NeoCon Winner-Configura Takes Silver

CHICAGO—June 11, 2012 Configura today took Best of NeoCon Silver for “MyConfigura,” winning in the Software/Technology category in the annual competition held in conjunction with the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair. The competition recognizes the best new commercial interiors products. 

MyConfigura is a webservice and portal to all of Configura’s cloud-based services. Configura worked with CET Designer® users to create MyConfigura, which officially launches with CET Designer 3.0 on June 18. The webservice features functionality similar to Facebook and Google Docs.

“MyConfigura is community, a place ‘in the cloud’ where users and others can create Briefcases, and store/share CET Designer files, and collaborate via discussion threads. It’s like an umbrella under which everything a user needs – from licensing information to current projects, renderings, even videos – can be safely stored, easily accessed and readily shared,” said Amy Edington, a Configura training and support team member and one of “Team Configura” who demo’ed the product to Best of NeoCon judges.

Joining Edington in the competition were Configura’s Alexandra Tseffos and Peter Brandinger. Using role-playing to demonstrate MyConfigura’s benefits, Edington played the role of a designer at a dealership who used CET Designer with MyConfigura to communicate and share a CET Designer-created project with a client at a fictitious A&D firm (role-played by Tseffos) and with the ultimate end-client, the person purchasing new office furniture (role-played by Brandinger).

The team demo’ed not only the power of MyConfigura’s sharing, storage and communication capabilities but also the incredible visuals capable of being produced by CET Designer: renderings so real they look like photos.

The June 18 release of CET Designer 3.0 with MyConfigura offers major enhancements including a new User-based license model and the portal to all of Configura’s cloud-based services.

“Our Users will be able to work when they want, where they want,” Configura Training and Support Manager Tracy Lanning said. “Users won’t be tied to a particular computer. They’ll be able to install and use their CET Designer license on as many computers as they want.”

 Configura’s CET Designer software is a single solution for accurately designing, specifying, creating specials, rendering with photorealism and in video, generating install plans and ordering, for a wide range of contract furniture products. The software lets users focus on space planning and design through intuitive, 2D and 3D drag-and-drop functionality; behind the scenes, the rules-based software handles complex calculations. As an industry-wide solution, it’s used by design, sales, marketing and customer service personnel at commercial furniture dealerships as well as by A&D firms, facilities managers, design students and in-house design departments.

“With CET Designer 3.0 and MyConfigura, the user and customer experience is enhanced and simplified: Design, specify, render and order with CET Designer anywhere and go online to store and share work,” Edington said. “This is the next step in making CET Designer a totally integrated, single-tool solution.”

CET Designer 3.0 with MyConfigura is being demo’ed through the duration of the NeoCon exhibition in Configura’s Booth 7-7046.

Configura Inc., based in Grand Rapids, Mich., is a wholly owned subsidiary of Configura Sverige AB, with global headquarters in Sweden. More information at www.configura.com