When I was in primary school, my family took a trip across the United States.  When we emerged from the car at the end of a seemingly endless drive to the Grand Canyon, we walked into a lodge; I was spellbound! The golden evening light filtering through the atmosphere delivered warm light to warm colored rocks and minerals… they positively glowed.  On the observation deck, we heard silence.  Silence is defined as the absence of noise, but here the silence was more than no sound; it had a quality of hushed reverence to it that I remember to this day.

To this day, I remember the feeling I had when I went to my first ever professional baseball game at the old Yankee Stadium.  My father knew the value of a dollar so we were in the very upper reaches of the stadium with a breath-taking view of a perfect baseball diamond, right in the middle of New York City – wow!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral was another destination of my youth.  If you’ve been there you’ll understand: it is majestic, holy, revered, spectacular.  Sun filtering through richly stained glass, highlighting floating dust in the air, candles flickering in the chapels, the fragrance of lingering incense, hushed whispers, music, prayers: the senses are assaulted and the body is embraced by peace and tranquility.

Years later, I attended my first big corporate meeting as a 100% Club qualifier at IBM.  The big, wide screen presentations were awe inspiring. As an IBM rep a few years after my first “Club”, I encountered another of those inspiring feelings that an environment can create: it was the trading floor at my account, the investment bank, Solomon Brothers.  There was a palpable buzz in the air, multiple terminals on each of hundreds of desks that created a unique glow in the room… I didn’t realize what was creating the chills up my back at the time, but it wasn’t the last time that lighting and sound would move me.

Environments play such an essential role in our experiences as children, tourists, pilgrims, families and yes, professionals at a corporate gathering.  For the past 21 years I’ve been witness to many critical meetings at key moments in the history of great companies and social movements.  The most vivid recollections of messages and experiences are accompanied by memories of spectacular use of space, light and audio.