CDA Hires Senior AV Designer in New York

Communications Design Associates, Inc. (CDA), a leading audiovisual workplace technology design, engineering, and consulting firm, proudly announces Benjamin Joseph, CTS-D, Senior AV Systems Designer as the newest hire. Based in NY, Benjamin has over 23 years of AV design, consulting, and business development expertise garnered during his leadership and senior roles with Cerami & Associates and Syska Hennessy Group.

Benjamin brings to CDA a wealth of diverse experiences in multiple markets – including corporate, higher ed, healthcare, and transportation – and a history of managing and delivering projects with technical excellence. Working closely with CEO Michael Goldman, Benjamin will apply his passion for technology in the modern workplace and ingenuity with thoughtful designs that help people get more out of their office experiences. He will also lend his business development skills to furthering CDA’s growth initiatives aimed at enhancing the services CDA delivers to enterprise clients and design partners globally.

“Ben is someone I’ve known throughout my career in the AV industry. He has an exceptional reputation as a leader in technology design. His innovative approach to smart and inviting workplace designs – whether a floor, building or campus – are exactly aligned with what we do: help clients make the most of their people and space. Ben is an excellent addition to the CDA team,” states Michael Goldman, Principal and CEO.

“Along with hiring exceptionally talented people in strategic regions, CDA is expanding design, service delivery, and customer support methodologies. Ben’s wealth of experience, quality of design, and collaborative approach are a tremendous complement to CDA’s client- and partner-centric business philosophy,” remarks Cynthia Oliver, Principal and COO.

Benjamin is a graduate of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (BEEE), and has numerous AV Industry certifications including AVIXA CTS-D.

CDA welcomes Aashwita Yadav to our production team as the NEW Senior Revit Design Lead.

Aashwita brings over four years of specialized experience working on large-scale architectural design and drafting projects globally. She is a graduate of Columbia University’s MSAUD program and holds an M.S. in Architecture and Urban Design.

Prior to joining CDA, Aashwita collaborated on the design of many intensive audio-visual projects including conference and multipurpose rooms, auditoriums, recording and gaming studios, and amphitheaters preparing her well for work on CDA projects.

In her instrumental role on our production team, Aashwita will utilize her advanced REVIT and 3-D modeling expertise to further implement best practices for all CDA projects.

With over 25 years of hands-on experience in the AV industry, Joel Appelbaum joined CDA’s Workplace Technology Design Group in November 2023, as a Senior Design Engineer based in New York. Joel is known for his extensive industry expertise in engineering, tackling complex challenges, and project management. His impressive skill set encompasses designing and constructing various corporate presentation, conferencing and collaboration, production, and experiential environments.

“Joel has breadth of experience and brings a welcomed perspective and insight to many intricacies of our projects.” states Michael Goldman, Principal. “His collaborative approach and keen attention to details greatly contribute to CDA’s strong partnerships within the AEC community and our AV industry relationships.”

Travis Lisk, CTS-I, started with CDA in April 2024 as an AV Design Engineer based in Philadelphia. He supports CDA’s Lead Consultants and Account Managers in developing design concepts and coordinating with project teams to ensure the highest level of quality and accuracy in all aspects of project delivery. Travis has broad experience in technical implementation – and holds numerous industry certifications in programming and audio technologies beyond his AVIXA CTS-I certification – confirming his commitment to excellence.

“Travis’s professionalism, technical insight, attention to detail, and willingness to jump in on any project, fit well with our company culture and commitment to industry advancement,” states Cynthia Oliver, Principal at CDA. “Travis is passionate about technology and considers himself an AV Nerd. He’s in good company at CDA!” remarks Oliver.

“With Travis in Philadelphia and Joel in New York, CDA expands our presence into the Mid-Atlantic region, giving our clients and partners immediate support for every phase of each project,” says Goldman.

Joel and Travis are part of CDA’s 2024 growth plan. Along with hiring people in strategic regions, CDA is acquiring new tools and expanding design capabilities–taking the firm into the future of workplace innovation.

Needham, MA (September 8, 2020) – Communications Design Associates, Inc., (CDA), a leading independent AV, data, video broadcast/production, UC &C and acoustical consulting firm, and Telemanagement Resources International (TRI) a global leader in Conferencing and Collaboration Technologies have teamed to provide high-level, expert consultation to enterprise clients and design partners. This union delivers an unmatched level of guidance surrounding workplace evolution and technology use beyond re-entry protocol and provides quantifiable future benefits.

Driving this initiative is CDA Principal, Michael Goldman, a global integration, enterprise AV, UC &C, and building control & automation solutions frontrunner, and Dr. S. Ann Earon of TRI, a foremost authority on conferencing and collaborative communications worldwide. For over 35 years Dr. Earon has been a well-respected speaker, advisor and author, having helped many global companies to improve the implementation and use of technology, and in turn, increase productivity, revenue, and profits. Joining Goldman’s and Earon’s counsel will be CDA Founding Principal, Stewart Randall, a highly regarded designer and educator, well-known for his expertise in AV, video production, and facility planning. This CDA/TRI alliance represents an extremely deep knowledge base of unquestionable value to companies striving to implement change and realize success beyond initial workplace re-entry moves.

“So much emphasis is being placed on the mechanics of returning to work and corporate office re-occupancy right now,” said Goldman. “We see a real need to address returning to work at several additional levels, most importantly relating to user experience, technology adoption and performance success, long-term. We’re addressing considerations that aren’t part of the initial back-to-work plan, and taking a 360^O look at the challenges that businesses are facing, and providing forward-looking strategies and solutions through technology and space that will help them to thrive during and after Covid-19.”

CDA/TRI services include Facility Review, Repurposing, and Design; Enterprise Re-entry Planning; Hybrid Strategies and Monitoring Solutions; Best-Choice Technology Recommendations (playbook); and User Adoption and Training programs. Engagement will be fluid and tailored around the individual needs and goals of each client/end-user entity. See contact information below for additional details and engagement inquiries.

About TRI: Dr. S. Ann Earon has been a researcher and consultant in multimedia communications for 38 years. She holds a Masters in instructional technology and educational administration from Northeastern University, and a Ph.D. from Boston College in business, speech & communications, and education. Dr. Earon is the Chairperson Emeritus of the Interactive Multimedia & Collaborative Communications Alliance (IMCCA), the nonprofit industry association for conferencing & collaborative communications. She can be reached at AnnEaron[at]aol.com  | 609-597-6334.

About CDA: Michael Goldman, CTS, is a Principal at CDA, and a 25-year AV industry veteran with expertise in building control, unified communications, and technology integration. He is a board member of IMCCA. He can be reached at mgoldman[at]cdaconsultants.com | 339-499-2873.

Communications Design Associates, Inc. (CDA) is an independent technology consulting firm that provides expert audiovisual, data, video, acoustics, and telecommunications solutions for workplace and learning environments. Since 1993 CDA has presented award-winning designs, complete project management, and trusted advice to leading corporations and educational institutions across the US, and worldwide. Visit CDAConsultants.com.

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Media Contact:  Cynthia Lewis-Oliver, CTS, Principal, CDA,  https://dev.cdaconsultants.com/Contact

Lately, at CDA we’ve been doing a lot of research on ed tech and refining how to help our Higher Ed partners get back to teaching this fall. There is a lot of information out there – good and bad – sparked by the huge, immediate need for true guidance and real solutions. Here are a few worthwhile articles that highlight both good and bad approaches, along with a few sage comments from CDA’s resident Ed Tech expert, Stewart Randall, CTS-D. Have a read and let us know what you think!

1. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2020/06/24/simulations-college-classrooms-fall-dont-bode-well: From Cal Tech, this article talks about how once you get down to really figuring out social distancing, classroom capacity can fall to <20% if you social distance in a 360-degree circle.
2. http://activelearningps.com/2020/06/22/simulating-covid-19-classroom-conditions/: This article really illustrates how bad AV design coupled with operator error can adversely affect students with remote learning. There were a number of fundamental mistakes made in how the technology was set up, the first being the ceiling microphones. Under no conditions should ceiling mics be used if the audio for remote learning is to be clear on the far end. Ceiling mics work for the pickup of students, but not an instructor, who should wear a lapel mic even if not being used for voice reinforcement. For the most part, ceiling mics need to be very specialized steerable mics (if not, the farther away from the mic, the less air pressure on the diaphragm, the less audio is picked up). In this article, another problem is illustrated where the instructor did not place the Zoom monitor properly, nor was the monitor large enough.
3. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/2020/06/active-learning-in-hybrid-and-socially-distanced-classrooms/: This article addresses best practices, including the use of polls and chats, and even sticky notes, jigsaw discussion groups (that could be virtual), and other techniques.

There are software packages/apps that can be deployed so that the student phones act as a push-to-talk microphone, which could solve some in-class interaction challenges. And while there is no magic bullet, many of these problems can be addressed by proper tech design and human ergonomics.

As Technology experts and specialists in Higher Ed, CDA provides consultation to Educators (business leaders too). We’re developing educational webinars, white papers, and resources that address ed tech and workspace re-entry, and technology re-use logically. Learn more and sign up today in CDA’s Higher Ed Re-Entry Planning and Workplace Re-Entry portals to access this material and ensure that you receive important new resources as they become available.

(Written by Stewart Randall, CDA & Cynthia Lewis-Oliver | CDL Consulting, Inc., June 29, 2020)

Several clients have asked us for recommendations on best-suited videoconferencing tools for moving their teams to the new work-at-home environment we’re all living. And while most are underway by now, there are still questions about best practices, security, usage, and more. At CDA we love helping people to thrive with technology, and we’ve got lots of tips and resources to help you get the most out of remote working while using online conferencing tools.

Working virtually is going really well for CDA. We use MS Teams for internal quick video calls, chats, plus some file sharing (beyond our secure VPN/server access), and Zoom for video calls that involve more than two points.

So when a client that uses Citrix asked us, “How do we deploy Zoom across our staff now working from home, and with our other operating systems?” We offered this:

Zoom works for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android as well as desktop virtualization platforms such as Citrix and VMWare. You will need to install a Zoom application on a VDI server and then use the Zoom media plug in on each of your thin clients.

A few key Zoom & Citrix points & links:

• Find complete information here: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360031096531-Getting-Started-with-VDI
• Find Zoom Pricing here: https://zoom.us/pricing
• Visit the Citrix website: https://citrixready.citrix.com/zoom-video-communications/zoom.html
• Go To Meeting (GTM) is available for Citrix as well:https://www.selectconferencing.com/web-conferencing/citrix-gotomeeting/
• Teams supports an HDX environment using Virtual Desktop and if you use O365 you may already have access to this: https://docs.citrix.com/en-us/citrix-virtual-apps-desktops/multimedia/opt-ms-teams.html

We find Zoom to be a very stable platform, and the decreased Teams bandwidth that MS talked about last month hasn’t proven to be impactful at all. So we like a combination of both tools: Teams for quick file sharing, one-to-one communications and chats, and Zoom for video and multi-point meetings. Hope this helps, let us know if you have questions or would like a personal contact at Zoom and we’ll set you up. In the meantime, keep an eye out for more tips and resources coming your way from CDA. (April 28, 2020)

(Written by By Diti Kohli, American City Business Journals | www.americaninno.com )

Envision a lone car driving on a road through the mountains or around a picturesque lake. That’s the go-to scene at B2B roadside assistance company Agero’s new Medford office.

The 116,000-sq.-ft. space next to the Malden River is filled with pictures of memorable drives. These images decorate the walls around meetings rooms, stairwells and elevator banks in the office.

“It’s our job as a company to get your bad day back on track,” said Jeannine Booton, Agero’s vice president of marketing. “These pictures say something about customer momentum, about movement, about connectivity.”

Agero links customers with vehicle manufacturers and insurance providers nationwide who offer driving assistance, accident management and towing services.

So after moving out of another Medford space in September, the 40-year-old company thread the driving experience into every part of its new office.

Continue reading the full article here…

PTC (Photo Credit: Warren Patterson Photography)

(By Boston Real Estate Times | bostonrealestatetimes.com)

BOSTON – Margulies Perruzzi announced that the project team for PTC’s new global headquarters has been recognized as a gold-level winner of the Building Design + Construction (BD+C) Magazine 2019 Building Team Awards.

The design and construction team for PTC’s new headquarters includes:

• Margulies Perruzzi: Architecture and interior design
• Gilbane Building Company: Construction manager
• Cresa: Owner’s project manager, site selection, lease negotiation, transaction management, and workplace strategy
• BALA Consulting Engineers: Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, IT, and security design; core and shell engineer for 121 Seaport
• McNamara · Salvia: Structural design
• Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting: Lighting design
• Communications Design Associates, Inc. (CDA): Audiovisual system design
• Amaze Design: Design consultant for Corporate Experience Center
• Branding/Graphics
• Acentech: Acoustics
• CRJA/IBI Group: Landscape design of PTC’s rooftop terrace
• Fitzmeyer & Tocci Associates Inc.: Commissioning
• AKF Group: Code consulting
• Collective Wisdom Corporation: Specifications
• Campbell-McCabe: Hardware specifications
• Entegra Development and Investment, LLC: LEED consulting
• Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH): Building Envelope

Read the full article here…

(Written by Cynthia Lewis-Oliver | CDL Consulting, Inc.)

121 Seaport Ave., Home to PTC’s new world Headquarters

One very unique and beautiful building in the heart of Boston’s Seaport district (aka Innovation District) is home to PTC’s spectacular new world Headquarters, spanning 250,000 SF over nine floors. This cutting-edge software company has created an awe-inspiring workplace of the future. PTC’s vision was to provide its employees a transformational and technology-rich workspace that encourages collaboration and productivity. For Communications Design Associates (CDA), designing an entirely networked AV solution to support PTC’s vision has been one of its greatest success stories to date.

Chief Designers, CDA Principal, Stewart B. Randall, CTS-D, and Senior Project Design Manager, Joel Nygren, CTS-D, spent more than a year and a half exploring, engineering, overseeing the deployment and commissioning a multitude of technology‐rich, innovative AV solutions that not only showcase PTC’s leading-edge software for product design, Augmented Reality (AR), 3D CAD, Product Lifecycle Management and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, but that also engage and inspire PTC’s mobile workforce. “Stewart and Joel have been amazing, and we would have never succeeded without their expertise and dedication,” said John Civello, PTC Vice President, Corporate Real Estate and Workplace.

CDA partnered with an extraordinary design team, including Margulies-Peruzzi Architects, Amaze Design, Signet and Trivium (exhibits), Sladen Feinstein (lighting), BALA Consulting Engineers (MEP engineering), and several PTC technical and creative teams, to define and bring to life a truly exceptional, one-of-a-kind facility. “AV over IP was a key consideration in CDA’s design strategy,” said CDA’s Stewart Randall. “The nature of PTC’s business and vision were essential to replicate in our wholistic design approach. Positive user experiences and standardized yet inviting technologies were key. We needed to ensure that everyone at PTC could easily use any of the collaborative solutions we designed throughout the building,” said Randall.

CDA designed, full-scale video production studio

CDA’s solutions included video presentation and videoconferencing systems, a video production studio, a podcast studio, and centralized interactive control systems across 200+ technology-equipped spaces throughout six office floors and in particular, the 17^th floor – home to the Corporate Experience Center (CXC) that supports an extensive array of interactive product demo kiosks; and the Commons, an employee recreation space that also comfortably supports large group events, like CRETECH Future Boston, which PTC hosted on April 10^th of this year.

20 interactive exhibit pods throughout the CXC showcase PTC’s product solutions

One of the most specialized elements within CDA’s design is the PTC Podcast Studio that CDA’s Joel Nygren designed, assisted in configuring and even engineered the first live studio session with PTC’s senior leadership. From John Civello, “Our second Investor Call from 121 Seaport went great (again) last night from the new studio.  Just wanted to extend my sincere thanks to all of you for designing and building this outstanding space.”

The construction team included General Contractor, Gilbane Construction, Project Managers Cresa, and AV Integrator, Red Thread. “Red Thread was the perfect choice of AV integrator for this project. They had the breadth of resources and skill to implement our design, and to do so with the level of talent needed to handle a project of this scale – and with a very short construction schedule. This required lots of quick coordination between all parties, and Red Thread did a stellar job.

They were responsive and well organized throughout. We had a great working relationship with their team, right through final programming and commissioning.” stated CDA Principal, Stewart Randall.

“When I see people’s eyes light up with creativity when they walk into one of these spaces, I know that we got our design right. The Podcast Studio, like many other spaces within the new PTC Headquarters, exemplify CDA’s belief that the technology solutions we design should not just satisfy end-user needs, but also inspire and empower greater creativity, collaboration, and a better end result, whatever that may be,” said CDA’s Joel Nygren. This project has been a true success story for so many; an expansive team of creative, hardworking people who have helped make PTC’s vision for a revolutionary, technology-centric workplace not only a reality but a global model for success.

Reality Lab

Read the full Commercial Integrator Award article here: https://www.commercialintegrator.com/news/announcing-the-2019-integration-awards-winners/

(Written By: Catherine Carlock | Bizjournals.com)

Industrial software company PTC Inc. (Nasdaq: PTC) has officially moved from Needham to Boston’s Seaport District, celebrating the grand opening of its 250,000-square-foot headquarters at 121 Seaport Blvd. on April 25.

The office was designed by Margulies Perruzzi Architects and built out by Gilbane Building Co.

The office features museum-like exhibits showcasing PTC software in action, from its uses in Caterpillar heavy machinery to ESAB welding equipment and Celli Group taps serving up Downeast Cider beverages. At a customer experience center, customers can use a tablet loaded with PTC software to take a virtual tour of the Seaport District. Smaller touches including a conference table made from the remains of a shipwrecked schooner, discovered in 2016 amid the construction of 121 Seaport Blvd.

Continue reading the entire original article here: https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2019/04/29/see-inside-ptc-s-new-seaport-district-headquarters.html