New Page 1

Company News

Presentations Magazine April 1999

BEST PRESENTATION ROOMS AWARDS

Presentations magazine's annual contest honors the best presentation facilities of the year

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 are 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 & Board Rooms, 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:

1. Presentation Technology - The best presentation rooms offer a comprehensive mix of presentation technologies, including multi-media projectors for displaying computer-based slideshows (rear-screen projection is best), a control system, computer, document camera and digital whiteboard. We also consider whether the room offered low-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 video-tape 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 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.

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 pros and cons of each room. Thanks to all who participated. And to the winners, congratulations!

-The Editors-