The Room: Best Presentation Rooms 1999

1999 Best Presentation Rooms
Summary list of award winners

Presentations magazine's annual contest honors the best presentation facilities of the year. <div align="center">

(To order a copy of the 1999 Best Presentation Rooms Awards feature -- in the April 1999 issue of Presentations magazine -- contact our Circulation Department at 800.707.7749, fax 800.340.4819.)

The room in which you meet is often as important to a successful presentation as organizing your message, designing effective visuals and practicing your delivery. Today, more and more organizations building world-class presentation rooms, not just for good looks, but to increase the effectiveness of their internal and external communications.

Our annual Best Presentation Rooms Awards are designed to showcase the year's best presentation rooms in four categories: Conference Rooms & Boardrooms, Training Facilities & Classrooms, Auditoriums, and Control Rooms (a new category this year). The contest's goal is simple: to celebrate the companies that built world-class rooms in the past year, and to provide a useful benchmark to organizations considering a new room in the coming months. Entries are judged in three key areas: presentation technology, suitability to task, and aesthetics.

We received more than 80 entries for this year's contest, and the editors spent many hours going through equipment lists, studying photographs and discussing the pros and cons of each room. Thanks to all who participated.

And to the winners, congratulations!

-- The Editors

Conference & Boardrooms

Grand Prize

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Utah
Corporate Boardroom Facility
Salt Lake City
Cost: $440,000
Architect: Gillies Stransky Brems Smith Architects, 801.521.8600
System Designer: Spectrum Professional Services Inc., 801.328.5151
AV Dealer: Poll Sound, 801.261.2500

2nd Place

Monsanto Corp.
Monsanto-Benevia Corporate Boardroom
Chicago
Cost: $450,000 (AV only)
Architect: AAC Inc., 937.259.5800
System Designer: AAC Inc., 937.259.5800
AV Dealer: AAC Inc., 937.259.5800

3rd Place

Interim Services
Corporate Boardroom
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Cost: Not available
Architect: Rodney North Greene, 954.978.8060
System Designer: Walters-Storyk Design Group, 914.691.9300
AV Dealer: Walters-Storyk Design Group, 914.691.9300

Honorable Mention

American Automobile Association
AAA Executive Presentation Facility
Costa Mesa, Calif.
Cost: $480,000
Architect: Not available
System Designer: Advanced Media Design, 818.223.9500
AV Dealer: Advanced Media Design, 818.223.9500

Fisher-Rosemount Systems
Customer Conference Center Room 1
Austin, Texas
Cost: Not available
Architect: RTG Partners, 512.327.9296
System Designer: Padgitt's Communication Specialists, 512.832.9900
AV Dealer: Padgitt's Communication Specialists, 512.832.9900

U S West
Customer Briefing Center
Denver
Cost: $400,000 (AV only)
Architect: RNL Design, 303.295.1717
System Designer: CEAVCO A/V Co., 303.238.6493
AV Dealer: CEAVCO A/V Co., 303.238.6493

Training Facilities & Classrooms

Grand Prize

Reinhart, Boerner, Van Duren, Norris & Rieselbach Law Firm
Trial Science Institute
Milwaukee
Cost: $125,000 (AV only)
Architect: Gene Eggert, Architectural Designs, 414.276.7255
System Designer: Video Images Inc., 414.785.8998
AV Dealer: Video Images Inc., 414.785.8998

2nd Place

Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Training Facility
New York City
Cost: $1,100,000
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 212.298.9300
System Designer: Acentech Inc., 617.499.8055
AV Dealer: Caribiner International, 612.333.1271

3rd Place

University of Wisconsin at Madison
Pyle Center Distance Learning Classroom
Madison, Wis.
Cost: $250,000
Architect: Performa Inc., 920.336.9929
System Designer: Waveguide Consulting Inc., 404.378.5635
AV Dealer: SIGCOM Inc., 800.844.7753

Honorable Mention

The Cleveland Clinic
Minimally Invasive Surgery Center
Cleveland
Cost: $1,400,000
Architect: Carisberger & Associates, 614.461.9500
System Designer: Patlin Electronics, 330.659.7262
AV Dealer: EDR Systems, 216.292.1700

Duke University Medical Center
Clinical Research Training Classroom
Durham, N.C.
Cost: $590,000
Architect: David Thomson, Cooper Carey & Associates, 404.237.2000
System Designer: Kontek Systems Inc., 919.680.4321
AV Dealer: Kontek Systems Inc., 919.680.4321

Georgia Institute of Technology
Center for Rehabilitation Technology
Road Scholar Mobile Classroom
Atlanta
Cost: $200,000
Architect: Danny Corkran, 404.894.0600
System Designer: Danny Corkran, 404.894.0600
AV Dealer: Technical Industries, 770.455.7610

Auditoriums

Grand Prize

Williams
Corporate Presentation Center
Tulsa, Okla.
Cost: Not available
Architect: Page Zebrowski Architects, 918.582.6377, Bellwether Design, 918.584.2355
System Designer: Pelton Marsh Kinsella, 214.688.7444
AV Dealer: Ford Audio-Video, 918.252.9581
Seating Capacity: 300

2nd Place

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Board Room
Los Angeles
Cost: $486,000 (AV only)
Architect: Gensler, 310.449.5600
System Designer: Cibola Systems Corp., 714.780.0272
AV Dealer: Cibola Systems Corp., 714.780.0272
Seating Capacity: 200

3rd Place

Central Iowa Health Systems
Auditorium
Des Moines, Iowa
Cost: $1,418,000
Architect: Herbert, Lewis, Kruse, Blunk, 515.288.9536
System Designer: Technical Directions Inc., 913.268.7368
AV Dealer: Technical Directions Inc., 913.268.7368
Seating Capacity: 152

Honorable Mention

Duke University Medical Center
School of Medicine Amphitheater
Durham, N.C.
Cost: $1,900,000
Architect: Cooper Robertson and Partners, 212.247.1717
System Designer: Kontek Systems Inc., 919.680.4321
AV Dealer: Kontek Systems Inc., 919.680.4321
Seating Capacity: 160

Putnam Investments
Auditorium
Boston
Cost: $1,300,000
Architect: Elkas Manfredi Architects, 617.426.7502
System Designer:
AV Associates Inc., 860.487.1330; Nicholas Browse & Associates, 978.456.8281
AV Dealer: AV Associates Inc., 860.487.1330
Seating Capacity: Approximately 100

Vancouver Film School
Multimedia Theatre
Vancouver, B.C.
Cost: $618,000 (U.S.)
Architect: David Hepworth
System Designer: Leader Sound Technologies Corp., 604.873.5436
AV Dealer: Leader Sound Technologies Corp., 604.873.5436
Seating Capacity: 100

Control Rooms

Grand Prize

Williams
Communications Network Control Center & Observation Room
Tulsa, Okla.
Cost: Not available
Architects: Page Zebrowski Architects, 918.582.6377, Bellwether Design, 918.584.2355
System Designer: Imtech Corp.973.366.5550,
Fairview AFX, 918.664.8020
AV Dealer: Fairview AFX, 918.664.8020

2nd Place

ITC/Deltacom
Switch Control Center
Oxford, Ala.
Cost: $272,863
System Designer: Insight Research, 770.518.4062
AV Dealer: Insight Research 770.518.4062

3rd Place

NASDAQ
Control Center
(Northeastern U.S.)
COST: Not available
System Designer: AV Associates, 860.487.1330
AV Dealer: AV Associates, 860.487.1330

(no Honorable Mention)

Entries are judged in three key areas:
1. Presentation technology. The best presentation rooms offer a comprehensive mix of presentation technologies, including multimedia projectors for displaying computer-based slideshows (rear-screen projection is best), a control system, computer, document camera and digital whiteboard. We also considered whether the room offered lower-tech presenters the ability to present via 35mm slides or overhead transparencies.

Another major criterion is the room's ability to connect to various networks. Rooms received a major plus if presenters or audience members could connect to a corporate LAN or the World Wide Web. Also factored into our decision was the ability to receive a Digital Broadcast Satellite signal (for training and general news) as well as the ability to easily videotape a presentation for later playback. Video-conferencing capabilities were also a big plus. 2. Suitability to task. Not only should a winning room offer the right mix of technology, but the room's physical layout and elements must be conducive to effective presentations. This means everyone in the room, including the presenter, should have a clear view of the projected data. If the primary screen isn't large enough to accomplish this, secondary screens or monitors should be included in the room's design. You'll notice several rooms with multiple display areas. In addition to satisfying viewing concerns, this also allows presenters to display multiple images, such as a presentation slide alongside a live Web page or an image from a document camera.

Depending on how the room is used, we considered how easy it would be to reconfigure the placement of tables and chairs. In multiple-use conference rooms, this is a critical factor. Naturally, chairs and table space should also be big enough and comfortable enough to sit in for hours at a time. And the room should be lighted so that projected material can be seen, but also so that audience members can see each other, read handouts or take notes with ease. 3. Aesthetics. Finally, how a room looks and feels is important. The best presentation facilities are attractive beyond their functionality. Many, especially training centers and boardrooms, are intended to reflect the organization itself. So they should be visually impressive, providing a combination of solid luxury and high-tech savvy. Because people spend great amounts of time in a presentation room, we believe the atmosphere should be pleasant and energizing.