Two new 6.5’ x 11.2’ LED displays reinvigorate crucial event room for organizer of world’s largest single-day charitable giving event.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, September 19, 2017 — When growing, building or upgrading infrastructure, non-profit organizations have a complicated path to traverse. They need to be forward-thinking, while remaining fiscally responsible. Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT), a public charity in Dallas that connects individuals, families and companies to nonprofits solving community needs, carefully considered this challenge when it recently upgraded its community room AV system with two stunning NanoLumens® ENGAGE Series™ LED displays.
According to the foundation’s Facilities and Events Manager Lisa Causey, the community room is a major component of CFT’s operations and is available for nonprofit organizations funded by the organization to utilize for mission-centered events Monday to Friday.
“Our community room hosts hundreds of non-profit planning events, donor appreciation days and retreats each year that attract upwards of 20,000 people annually, so it needs to be modern, attractive, and simple to use,” Causey said. “Our previous projection system was adequate, but utilized old technology that was no longer supported. We needed something modern and reliable, and preferably a technology that provided a high quality visual impact.”
After recognizing internal consensus that the community room’s tech could use an overhaul, CFT researched all the options, from multi-panel video walls to massive, expensive single panel displays. After extensive discussion, review, cost analysis and benefit analysis, they determined two NanoLumens ENGAGE Series™ LED displays were the ideal solution to provide a captivatingly bright, crisp, high definition video system that would create a positive impact with employees, guests and donors for years to come. Each of the 6.5’ x 11.2’, 2.5 mm pixel pitch displays provide a brilliant canvas for presenters to display any necessary graphics, photos, videos or other visuals at a 16:9 aspect ratio, which maximizes the space’s utility. The previous projection screens were older 4:3 models, which often meant there was wasted screen real estate now that 16:9 HD content is the norm.
“One of our goals was to make this a vibrant upgrade without being ostentatious about it,” Causey added. “We know upgrading to the NanoLumens displays will help us and our nonprofit partners more effectively communicate their missions which is critical. It’s basically a value purchase that we expect will pay huge dividends to our more than 6,000 charity recipients over the long life of the displays. That’s also why the six-year, down-to-the-pixel warranty was so important to us, adding a sense of security and value to the purchase.”
Between the warranty and the innovative front-serviceable, Nixel-based design, if any part of the display should have an issue, it can be quickly remedied by replacing the affected 6” x 12” Nixel, eliminating the need for rear-access or full display replacement, and drastically cutting down on maintenance time. CFT also said the fact that NanoLumens is a proud American tech company with manufacturing in Norcross, Georgia, was a positive factor in its purchasing decision. Another influencing factor was how simple the displays and new system are to use for non-technical employees and presenters.
“One of the best things about the new system is how user friendly it is,” Causey continued. “It’s truly plug-and-play, which we really need because the people using it most often are not technology professionals, and we don’t have an AV person on staff. The upgrade from VGA to HDMI is a big change and allows us to offer non-profit guests and employees much simpler access through multiple HDMI ports throughout the room. This way presenters can choose who controls the video feed – the presenter can operate it from the stage or delegate to a teammate sitting somewhere else in the room. Through the connected Crestron system there is also no selecting sources or fiddling with menus, we simply plug into one of the HDMI inputs and the desired image instantly appears on the displays. Whether both displays are presenting the same feed or showing different images or videos, it couldn’t be simpler.”
The first major celebration in the room will be for 2017 North Texas Giving Day on Thursday, September 14, which has grown to be the world’s largest single-day online giving event since its inception in 2009. The 18-hour event encourages individuals and corporations from all over the world to donate online, and has raised more than $156 million for more than 2,500 local North Texas nonprofits over the last eight years. Most donations are garnered at www.NorthTexasGivingDay.org, and CFT and local organizations also host in-person donation stations for the day.
“Over the coming years we anticipate greater interest in our facility thanks to the stunning NanoLumens displays,” Causey concluded. “There is nothing we won’t do to aid our mission to help raise critical funds for organizations delivering needed services to people throughout Texas and all over the country and the world. Leveraging innovative technologies for attractiveness and utility to raise more funds is a core reality for non-profits in the 21st century, and NanoLumens has helped us to move into this new age.”