Today I got to check out the new Executive Briefing Center from NEC Display Solutions (that I kept calling an Experience Center), which also doubles as NEC Display’s new offices outside of Chicago, Illinois. This space was designed from scratch, taking up two floors and 6,000 square feet. See our earlier story based on NEC’s announcement of the new executive briefing center here.

The executive briefing center itself is kind of the lobby of NEC Display’s new offices. It includes 10 of what NEC is calling “vignettes” — mini demonstrations of different applications, including boardroom, retail, command and control, large venue, classroom, healthcare and others. The system, designed by AV consultant Engineering Plus and integrated by Diversified, is built entirely on an AV over IP system using Crestron’s NVX product and based on a 1 Gig network platform. Other significant technology partners in the project include Biamp and Cisco. You can see more about the choices behind the technology in the video interviews below.

I talked to Betsy Larson, vice president of channel sales to get her opinion on the new offices and how her channel partners will be able to use the new space:

I also talked to Pat Malone, vice president of enterprise sales, to get his take on the new enterprise briefing center and talk about NEC’s partnerships for solutions in the space:

Keith Yanke, director of product marketing, gave tours of the space all afternoon, and talked to me about where display technology and NEC as a company are headed:

Ryan O’Halloran, director of advanced visual environments for Diversified Chicago, the integrator that did all the work in the center, showed me the brain of the whole system (i.e., the AV closet), including a look at the Crestron NVX system everything is running on:

Ryan also demonstrated the boardroom vignette for us to show us how everything worked together:

Mike Sugrue, AV design engineer at Engineering Plus, was part of the AV consulting team that designed the space. He talked about the choices they made for the center, including going with a 1 Gig system (Crestron’s NVX) and using Cisco, plus working with brand new products and an AV over IT system:

Last I interviewed NEC Display Solutions of America President and CEO Todd Bouman about his vision for the executive briefing center, his last three years at NEC Display Solutions and where he sees both the company and the industry going:

The center will be used to host NEC Display customers, both channel and enterprise and host events. The new offices feature standing desks, huddle rooms, flexible conference rooms and training rooms where NEC plans to bring in partners.

If you are planning to be in the Chicago area soon, I encourage you to go take a look. NEC Display is here.