Marketing Strategist

InfoComm 2026: an intern's first trip. Zach Carter joined Daktronics as an intern in May and was asked to represent the company at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas. He shares his experience in this blog post. As a Daktronics intern who joined the company in May, I recently had the opportunity to represent Daktronics at InfoComm 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada. InfoComm is one of the leading events for the professional audiovisual (AV) industry, bringing together manufacturers, integrators and end users to explore the latest technology and discuss emerging trends. With nearly 30,000 attendees from around the world, the event provided an excellent opportunity to showcase Daktronics technology and connect with customers and industry professionals. To prepare for the event, fellow intern William and I drove from Brookings, South Dakota, on a two-and-a-half-day trip, transporting the displays that would be featured in the Daktronics booth. After three days of unloading equipment, assembling displays and ensuring everything was ready for the show, Daktronics, Inc. were excited to welcome attendees and demonstrate what Daktronics had to offer. Throughout the week, visitors experienced several of its display solutions, including the 0.9mm Chip On Board (COB) 3x3 case, the 0.9mm COB 4K large display, the NPN 1.5mm floor display, and the 1.2mm NPN COB large lift case, along with several prototype technologies. It was rewarding to see attendees interact with its displays, ask questions and learn more about the innovations Daktronics continues to bring to the AV industry. During the show, I supported the sales team by engaging with booth visitors, answering questions and helping create a welcoming experience while sales representatives met with customers. As this was my first trade show, I also had the opportunity to meet many members of the Daktronics sales team from across the country and gain a better understanding of how different departments work together to create a successful event. One of the most memorable parts of the trip was accompanying a salesperson on a customer visit outside of the convention. Experiencing those conversations firsthand provided valuable insight into how Daktronics develops lasting customer relationships and works to understand each customer's unique needs. It reinforced that the experience extends well beyond the trade show floor. My biggest takeaway from InfoComm was experiencing the culture at Daktronics. From the first day of setup through the final day of the show, employees across the company were welcoming, supportive and eager to share their knowledge. Whether working alongside the sales team, meeting colleagues from different departments or interacting with customers, I saw firsthand the teamwork and collaboration that makes Daktronics successful. Attending InfoComm was an incredible opportunity to learn more about the AV industry while gaining hands-on experience representing Daktronics. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a large industry event, connect with colleagues and customers, and experience the innovation and teamwork that defines the company. I want to thank the product demo team and the rest of the Daktronics employees that helped make this trip an unforgettable experience. It truly strengthened my appreciation for Daktronics and reinforced my excitement to continue learning throughout my internship. I'm Zachary Carter from Central Minnesota. I just graduated from SDSU in May with a degree in agricultural business.

A closer look at Camino 8 and the future of real-time graphics. On a recent episode of The Daktronics Experience podcast, Daktronics, Inc. sat down with Yanier Figueras, product designer for Camino 8, to discuss the latest evolution of Daktronics' real-time graphics platform. Here's a highlight of the discussion. As fans, Daktronics, Inc. see the final result on the display. The stat graphics, player profiles, sponsor features and animated elements all appear at exactly the right moment. What Daktronics, Inc. don't always see is the technology and workflows that make those moments possible. As displays continue to grow in size and resolution, content teams face increasing pressure to create more dynamic graphics while also keeping up with the pace of live events. That's where real-time graphics engines like Camino are changing the game. On a recent episode of The Daktronics Experience podcast, Justin Ochsner and I sat down with Yanier Figueras, product designer for Camino 8, to discuss the latest evolution of Daktronics' real-time graphics platform. From improving workflows and simplifying content creation to deeper integrations with Show Control and live data sources, its conversation offered a behind-the-scenes look at how Camino 8 is helping event producers tell better stories on game day. From Motion Graphics to Product Design Before helping shape the future of Camino, Yanier built his career in sports production. His background includes motion graphics, broadcast production, audio, video switching and even camera work. Over the years, he gained firsthand experience with many of the tools and workflows used to create live sports presentations. "I did a little bit of everything," Yanier said when describing his time working in production trucks and sports broadcasting environments. That experience has proven valuable while helping design Camino 8. Having worked with Camino as a user before joining Daktronics, Yanier spent years providing feedback and insight on how the platform could evolve to better support designers and operators. What Is Camino? At its core, Camino is Daktronics' real-time graphics rendering engine. It gives content creators and operators the ability to build dynamic graphics that can respond instantly to live events, changing data and Show Control commands. "Camino is our real-time graphics rendering engine," Yanier explained. "What we've done here is take everything we've learned from the previous generations of Camino and improve on it." For many years, graphics packages relied heavily on pre-rendered video files. While those workflows still have a place, today's displays demand more flexibility. Live data, animated elements and changing game situations require graphics systems that can adapt in real time. "Now you can build all that natively inside Camino," Yanier said. "You can change it at any point in time and play it out through data, through a button or through a switcher call." A great example is player statistics. Rather than building a graphic before the game and hoping the numbers remain relevant, operators can now pull live data directly into graphics and display the most up-to-date information available. Built Around Customer Workflows One of the biggest themes during its discussion was familiarity. The Camino 8 team spent significant time talking with customers to understand how they use graphics software, what challenges they face and where opportunities exist to improve the experience. "We started with the customer," Yanier said. "We're really trying to find out what their pain points are, what works and what doesn't." Instead of forcing users to adopt entirely new methods, Camino 8 was designed to feel familiar to designers who already work in motion graphics and production environments. "We're not trying to reinvent the wheel," he explained. "What we're trying to do is give them solutions that are very similar to what they're already used to." That familiarity becomes especially important when graphics packages move through multiple stages of production. Designers create content, producers refine it and operators ultimately run it during live events. "The same content is touched by multiple people," Yanier said. "What we're trying to do is clean up that handoff from one to the other." Camino 8 introduces project-based workflows that help keep assets, animations and logic organized throughout the production process, improving collaboration from initial creation through game-day execution. Balancing Simplicity and Power Creating software that is both powerful and easy to use isn't easy. According to Yanier, striking that balance has been one of the biggest design challenges throughout the Camino 8 project. "This is probably the most difficult part about building a product like Camino, because they kind of pull in different directions. Simplicity and power." Rather than sacrificing one for the other, the team focused on what Yanier calls "progressive depth." "What you need to do will be visible immediately," he said. "But then for the advanced users when they want to create more complex animations, now they know where it is and it's a click away." The goal is to help new users get started quickly while still giving experienced designers access to advanced tools and workflows when they need them. This philosophy is especially important in the sports and live events industry, where operators often come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience levels. Whether someone is managing graphics for the first time or has years of production experience, Camino 8 is designed to meet them where they are. A Stronger Connection to Show Control Another major focus of Camino 8 is tighter integration with the broader Daktronics ecosystem. "When we set out to redesign Camino, we had three priorities," Yanier said. "We wanted to improve the rendering technology, improve the user experience but also improve the integration with Display Studio." That integration starts with data. Data Studio sources now connect directly into Camino, giving operators a streamlined way to associate live data feeds with graphics elements. As Yanier described, users can drag and drop data sources directly onto object properties within Camino, creating powerful connections between live information and on-screen graphics. Display Studio integration has also been expanded, making it easier for Show Control operators to trigger Camino graphics and adjust graphic properties from within their existing workflows. Together, these enhancements help make graphics creation and playout more flexible while reducing the steps required to connect systems together. Shaped by Customer and Internal Feedback Customer feedback played a major role throughout the development process, but it wasn't the only source of insight. One of the advantages Daktronics has is access to internal users, including trainers, application engineers and event producers who use the software regularly. Their feedback provides real-world validation before new features reach customer sites. "We're pretty lucky that we have that internal group that we can always talk to and say, 'Hey, we put this feature out. Give it a try. Let us know what works and what doesn't work,'" Yanier said. Those conversations continue after launch as customers begin implementing Camino 8 across a growing number of venues and applications. Looking Ahead As more organizations begin adopting Camino 8, Yanier encourages customers to think about implementation as a gradual process rather than attempting to overhaul everything at once. "One step at a time," he advised. "Don't try to overhaul your entire graphics package at once." Start with the workflows that consume the most time and build from there. As teams become more familiar with the platform, they can take advantage of additional features and capabilities. At the same time, the Camino team is already looking toward the future. Yanier's final message to customers and partners was a simple one: "Keep the feedback coming." That feedback continues to shape the platform and helps ensure that future updates address the needs of the people using it every day. For organizations looking to create more dynamic graphics, integrate live data and streamline game-day workflows, Camino 8 represents another step forward in the evolution of live event storytelling. Watch the Full Episode Want to hear the full conversation with Yanier Figueras? In the episode, Daktronics, Inc. take a deeper dive into the thinking behind Camino 8, explore real-world customer workflows and discuss how real-time graphics are helping organizations create more engaging experiences for their audiences. Watch the full episode on YouTube here: Be sure to subscribe to the Daktronics YouTube channel and The Daktronics Experience podcast for more conversations with the people, partners and technologies shaping the future of live event production.

Fountainhead Control Rooms proud to Sponsor NRTCCA 2026. July 13, 2026 Fountainhead Control Rooms is proud to announce its participation as the Event Registration Sponsor of the 2026 National Real Time Crime Center Association (NRTCCA) Conference, taking place August 24-27, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona. As one of the premier gatherings dedicated to Real-Time Crime Centers, the conference brings together law enforcement leaders, analysts, technology partners, and public safety professionals committed to advancing real-time operations and intelligence-led policing. Supporting the RTCC community is something Fountainhead Control Rooms, Inc. is passionate about. Across the country, Fountainhead Control Rooms, Inc. has partnered with agencies to design and build mission-critical environments that help operators process information more effectively, improve situational awareness, and respond with confidence. Fountainhead Control Rooms, Inc. is also excited to be partnering with Datapath and Daktronics at this year's conference, showcasing how integrated technology, visualization, and operator-centered design come together to create high-performance mission-critical environments. Together, Fountainhead Control Rooms, Inc.'ll demonstrate solutions that help agencies maximize situational awareness and make faster, more informed decisions. Throughout the conference, its team will be showcasing Fountainhead's turnkey approach to RTCC design, including custom operator consoles, AV integration, technology coordination, ergonomic workspaces, and operator-focused room planning. Every project is designed around the people using the space - creating environments that are functional, adaptable, and built to support mission success for years to come. Fountainhead Control Rooms, Inc. is honored to serve as the Event Registration Sponsor for NRTCCA 2026 and look forward to connecting with agencies that are building, expanding, or modernizing their Real-Time Crime Centers. If you'll be attending the conference, be sure to stop by and meet the Fountainhead team.