Internal Newsletter

THE CRESTRON CHRONICLES EMPLOYEENEWSLETTER
JULY 2016

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Inside this issue:

Letter from the CEO 1

Fun facts/Other 2

Interns 3

Plano Campus 4

InfoComm16 5

Safety Tips 6

Going Green 7

Coming Soon 8

Flying Eye Hospital 9

Reminders/ 10

Announcements

1

“Great things
in business are
never done by

one person.
They’re done
by a team of

people.”

- Steve Jobs

c

June, the busy c
month for the ware-
New Hires:
house, receives

about
deliveries.

HDMI cables are From the Orangeburg
shipped and re- Distribution Center

ceived a year. 3In months the warehouse

8Crestron ships has shipped
little widgets domestic and
ocean containers
international.
and

air freights a week.

2

Intern Social

June 3, 2016

To kick off the Summer Internship Program,
Crestron hosted an intern social at Escape
Room NJ. Interns, along with their mentors,
started their day getting to know each other,
and, of course, eating. Then they participated
in various challenges such as air soft,
“minute-it-to-win-it”, and “escape the
room”. Thanks to Staffing & Recruiting for
planning such a fun-filled day and bringing
the interns to the Crestron Family!

What are they up to?

“Right now I’m working on “I’m working on “It’s been really fun
the bridge between marketing the ET side of 2 projects writing apps for web de-
and recruiting. Even as a new- that involve creating servers. velopment! I love having
comer I’ve had lots of independ- Having mentors is so helpful various tasks to work on. It
ence and exposure, which I’m to making this experience as makes me excited to go in

really thankful for. fulfilling as possible.” every day.”

Dannah Lawrence Jack
Mena Bugaoan S taker

DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT
Staffing & IT Software Prod./
Recruiting Enterprise Sol.
SCHOOL
SCHOOL Rutgers University SCHOOL
Marist College University of Wisconsin

3

“As you are getting ready for the big move to Texas, what are your thoughts and feelings Plano, Texas
on the future of Crestron at this new location, as well as your part in the expansion?

To sum it up in one word…

THRILLED!!”

This was Sameh Sabet’s immediate an- responsibility of day to day management of petitors, however, the selection of Legacy
swer when I asked him about his move to the engineering function in Plano. Tower was made based on several variables.
Texas for Crestron’s new location in Plano. The Legacy Tower is at the center of a large
Crestron is leasing 56,000 square feet of Bell: Once I’ve relocated to the Plano facili- corporate park which includes several other
space in the glistening Legacy Tower, where ty, I will be continuing my current role as global companies and is a hot bed for tal-
they plan to employ about 250-300 staffers. Director of Materials Management and ent that can help Crestron grow. The prox-
Two of the employees who will be moving working on developing a team to help sup- imity to DFW airport as well as several local
to Texas to assist with this expansion is the port our global inventory expansion to restaurants and stores makes it a very at-
previously mentioned Sameh Sabet, the Crestron’s international entities. I will also tractive location.”
Managing Director, and James Bell, the Di- be focusing on how to better support our
rector of Material Management. Bell, who is business relationships with Crestron’s con- So not only is Plano a location that
busily preparing for his relocation while tract manufactures who will play a key part shows Crestron’s status as a leader in its
providing his thoughts, enthusiastically de- in Crestron’s future success. industry, but it is also one of convenience
scribes this new stage as a very exciting and sensibility. Sabet explains that, “the
point that reflects Crestron’s growth, poten- According to Sabet, this opening is an location is central within the US allowing us
tial, and success. opportunity to tap into great new talents to coordinate any activities between east
and drive Crestron’s product line to amaz- and west coast.” He reminds everyone that
What specifically will you be doing at the ing new levels. Bell also states that it exem- this move to Plano, is also a move to the
Plano campus? plifies Crestron’s continuation of investing “next level”. Sabet solidifies that there is one
in infrastructure as well as people, while overall goal in mind:
Sabet: I will be heading up to engineering solidifying its global presence.
at the new campus. I will continue to be “To continue to drive Crestron to be the
responsible for firmware development in Speaking of affirming its presence, the hands down leader in everything we do!
video streaming products, audio products Legacy Tower is only 15 minutes from
and low level development support for Crestron’s rival: AMX. When asked about Good luck to Sameh, James,
TouchPanels as well as Unified Communica- this particular decision, Bell answered, and everyone else at Plano!
tions products. However, I also take on the “Crestron is always aware of it global com-

4

AWARDS WON InfoComm16

5 Commercial Integrator The face of Crestron’s booth, which headlined the theme
“Technology for every space”.
Best Awards
ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL YEAR
5 Government Video Best
Every year, Crestron leads InfoComm, the largest profes-
of Show Awards sional Audiovisual trade show in North America. On June 8
-10, Crestron had another extremely successful year at
4 Sound & Video Contrac- InfoComm16, winning 20 awards, hosting manufacturers &
industry training classes, and greetings hundreds at their
tor Best of Show Awards booth which featured products and experiential exhibits.
At this year’s convention, which was held at the Las Vegas
2 SCN® / InfoComm In- Convention Center, industry professionals came to see
what Crestron has in store.
stallation Product Awards
AT THE SHOW FLOOR
2 AV Technology Best of
The Crestron booth takes 7 days to build. Once it’s set up,
Show Awards attendees of the conference flock the stands to see
Crestron’s newest products and solutions. Crestron experts
1 rAVe Reader’s Choice explain the benefits and functionalities of products such as
the Crestron DigitalMediaTM, Crestron Fusion® Cloud,
Awards and .AV FrameworkTM. Here, Crestron also introduced the
brand new Crestron DSP Tool, which further simplifies the
1 Global Presence Alli- process of programming, tuning, integrating, and expand-
ing audio performance in meeting spaces.
ance’s Global Excellence
Award RECAP of the Crestron A+ Educational Program
For a total of…
By Roger Takacs, Director of Educational Programs
20 prestigious “The first night of InfoComm, Wednesday, we hosted an A+
only event at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. Over 300 edu-
industry awards cation partners from all over joined us on the 108th floor overlooking the strip as well as the
eastern and western horizon. Our education partners enjoyed a few hours of networking with
5 other schools and had the opportunity to ride the thrill rides on top of the Stratosphere. We
even raffled off 2 bungee jumps off the top of building. For some reason people actually were
willing to jump off a perfectly good building. Our A+ partners were very appreciative of an
event held especially just for them and enjoyed the extremely low pressure environment with-
out any dealers, consultants, or third party programmers. Knowing that everyone at the event
was in a similar role at another school allowed for anyone to engage with anyone and speak
freely. The gatherings around the bar weren’t people waiting for a drink, or watching basket-
ball, they were people that met for the first time at the event and enjoyed talking about
what they were doing with Crestron at their schools. Fantastic!!”

5

Crestron’s SafettyhTiesamswuamntsmtoeker,ep you safe
this year,

life!and for

You’ve heard it before— It’s better to stay safe, than sorry! Accidents happen all the time. Be attentive to your sur-
roundings and always be prepared with the following tips and guidelines provided to you by the National Safety Council.

EVERY DAY PRACTICES MEDICAL PRECAUTIONS CAREFUL AROUND WATER!
 Get trained in First Aid and CPR  Know the signs of opioid painkiller ad-  Never let children go near or into
 Know what steps to take in an emer-
diction water alone
gency  Excessive mood swings or anxiety  Sign your children up for swimming
 Recognize the emergency  Sleepiness
 Check the area for safety  Slurred speech lessons
 Check the victim and ask for permis-  Confusion or poor decision making  Teach children to never use a pool,
 Small pupils or shallow breathing
sion to provide assistance  Continually “losing” prescriptions so hot tub, or spa that’s missing a drain-
 Call 9-1-1 when appropriate age cover
 Care for the person more must be written  Empty all buckets, bathtubs, or kiddie
 Have the person seek medical atten-  Seeking prescriptions from more than pools of water immediately after use
 Install a 5-foot-tall fence with self-
tion when needed one doctor closing latches around your pool or
 Participate in emergency drills at work  Stealing, forging or selling prescriptions hot tub
 Talk to your family about the risks of  Don’t let kids eat, drink, or chew gum
and home in the pool. It’s a choking hazard!
 Practice fire escape plans in the house opioid painkillers
 Keep medications out of a child’s reach

Safety Tips Crossword Puzzle Across

4 1. People who are addicted to painkillers may seek ___ from
4 more than one doctor

2 6 2. A sign of opioid painkiller addiction is excessive ___ swings.
2 3. Talk to your family about the dangers of ___ prescription
drugs with alcohol.
3 4. A side effect of opioid painkillers that could hinder your
ability to drive or work safely is difficulty ___ directions.
6 5 5. Teach kids the difference between swimming in a pool and
swimming in ___ water.
1 6. You can introduce your little one to the water as early as 6
1 ___ old.

3 Down
5
1. In the case of a fire, you should always have an ___ plan
ready.

2. You should regularly participate in ___ drills at work and
home.

3. ___ is the 2nd leading cause of unintentional death among
children from one to four years old.

4. When calling 9-1-1, stay on the line until the ___ says you
can hang up.

5. It’s a great idea to sign your children up for ___ lessons.
6. It’s essential that you make sure that smoke ___ are work-

ing properly.

ANSWER KEY: Across: 1. prescriptions 2. mood 3. mixing 4. following 5. open 6. months
Down: 1. escape 2. emergency 3. drowning 4. dispatcher 5. swimming 6. detectors

Crestron and the Environment

What is Crestron doing for the home we share?

C restron takes great cardboard, but they aren’t them more convenient for
pride in caring for not just stopping there. the customers in their dis-

only its customers, but also Currently, Crestron is posal process. Plus, these

its employees. Daniel Brady working with a new company boxes have both an environ-

(Vice President of the Manu- to adopt technology that will mental and economic ad-

facturing Supply Chain), Earl allow for more than basic vantage: more material

Feb (Senior Director of Cor- recycling. With an intern can be placed into one truck

porate Quality Assurance), solely devoted to directly or one pallet, saving fuel,

and David Chao (Director of communicating with this costs, and space in the

Operations and Product En- company, they are hoping to warehouse.

gineering) is the power team take on systems that will Other projects
working on environmental extract specific contents

initiatives to help Crestron out of the waste, instead

“go green” and make the of simply scrapping it all

earth a cleaner, safer place together.

to live. Many of their pro- A particular material
jects focus on the manufac-
turing process and the prod- that poses a challenge for
ucts themselves, but the
effects of these improve- Crestron is foam, which is How the box structure has changed
ments reach far beyond the not recyclable, and there-
ultimate customer. They are
vital steps that alter the en- fore very harmful to the en- On the manufacturing
tire carbon footprint that
Crestron contributes by sig- vironment. Crestron has tak- side, Brady, Feb, and Chao “We want to let
nificantly lowering carbon the employees
emissions and unnecessary en an alternative route by have also worked on know that the
waste. After all, the custom- company is willing
er’s planet is our planet and migrating to Korrvu® pack- “going green” by mak- to spend capital
an improvement for one, is investment in new
an improvement for all. aging which uses a thin, ing the process of sol- equipment that is
environmentally
strong film that holds prod- dering more environ-
friendly.”
ucts down to the cardboard. mentally friendly. Previ-
- David Chao
It is recyclable, biodegrada- ously, Crestron used a
7
ble, and makes the packag- ladle to get rid of

ing flat, resulting in less bulk waste, but that simulta-

waste. neously took away sil-

Another change to the ver, which is very ex-

The specifics packaging is the implemen- pensive. The new machine

According to Chao, “Six to tation of a new box struc- they have adapted saves
ten million components go ture. Previously, the boxes energy and costs by target-
used to hold shades were so ing a specific area to take
through the supply chain away wastes properly .
every single day.” So, how rigid that the end user was Overall, it increases accuracy
does Crestron manage the left with a large box that and efficiency.
couldn’t be collapsed to take
environmental affects of Future work
such a huge wave of pieces up less space. The new box-
es are foldable, making Other projects Crestron is
being handled in just one working on involve the
movement to go “paperless”.
day? Crestron of course al- They are currently looking at
new software and hope to
ready participates in stand- extend environmental friend-
liness to this sector, too.
ard recycling to properly dis-

pose of materials such as

metals, PCBs

(Polychlorinated biphenyls, a

mixture of chemicals), and Example of Korrvu® packaging

Coming Soon...

The inside scoop from HR

THE “CRESTRON EMPLOYEE LIFE QUICK LOOK
CENTER—TOTAL HEALTH AND FITNESS”
What are some
After months of planning, Crestron is ecstatic to announce the creation of a features that will
Health Center and Fitness Center, both of which will be available to all
employees upon its opening. be offered?

“This is one of the most exciting benefits to  Nurse Practitioner
look forward to as an employee.” - Christina LoVecchio  Biometric screen-

Serena Cuna, the Human Re- where employees can attend sem- ings
sources Administrator, opens up inars on various medical and  Check-ups on inju-
a manila folder that contains the health concerns such as smoking,
coveted information and floor nutrition, and weight loss. Don’t ries
plans for the incoming Crestron forget to look out for the Health  3 exam rooms
employee Health Center and Fit- Center’s table at the yearly health  Lab room
ness Center. These two separate fair!  Waiting room
centers are being implemented at  Conference room
6 Volvo as the outcome of an Furthermore, for all of those  Health related
agreement between Crestron who want to exercise with the
Electronics and their new health convenience of a gym close by, seminars
care provider, Cigna. As we excit- there will be a fitness center to get  Gym
edly wait, Crestron is aiming for a that quick morning jog in. Here, a  Physical therapist
grand opening on September 22, physical therapist will be on-
2016. board to provide expert services. Who will it be
available to?
The health center will pro- Crestron is expecting con-
vide on-site medical services such struction to start very soon and  All employees!
as biometric screenings and check they are extremely excited for
-ups on injuries. There will also these services to be available to When is it
be a nurse practitioner available all of the hard-working employ- expected to open?
for professional support. Not only ees.
will this particular center have  September 22, 2016
three exam rooms, but it will also - - Remember, you heard it here
contain a lab room, a waiting first from HR! - - 8
room, and a conference room

“Crestron is EYEFLYINGTHE LAUNCH OF THE
known as a luxury
HOSPITAL
brand with elite
products but when we
can use our technology

to help others…it’s
something special.”

- Dan Feldstein

On June 23, 2016, the The audiovisual/
third-generation MD-10 Flying Eye IT room
Hospital Launch took place in Newark,
New Jersey. The Flying Eye Hospital is a fully The resting room
equipped teaching hospital with a 46-seat class-
room, full surgical suite, operating theatre, laser treat-
ment room, communications center, recovery room, and
audiovisual/IT room. This airplane travels to impoverished
countries, carrying hundreds of volunteer eye care profession-
als who educate doctors on the importance of maintaining eye
health care and even perform medical procedures to directly treat
patients on the plane. It is operated by Orbis, a non-profit organizati-
on that works to provide medical help to the visually impared and pre-
vent blindness through education, training, and treatments. Crestron is
an Orbis partner and donated over $300,000 in A/V and automation soluti-
ons, and integration services so medical staff can operate while allowing
doctors to observe procedures in the classroom. Because of the equipment
that Crestron donated, doctors get to take recordings of the surgeries on USBs
or DVDs. The lectures are also streamed so that anyone with a smart phone can
learn and watch the surgeries. This allows doctors from local hospitals where the
Flying Eye Hospital is stationed and doctors all over the world to learn besides the
doctors directly in the airplane classroom. As Dr. Jonathan Lord says, “Technology
is driving forward education.” This is the exact education that has allowed Orbis to
use the Flying Eye Hospital to train 30 thousand medical professionals in 2013 and
improve over 2.1 millions lives in 2015.

Crestron’s partnership with Orbis was very close to George Feldstein’s heart. He want-
ed to be able to use Crestron Technology to improve the world and help others. The
completion of the Flying Eye Hospital is a testament to his wishes and will be
changing the lives of people all over the world for
years to come.

The 9The operating room
classroom

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