Burbank, CA, USA (September 27, 2012) — SHI International Corp. is going back to the future with its imaginative New York City Briefing Center, recently unveiled in the heart of Manhattan at 1 Penn Plaza. The Briefing Center’s focal point is a 3D animated tour of SHI’s innovative cloud architecture woven through the history of computing beginning with the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Produced by George Johnsen, founder of Mammoth Sound & Vision, this 22-minute video presentation provides an immersive and engaging “edu-tainment” experience, offering clients and partners a rare look inside SHI’s next-generation data center and cloud solutions. This sci-fi journey is led by SHI’s cloud computing mascot, HA-NA, also created by Johnsen. She provides the voice of the customer and she ultimately points them to the best fit for their organization’s cloud computing needs.
“One of the main things that we wanted to do here is to create a memorable experience,” stated Henry Fastert, Chief Techologist, SHI International Corp. “We also wanted to create a very positive view of the future. The cloud has created so much change in such a short period of time that people are very concerned about how it all impacts their companies and their careers. So we went back to a period of time – between 1955 and 1965 – where the future was viewed as a completely positive thing – we believed it would solve all our problems and it was really something that we all looked forward to.”
“Our plan was to meet Henry’s vision,” said Johnsen. “It’s our first briefing center, and it’s been a pleasure and a challenge to put a theme park in an office building. This kind of experience is usually reserved for places like Disneyworld or Universal Studios, where we often work. It’s a total immersion 3D film that puts the viewer in the middle of the cloud technology that SHI has developed. We looked backwards to look forward to a time where the future was really, really cool and took it from there.”
The Briefing Center is a futuristic office that delivers an interactive experience to give visitors a comprehensive view of SHI’s innovative cloud services, technologies, and capabilities. Designed in conjunction with Spin Design, the 5000 square foot center features bright white walls reminiscent of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and automatic glass doors that can transition from clear to opaque and even display images.
About Mammoth Sound & Vision
Mammoth Sound & Vision is a multi-continent production company based in Burbank, California, specializing in animation, visual effects, audio and video post-production, interactive programming and 3D stereoscopic production. Founded by digital pioneer George Johnsen, Mammoth SAV is on the leading edge of creating award-winning productions for themed entertainment and live venues as well as film and television. More information is available at http://www.mammothsav.com.
About SHI
Founded in 1989, SHI International Corp. is a $4 billion+ global provider of technology products and services. Driven by the industry’s most experienced and stable sales force and backed by software volume licensing experts, hardware procurement specialists, and certified IT services professionals, SHI delivers custom IT solutions to Corporate, Enterprise, Public Sector, and Academic customers. With over 1,900 employees worldwide, SHI is the largest Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) in the U.S. and is ranked 18th among Everything Channel’s VAR 500 list of North American IT solution providers. For more information, visit http://www.shi.com.
