The history of Ambient extends
as far back as two decades, where childhood friendships
and a profound appreciation for music laid the foundation
for a company that would one day implement communications
solutions within the highest levels of the U.S. military
as well as leading corporate and higher education organizations.
Owners Tom Barrett and Tim Quigley
spent significant portions of their youth designing
and installing sound and lighting systems for school
functions and community events. Although their event
production skills increased over the ensuing years through
education and practical experience, the partners
credit the innate critical listening abilities and attention
to detail they developed as adolescents as the most
important factors in their approach to design and installation.
In the mid 1990’s Ambient was one of the first
companies to successfully introduce and implement the
concept of “Corporate Theatre” as a replacement
to more traditional methods of delivering training,
sales presentations and company meetings. It was in
this arena where Tom and Tim focused their collective
backgrounds in music and event staging to elevate these
presentations to “productions” by employing
creative designs for lighting, acoustics and video/data
display. The Duo was also able to rely on their years
of practical experience when choosing equipment and
Ambient quickly developed a reputation for excellence
with regard to top quality, meticulously-maintained
inventory.
In addition, Ambient created more dynamic atmospheres
and environments by seamlessly incorporating various
multimedia technologies to deliver audio, video and
computer graphics. Clients such as Met Life, SYSCO,
Textron and The Smithsonian Institute were early beneficiaries
of Ambient’s approach to event production, which
kept audiences engaged, motivated and most importantly,
highly receptive to the intended messages.
In 1996, Ambient received national recognition when
ESPN selected the Company to design and implement the
communications plan for the X-Games (formerly known
as the Extreme Games). Ambient’s ability to take
on this challenge represented the culmination of the
skills and expertise the two partners had spent years
developing. In addition to providing all of the audio
capabilities for the event, Ambient had to address unique
logistical challenges such as geography and facilitating
the varying needs of both local and national media outlets.
Within a year of their X-Games success, Ambient received
another high profile contract, this time from the U.S.
Army’s Classroom XXI program. The program’s
mandate was to implement and maintain an advanced distributed
multimedia architecture that delivers state-of-the-art
distance learning to tens of thousands of Army officers
and soldiers. Ambient designed and installed a prototype
classroom, which featured sophisticated mechanisms for
combining audio, video and control systems to increase
the level of training methodologies and student retention.
Now a longstanding customer, the U.S. Army continues
to call upon Ambient to apply new technologies as the
Classroom XXI program grows in scope and complexity.
Today, Ambient serves the event production and communications
needs of a wide variety of customers in markets that
span Government, Corporate, Education, Sports,
Healthcare, and Entertainment.
To stay ahead of evolving technology and customer requirements,
Ambient has expanded its facilities and personnel to
include a diverse and talented group of technicians
and salespeople.
Ambient also continues to make enormous investments
in equipment and has cultivated strong relationships
with vendors such as Microsoft, Crestron, Canon and
Tandberg. In addition, Ambient has made a commitment
to our country’s soldiers and students through
partnerships with leading government integrators and
higher education institutions, such as Northrop Grumman
and the University of Rhode Island, to develop and implement
advanced technologies for some of the largest training
programs in the country.
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