media:scape With HD Videoconferencing by Steelcase Wins Bronze in Annual IDEA Awards

The “Oscars” of Design Competitions Recognizes Innovation, Societal Impact

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – July 1, 2011 – Steelcase, a global office environments manufacturer, announced today that it is the recipient of a Bronze award from the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), an annual competition that recognizes product designs which enhance quality of life and the economy. A jury from the Industrial Designers Society of America, (IDSA), chose media:scape with HD videoconferencing, an integrated furniture and technology solution which enhances collaboration, as a winner in the Office & Productivity category.

Driven by research insights on how teams collaborate in person and virtually, media:scape brings together people, space and information to boost collaboration and help teams excel. media:scape augments how teams collaborate by allowing participants to access and share their digital information equally, quickly and seamlessly through connecting their device into a PUCK media-sharing device. On one high-definition screen, participants will see each other; while on the other engage with various photos, drawings, charts and data from their laptop.

“We live in an interconnected world where problems are increasingly complex and collaboration is more important than ever, but teams are distributed around the globe today, and the reality is they can’t always be together in person,” said James Ludwig, vice president of global design. “Workers today need ways to collaborate even when they’re spread across various locations and time zones. media:scape with HD videoconferencing is designed for eyes-to-eyes and eyes-to-information sharing. We’re honored IDSA has honored media:scape with HD videoconferencing with this accolade.”

Founded 31 years ago, the IDEA competition received a record amount of entries in 2011. Out of 524 finalists, 27 were honored with the Gold Award, while 68 received the Silver Award and 96 won the Bronze Award.

The 2011 IDEA jury, made up of 20 international design experts coming from design consultancies, corporations and universities, spent weeks previewing entries online and two-and-a-half days of face-to-face evaluation and debate. Judging criteria focused on eight areas of industrial design excellence: innovation; benefit to the user; benefit to society; benefit to the client; visual appeal and appropriate aesthetics; usability, emotional factors and unmet needs for the design research category; and internal factors, methods, strategic value and implementation for the design strategy category.

About Steelcase Inc.
Steelcase Inc. helps create great experiences — wherever work happens. Our brands offer a comprehensive portfolio of workplace furnishings, products and services, inspired by nearly 100 years of insight gained serving the world’s leading organizations. We are globally accessible through a network of channels, including over 650 dealers. We design for social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Steelcase is a global, publicly traded company leading our industry with fiscal 2011 revenue of approximately $2.4 billion.

The Steelcase Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4484

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Sara Whitman
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