A local firm specializing in digital signage is questioning why the city went with an Outside contractor for new installations at the Canada Games Centre.

In a lengthy written piece published in last Friday’s Star, Phil Bastien, president of Paradigm Digital Signage, noted that not only does the city need to reconsider its policies around local hire, but it also needs a broader vision and planning for the signage at the Canada Games Centre (CGC).

Bastien recalled his own experience dealing with the city on digital signage for the CGC.

Going back to 2009, shortly after starting the company, Bastien approached staff at the recreation complex about whether they’d be interested in a digital sign system “to engage and inform the public.

“The response was positive, but I was informed they had no budget and if they did, projects like this were usually tendered.”

With revenues not keeping up with expenses at the CGC, Bastien proposed that Paradigm buy and install the sign system, training city staff on how to operate it.

He was told the city was reviewing its advertising and marketing policies, so couldn’t go ahead with the proposal. If it did move forward at some point, he was told, a Request For Proposals (RFP) would be required.

“I was stumped as to why an RFP was needed to allow us to basically donate a digital signage network to the CGC,” Bastien said.

“In this case, this was not a poor decision, just a non-decision based on lack of vision. I was wondering what part of ‘free money’ they had a problem with.”

Since then, Bastien said, he’s been making sure to keep in contact with officials on potential signage plans with the city continually stating a sign network was not in the budget or its policies were being reviewed.

It was a few months ago, he said, he received a call from the city asking for information on Paradigm’s signage software.

“I was somewhat elated that finally they had seen the light and was gathering information to help put together an RFP,” he noted. “But that never happened. After several phone calls and emails back and forth, we put on a brief demo detailing the workflow of our software.

“Nothing happened for three weeks or so and then, just recently, I received a call that the CGC has finalized its research and had decided to engage the services of a company from Ontario ... and thank you very much for your help,” he stated.

While the city’s Purchasing and Sales Policy states that individual departments can make sole-sourced purchases for up to $30,000, Bastien argued that isn’t the right process in this case.

He noted that’s more for “mundane” purchases and services such as desks, fridges, or plumbing and electrical work, among other things.

Those type of purchases, he argued, “usually have little impact on the overall operations of an organization.

“However, digital signage is not a fridge, and requires a comprehensive planning process. With a fridge, you just need to know cost, size and most likely its energy star rating.

“Diving into digital signage is not for the faint of heart ... and you’ll want to know how deep the pool is before leaping. So, for something as complex as digital signage, gathering information from various vendors and gathering multiple quotes using simple email/phone/demo is not the right approach.”

While the city is looking only to replace the billboard sign at the reception area for this contract, Bastien argued the city needs a “broader view.”

He noted it was suggested by city staff that he had “a much grander vision than what they were pursuing with this purchase.

“So if their vision was so narrow, why go to the lengths they said they did and purchase an Enterprise solution?” he asked.

“The same could have been accomplished by purchasing screens with embedded digital signage technology at a fraction of the cost.

“A little consultation with those who have deployed multiple systems in various venues would have gone a long way to ensuring a realistic return on investment was realized.”

He argued the city should be considering its entire communication and business goal in planning for digital signs, “not just a few perceived problems at one venue.

“So it appears the city compared software only, but it’s only one part of the digital signage ecosystem and to purchase it based on the needs of one department/location, without considering multiple users and additional problems and locations, is poor planning.”

Bastien questioned the city on its decision to go with an Ontario firm – Omnivex Moxy.

City officials said the company was better positioned to provide support and “a better fit” for what they needed, but did not go into detail on how Omnivex is a better fit or can provide the support needed.

Bastien argued content that looks fresh, exciting and professional determines the success of digital signage and there was never any such discussion for this project.

“They simply said they wanted something that had x features to replace signs behind the reception counter,” he said. “These are not goals or objectives but a simple check-list. It’s not thorough when someone asks, ‘can you do this?’ when the question really should have been, ‘how do you do this?’”

The city, he said, didn’t look at the bigger picture. An independent expert should have been brought in to draft a Terms of Reference based on the needs of the whole organization.

The entire situation that saw the city hire an Outside firm shows it is doing a “poor job of supporting local business.”

Krista Mroz, the city’s acting manager for recreation facilities, explained the city’s position in an interview last Thursday afternoon.

She said the digital sign is simply to enhance service at the centre by replacing the board behind reception with a digital screen that will detail such membership information as pricing and services.

As Mroz explained, the city is looking at just stepping into the digital world on its signs at the CGC’s reception area.

There are no other plans for more digital signs at the facility, she noted, and staff adhered to the city’s policies around the purchase, which was in the $5,000 range.

It went to a number of companies both local and Outside for quotes and services offered, narrowing the field to five, including two from within the territory and three from Outside.

While there is not a certain weight given for local companies when smaller purchases like this are made, Mroz noted, “it’s certainly considered.”

In the end, though, Omnivex still came out ahead of the others, though Mroz didn’t expand on what it had over the other proposals except to say that it “met all the qualifications” the city was looking for.

It’s expected the new digital sign will be in place at the centre by the end of September.

She would also not say how much each of the five companies proposed for their systems – except that the contract is within the $5,000 range.

She noted that under the city’s purchasing policies, information on contracts under $30,000 is not released.

As John Mercier, the city’s procurement supervisor, explained though, it’s at the individual department’s discretion as to whether it wants to release information on contracts up to $30,000.

Games centre officials could not be reached following Mercier’s comments to discuss details of the contracts.

While this contract did not go through council’s approval due to its smaller amount, acting mayor Betty Irwin said last Friday afternoon the city is constantly looking at its policies around purchasing services and local hire.

She noted there are no immediate plans to change its purchasing policies, having amended them just a couple of years ago.

“It’s something that we’re constantly aware of,” she said, noting the need for the city to balance local interests while also getting the best value for taxpayers and ensuring there’s a level playing field for contractors.