Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Steve Thorburn's InfoComm 09 Diary


Read Steve Thorburn's daily diary from the InfoComm 09 show in Orlando, posted on the Bemusement blog from Blooloop.com.

June 20: The floor according to Steve: digital projection, audio, videoconferencing and Dopplers. Full story here.

June 19: A look around the show floor, the "cone of cooling" and the ergonomics of visualization. Dedicated to the late Kim Milliken. Full story here.

June 18: Classes in AV integration, acoustics and how to issue an RFP/RFQ. Attendees air their professional gripes and vendors hunt for clients.
Full story here.

June 17: Marketing specialist and Thorburn team member Meg Barham attends a sales workshop at the Institute for Professional Development. Full story here.

Videoconferencing: It's All About Location

By Steve Thorburn, in the June 2009 Archi-Tech:
"The goal for a good video-conferencing room is really quite straightforward. It’s all about location, location, location – for cameras, microphones, and displays, supported by uniform indirect lighting and acoustical treatments."

Read the full article here.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Thorburn Associates at InfoComm: Seven Sessions and a Blog


"Successful placemaking demands spaces that nurture human community through the integration of technical systems design and modern building design -- in facilities, campuses, offices, leisure attractions, museums, and performing arts centers. We call this practice Acoustically Integrated aRchitecture, or AIR. It is the foundation of the seven educational sessions we will present this year at InfoComm in Orlando, June 14-19, and of our outreach blog," says Steven J. Thorburn.

Adding a new layer this year, TA will reach out online during InfoComm via a daily editorial on the blog Bemusement, which is published on the industry website Blooloop.com. The blog will be penned by Steve Thorburn and will share observations, impressions, news and even a little name-dropping.

Read the press release here.

All Buildings are Now Theaters



Modern building design demands partnership between tech designers and architects

by Steve Thorburn

"What we're now seeing is that the integration of acoustics, engineering and architecture that is standard practice in a performing arts center is also a necessity in most every new project, because of the amount of audiovisual equipment and other technology involved. As a result, they all require a level of integrated design in the early stages comparable to what is common practice in theater development. In a very real sense, all buildings are now theaters..." Full story here.

Image of SF federal Building, courtesy sf.curbed.com

Seven Steps of Tech Design Success



by Steve Thorburn, published on Blooloop.com and in the TEA Annual & Directory

Even the most problem-solving genius of a tech designer cannot overcome the laws of physics. I challenge you to go a day without a technical glitch somewhere – if it’s not on your computer or company network, it will be your phone, the GPS in your car, or perhaps the touch-panel on your dishwasher... Read the full article here.