Crestron Case Study: Convene

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