brand across every client event, starting at $5 per screen per month. You control pricing and the client relationship, Juuno handles the underlying platform.