Product: (26) VST-40x60x90, Table & Bar Heights, Wilsonart Natural Recon Plastic Laminate
Project Description: Marshall Furniture had the privilege of building a variety of furniture for the new Geffen Hall Medical Education Building at UCLA last year. One of the most interesting spaces in Geffen Hall is the Teaching Lab. This space utilizes (26) V-shaped collaboration tables paired with cutting edge technology installed by AVI-SPL to create a collaborative flipped classroom teaching environment. The dual table heights help with sight lines within the space by seating the students in the center of the room at a typical table height and the students around the perimeter at bar height. Dual monitors allow the instructor to display content on one screen while student content can be channeled to the secondary screen. The AMX boxes provide the collaborative connectivity. Custom speakers manufactured by Brown Innovations are installed in the table edge and create a personal sound zone for each seated user. The credenza base provides ample storage space for the rack that holds the brains of the system.
“The school's design originally included monitor lift cabinets at the head of each table that would have concealed the displays when not in use. As the project developed, this option was replaced with the stationary monitors which simplified things quite a bit. The layout of the space and the concept of such a large scale collaborative classroom was intriguing to me from the day the customer brought the project to us to fashion a design. As many projects do, this one changed quite a bit from conception to construction. Embedding the custom speakers in the table edge added an additional layer of complexity. The finish combination selected by the architect resulted in a very linear, modern feel to the tables”.
Ariel Blaha
Sales Manager
Marshall Furniture Inc
“Working with Ariel Blaha and the Marshall Furniture team is always a pleasure, and the Teaching Lab Collaboration Table design process was no exception. The design process for these pieces lasted many months, with numerous updates and modifications as the overall system designs evolved. Ariel was always ready to accommodate whatever changes were needed. Far beyond simply producing design drawings, Ariel was a critical resource throughout the process, suggesting numerous additions or changes to solve problems or streamline functionality which were incorporated in the final table designs. This sort of truly collaborative design process, along with Marshall’s deep understanding of what it takes to make furniture that can adequately accommodate the power, ventilation, cable pathway & other equipment needs of today’s cutting edge AV systems makes Marshall my preferred custom AV furniture vendor.”
Neil Bornn-Gilman
Manager, Audiovisual Services
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
