Introduction
As the nation’s fastest-growing network of meeting, event,
and conference venues, Convene is changing the way the
world works by transforming the way businesses work. Since
2009, Convene has opened 15 locations including New York
City, Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., with spaces
coming soon to Los Angeles and Chicago.
The core of Convene’s business is providing high-quality, well
thought-out technology combined with beautifully designed
spaces and hospitality services. Convene enables customers
to customize any room to meet their needs. Each Convene
location includes dedicated planning and production teams,
premium fresh cuisine prepared on-site, and cutting-edge
technology provided by Crestron, specially designed to
encourage collaboration and spark creativity.
The Challenge
Corporate meeting spaces have grown to include more
technology that enables people to collaborate both inperson
and remotely. Convene needed to ensure that every
one of their locations could provide these capabilities,
and make it simple to transition rooms from a traditional
boardroom to a more advanced conference setup.
The Space
Convene is focused on making meetings and events
as simple and enjoyable as possible. Throughout each
location, there are a variety of different room sizes and
space configurations for meeting planners to choose from,
ranging from small boardrooms to large auditoriums
that can seat 500 attendees. Within each room there’s
a variety of technology including a 10-button Crestron®
control panel for guests to control basic functions within
the room, and “confidence monitors” that allow presenters
to have a clear view of the content displayed on the main
screens while they’re giving a presentation.
Convene provides a dedicated technology staff, focused
on maintaining the audio, video, computers, video
conferencing, and audio conferencing equipment within
the facility. Through a Crestron XPanel, they have access
to advanced room control that includes independent mic
levels, video routing, audio and video recording with start
and stop functions, light scene selection, and overall room
functionality control. This enables event planners to focus
completely on the most important outcome – creating an
amazing experience for their guests.
The Technology
Convene® meeting rooms are end-to-end Crestron Certified
Designs. That means they’re engineered and validated by
Crestron to ensure premium performance and reliability.
Jonathan Wheatley, the Director of Technology at Convene,
and his team work closely with Crestron technology
integrators such as AdTech Systems, LLC to design scalable
solutions for every room size, room type, or application. Each
room has its own AV design created to maximize usability
and productivity, but with a standardized user experience
so they could be easily supported in every location. From
meeting spaces to digital signage throughout the halls,
Crestron technology supports Convene’s vision and goals
by delivering a reliable, user-friendly experience for guests,
building tenants, and Convene employees.
Incorporating technology that can connect with multiple
video conferencing providers was essential for Convene.
Within each room, there are inputs connecting guests to
displays and AV functions through Crestron DigitalMedia™
technology. For those leading discussions, presentations,
and conference calls, there are inputs that allow them to
plug in their laptops and easily begin their presentations.
In the larger conference rooms, guests have the ability to
record a session to a flash drive.
“It was important that we created a system that included
two distinct layers of control,” said Jim Ares, Senior
Systems Designer at Adtech Systems LLC. “Using Crestron,
we had the ability to design a user-friendly interface for
guests to control the basic functions within the room
as well as provide detailed granular control for on-site
administrators to fulfill more complex requests.”
Convene clients certainly seem to agree:
“I can’t tell you how nice it was not
to worry about AV. Convene meeting
centers are totally technologically driven.”
- Meeting Planner from
Society of Government Meeting Professionals
“Great connectivity, and easy setup and
connection to the presentation monitor.”
- Meeting Planner from Ford Foundation
Additionally, in 2016, Convene was named an official
Crestron Enterprise Client. This provides them with
materials from Crestron’s training department that
further enrich their knowledge.
Results
As Convene continues to open new full-service meeting,
event, and workspace venues in major cities around the
world, Crestron remains the standard for their AV room
solutions. Crestron technology creates a consistent
user experience across every room and location, and
contributes to the contemporary and comfortable
atmosphere. As corporations and tenants who have
hosted events at Convene continue to express their
appreciation of the simplicity and effectiveness of the
technology, Convene is assured they’re right on target in
meeting their customers’ needs.
“After being introduced to Convene
and meeting with their Technology
Department, I knew that Crestron was
the only company that could provide
the level of control and flexibility they
were looking for.”
Jim Ares
Senior Systems Designer
Adtech Systems, LLC
