Center Stage Preview: Wednesday, June 14

Center Stage Preview: Wednesday, June 14

10 a.m.: Nevin Steinberg, the sound designer for a little Broadway production called Hamilton, will discuss how “Your Brain Does it Better: The delicate art of using sound and video immersion in live event design,” in a dialogue with Daniel Brodie, projection designer for another Tony award-winner, Disney’s Aladdin.

11:30 a.m.: From the frontier of advertising agency technology awareness, Rich Cannava, president and partner, The CSI Group will present a supreme content-centric talk on “Brave New Creative Services: Advertising Finally Understands Digital Signage” with TJ DiQuollo, Director of Creative Services at Diversified.

1 p.m: Ever wonder if architects and chefs share our grief about terrible restaurant acoustics? Well yes, yes they do. The venerable Niels Guldager, designer of many a chic New York restaurant for Rockwell Group and previously with his own studio, will be quizzed on stage by sound designer extraordinaire David Schwartz, founder and president of Essential Communications. These two collaborators will be joined by no less than Tom Valenti, unforgettable New York chef and restauranteur, who will talk about his experience in-house at Le Cirque and Ouest, and on the town at loud places where food is served in this don’t miss session: “A Chef's Perspective — Why Restaurant Acoustics Matter.”

1:30 p.m.: Even minor-league ballparks are getting super hip with artisanal hot dogs and craft beers, which means sports venues must be seen in a new light—a potentially very profitable new light as stadiums of all sizes reinvent themselves for the fan experience era. Leading the cultivation of a thoughtfully integrated aesthetic that sportingly incorporates fan favorites, team colors, local food outlets and brand partners into the look and feel of stadiums and arenas is a company called Infinite Scale. One of the firm’s co-founders, Cameron Smith, will be dazzling us with a philosophical take on the look and feel of fan engagement in his session, “Stadiums Are the New Theme Parks — Designing for Sport in the age of the regionally specific, fan-centric entertainment district.”

3 p.m.: Two extreme creatives, Daniel Burwen, Creative Director at Cognito, and Toshi Hoo, Director of Research for The Emerging Media Lab at The Institute for the Future, will reveal how VR will revamp our understanding of UI in their session, “Interface On Your Face: How user agency in VR/AR is replacing visual fidelity as the driving factor of media evolution.”

Kirsten Nelson is a freelance content producer who translates the expertise and passion of technologists into the vernacular of an audience curious about their creations. Nelson has written about audio and video technology in all its permutations for almost 20 years; she was the editor of SCN for 17 years. Her experience in the commercial AV and acoustics design and integration market has also led her to develop presentation programs and events for AVIXA and SCN, deliver keynote speeches, and moderate and participate in panel discussions. In addition to technology, she also writes about motorcycles—she is a MotoGP super fan.