DIAL . LOG

Street League Dime Squad try their hand at ISX Scoring

As the second season of Street Legaue Skateboarding rolls on, the Street League Dime Squad took a shot at at ISX Scoring during practice at stop two in Kansas City.

Watch the video!

 

Dialsmith at the Banff Media Festival

Dialsmith is proud and excited to be a partner of the
Banff Media Festival, contributing in two ways:

• During the new "Deal Makers Live" event,
  Perception Analyzer dials will be used to help evaluate and choose the winner of this innovative pitch competition.

• During a Tech Hub session, Dialsmith's David Paull and Eric Alzuhn will give a talk and demonstration on how the
  Perception Analyzer and ISX are used for audience research, news
  and entertainment program integration, and sport scoring.

If you're in media and can make it to Banff, this promises to be an amazing week.

ISX by Dialsmith live on ESPN as scoring and stats partner for Street League 2011

Dialsmith^® and MXi are once again proud to offer            ISX - Instant Scoring eXperince™ to Street League Skateboarding^® for real-time scoring and stats.

 

 

After an incredibly successful inaugural season in 2010, Street League has announced details of its 2011 season. With four stops, $1.6 million in prize money, and live airing on ESPN, ESPN2, and int'l webcast, Street League will continue to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

More about Dialsmith

More about MXi

More about Street League

 

Dialsmith Year One - a look back (and forward)

Hi,

It's been a year since we started Dialsmith and this seems like a good time to reflect, share some of what we've learned, and thank those who have helped make it happen.

After years of working in cubes and private offices we made the decision to have Dialsmith be an open office environment. It took some getting used to and finding the right space, but we think we did pretty well. This has allowed for a level of teamwork and collaboration we had never experienced before. Check it...

     

 

In addition to releasing the new Perception Analyzer Model V dial with response confirmation and tune-out buttons, we also launched the ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience system for scoring of sporting and reality events.

      


Some milestones in year one:

• We achieved our financial goals for the year (always a bit tense, especially first year)
• We sold our smallest ever Perception Analyzer system (only 2 dials) and did our largest ever consulting project (800 dials)
• We gratefully did business in eight countries outside the U.S. including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Mexico, Peru, and the U.K. That's in addition to the 30 or so other countries where the Perception Analyzer is also in use by clients and partners
• We got to work on some cool projects including Super Bowl ad testing, TV pilot testing, 3D TV testing, live televised political debate feedback, infomercial testing, new product development, marketing brainstorming sessions, mock trials, custom audience trivia games, large-scale audience feedback during live presentations, and other stuff that my team will surely remind me of later

Something that we'd be considering for years, well before the launch of Dialsmith, is the opening of a European office. This year we decided the time was right and we were fortunate to find the colleagues to make it happen. We are also fortunate to have retained our incredibly strong core team as well as add some new talent.

What have we learned?

• This is fun...and hard...and fun!
• Clients and partners remind us every day that what we do is important, worthwhile and relevant (can't even begin to express how appreciative and humbled we are by that)
• Some of those same clients and partners have been instrumental in helping us see where we need to go with our product and service offerings and without that we'd truly be flying blind

To everyone who has helped Dialsmith through its first successful year, I say thank you. Were it not for our team, clients, partners, friends, and family, we'd be nothing but bodies in an office and numbers in a spreadsheet. But thanks to all of those people (and it really is all about the people) we are a company that had a strong first year and is developing plans for even stronger years to come. Taking care of our team, serving our clients, and enjoying life are the reasons we why do this in the first place. By keeping those three over-arching goals in mind we enthuastically march forward and again, to all who have helped us, we say thank you.

- David

What is ISX?

We get that question a lot, especially now that buzz around Street League Skateboarding is heating up. So for those who are interest, ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience - is a new scoring system co-developed by us (Dialsmith) and Media-X International, in partnership with Rob Dyrdek.

ISX allows judges to use hand-held dials to enter scores faster than ever before, and to score every trick in a sports performance, regardless of how fast the tricks take place. The result is instant, trick-by-trick scoring that's fast, accurate, exciting, and fun.

Debuting at Street League, ISX is adaptable to the rules and format of nearly any judged sporting or reality event. From skating to snowboarding to surfing to motocross, ISX is ideal for the pace of action sports. It can also be adapted to more traditional sports where tricks or individual elements need to be judged and scored, and to non-sports competitions where judges need to score performances.

The ISX website provides more informaiton along with video links to Rob Dyrdek talking about why he got involved with ISX and how ISX is being integrated as the cornerstone of Street League Skateboarding.

To learn more or just brainstorm ideas for integrating ISX into your event, feel free to drop me a line. We love talking about this stuff!

ISX Instant Scoring at first Street League event in Glandale, AZ

The first Street League competition is in the can and it was a huge success. Seeing the skate park constructed in Jobing.com Arena was amazing and the caliber of skating was unbelieveable.

We delivered instant scoring and stats through ISX and the vibe was so cool. After every trick the skaters could look at the board and know exactly how they did. They also always knew how they were ranked and what score they needed to advance or take the lead.

In the end Nyjah Huston took home the first ever Street League first place prize, but it was a jocky for first position right down the last few tricks.

ESPN has a great video recap and below are some photos from an exciting week. Now we start getting ready for Ontatio, CA, on September 11, and the finals in Las Vegas on September 25. You can watch all three events on ESPN2 at 8PM EST / 5PM PST on September 15, 22, 29.

(Welcome to Street League!)

 

(World's largest skateboard rolls through town)

 

(California Skateparks hard at work building the skatepark inside the arena)

 

(Finished product - view 1)

 

(Finished product - view 2)

 

(Testing the ISX Scoring screens on the arena Jumbotron)

 

(Rob Dyrdek welcomes the crowd)

 

(Rob checking the ISX scores and watching the action)

 

Street League and Instant Scoring

As we've been mentioning, our instant scoring division, ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience - is providing real-time, trick-by-trick scoring and stats for Rob Dyrdek's Street League Skateboarding. For more information and to learn more about ISX for scoring of all types of judged sports and events, here are some links:

Grind TV: Weekly Grind

BNQT.com

NBC Sports / Associated Press

ISX News Release

Street League and ISX (video)

 

Street League judges talk scoring and ISX

In our preparation for the lanuch of Street League and it's use of ISX for instant, real-time scoring, we have had the pleasure of working with the guys who will make-up the panel of five judges. They all bring incredible knowledge about the sport and a passion to it taken to the next level.

In their own words, hear the Street League judges talk about establishing a scoring format that's fair and how ISX - Instant Scoring eXperience - plays into that.

ISX and Street League Skateboarding (video)

Rob Dyrdek and the guys behind ISX and Street League explain how instant scoring by ISX is helping change the game for Street League Skateboarding.

 

And here Rob Dyrdek further explains the course design and format of Street League. Cool stuff!

 

Talking ISX with Shecklermania

I did a Q&A with Nicole from Shecklermania.org where we discussed ISX, its role in Street League, and how it will evolve for other sports. Reposted here or check them out.

 

Shecklermania.Org: What made you guys invent ISX? Why named ISX?

David Paull: First, let me thank you for your interest in ISX and Street League. It's an exciting year for professional skateboarding and we're excited to be a part of it. Fans like you are the reason we do this. To answer your question, we invented ISX to add instant, trick-by-trick scoring to sporting events that have been traditionally judged or scored in a slower or less organized way. We want to help fans better engage with an event by always knowing exactly how an athlete has performed and how that performance impacts the competition overall. We also want to add a deeper element of strategy for the athletes by them always knowing what score they earned for each trick and what they need on the next trick to possibly take (or retain) the lead. The name ISX is an acronym for Instant Scoring eXperience™.

 

Shecklermania.Org: What exactly is the purpose of ISX?

DP: The purpose is to speed up the scoring process as well as help with the storytelling of the event for both the athletes and fans. Having to wait for scores, or having a jam session scored at the end with no accountability for each trick or element, is slow and can get boring to watch for more casual fans. Having every trick count and be scored, in real-time, makes the event more exciting for everyone.

Shecklermania.Org: How do you think this will affect the skaters?

DP: All the skaters we’ve talked to like it. It adds a new element of strategy to the competition. Now they know what they need to advance or take the lead and they know instantly how they did after a trick.

Shecklermania.Org: How do you think ISX will change skateboarding?

DP: Part of Rob Dyrdek’s mission with Street League is to further legitimize professional skateboarding. The reason he so strongly embraced ISX early on is because it makes every skater accountable for every trick and adds speed and excitement to the competition. So I think the biggest changes ISX brings to professional skateboarding competitions are strategy on the part of the skaters and engagement on the part of the fans.

Shecklermania.Org: How do you think fans will react to ISX, since none other competitions had done it before?

DP: I think the fans will love it. Since the competition moves from a jam format to a format where each skater goes in order, one at a time, the fans get to focus on every trick and every trick counts. So rather than watching a jam with skaters all over the place, fans get to focus more on the skating and see tricks done more strategically and where every trick matters. That’s much more exciting to watch.

Shecklermania.Org: How does the ISX score the skateboarders? (I heard it shows the score right away.)

DP: With ISX the judges use a hand-held dial to enter a score for every trick. In Street League tricks are worth 1 – 10 points and a missed or incompleted trick is worth 0. As soon as a trick is landed the judges instantly enter their scores, which are displayed on the Jumobtron and other screens around the arena. The judge’s scores will not only determine leaderboard ranking, but will also feed stats such as consistency score (percentage of landed verses missed tricks), average trick score, etc. The skaters get to know, before and after every trick, exactly what they need, how they did and how the other competitors are doing.

Shecklermania.Org: Do you think other competitions will be using ISX anytime in the near future?

DP: Yes, for sure. We are in talks with other competitions in a number of different sports, both in the U.S. and internationally.

Shecklermania.Org: How do you think the skaters will feel about being scored using the ISX device?

DP: From what skaters have already told us, they like it. It forces them to raise their game and think more strategically about every trick.

Shecklermania.Org: Three best words that best describe ISX.

DP: Well, the name “Instant Scoring eXperience” kind of says it all. It’s fast, it makes every trick count, and it creates a whole new experience for the athletes and the fans.

Shecklermania.Org: Do you think it will give them (the skaters) more pressure?

DP: Only in the sense that they need to think strategically about every trick. While that may add more pressure, it will also allow them to customize their performance based on how they, and their fellow skaters, are doing.

Shecklermania.Org: What other competitions event would you like to see using the ISX to score on the skaters? And why?

DP: ISX is proud to be exclusive to Street League for street skating. However, other skate formats, including vert, would certainly benefit from ISX because not only can we score every vert run, but we can also score every trick in a run. It’s so fast and exciting the fans would love it.

Shecklermania.Org: Do you think that with the ISX, the skaters would want to kick their skating up a notch to get the best score possible?

DP: Certainly each skater will want the highest possible score in order to win the competition. ISX allows them to know, before and after every trick, what they need and how they did. That allows them to strategically put together a combination of tricks that give them the greatest chance of winning and putting on a great show for the fans.