IDEA Conference Recognizes Daktronics with Multiple Awards

Daktronics received the Partner Innovation and Partner Community Awards, Mark Eisenstadt received the President’s Award

BROOKINGS, S.D. – Aug. 11, 2025 – At last month’s IDEA (Information Display & Entertainment Association) Conference, Daktronics (NASDAQ-DAKT) of Brookings, South Dakota, was recognized with the Partner Innovation Award and Partner Community Award while Daktronics’ Professional Services Manager Mark Eisenstadt received the President’s Award.

“Our company has been largely involved with IDEA for decades,” said Eisenstadt. “We greatly value the organization and their mission in the live events industry to push innovation and community, which is why it’s such a great honor to be recognized with these awards. We’re constantly moving the industry forward with innovation and taking risks to bring new ideas to the table while being committed to the future of the event presentation industry. These awards are reflective of our commitment to advancing this industry and we’re very excited for the future.”

The Partner Innovation Award is delivered to those who demonstrate ingenuity and measured success in their live event experience and operations of their systems. Daktronics’ innovation and commitment to the industry with customer-driven examples including the Miami Heat’s Flameball at Kaseya Center and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Halo at Intuit Dome highlight this award. It comes with the close collaboration with those customers to understand their goals, adjust the process and products to meet those goals, and to evolve based on real-world needs surfaced through the collaboration.

The Partner Community Award is given to those who provide mentorship and education in the game presentation and production side of the live events industry. For Daktronics, this involves the company working closely with customers to hear their stories and uses of display systems to improve their experience. This led to the creation of DakClassroom, an event production curriculum that is building a new pipeline of future event producers who are in demand in the collegiate and professional levels. The company also hosts a High School Video Summit to bring the customer base together to share improvements, workflows and ideas. This highlights the role of educating users and their students to shape the future of event production.

This year, Eisenstadt was recognized with the President’s Award, often given to those who exemplify leadership, innovation, mentorship or long-standing service to the live events industry. He was given this award for his involvement and help with industry organizations, highlighting his ability to make a difference, influence the organization’s work and drive the future of the industry.

“Receiving the IDEA President’s Award for the second time in my career is an amazing honor, especially as it is given this time in recognition of an incredible amount of work that is rarely seen,” noted Eisenstadt. “I can honestly say that this is a Daktronics award as much as an individual award. So many people at Daktronics helped to contribute and allowed me the opportunity to get involved with IDEA.”

The IDEA Golden Matrix Awards recognize excellence and the sharing of ideas in the live events operation industry for both teams and partners. This includes artistic, entertainment and technical excellence in the programming of large-screen video and fascia displays. The intent is also to provide an opportunity for the event presentation industry to share ideas and to view the wide variety of productions that have been created over the past year.

Daktronics has been supporting IDEA and the overall live events industry for many decades as the company looks to grow with the industry and continue to shape its future.

About IDEA

IDEA is a not-for-profit professional association for organizations in the Event Presentation industry that is governed by an elected Executive Board with day-to-day operations conducted by office staff. The Standing Committees direct and make recommendations to the Board about the various segments of IDEA which they oversee. Members are encouraged to be active in the direction of IDEA by participating on one of the various committees or running for elected office.