In the course of a week, business people can be in their Northern Ontario office, participate in a workshop taking place in South Africa, meet with business partners in Australia, and listen in on a training seminar in South America—all without stepping foot in an airport.
Through the services of the eDome, based at Cambrian College in Sudbury, businesses can evolve their global reach without straining their financial resources or sending key personnel globetrotting for weeks at a time, saving time, money and resources.
A multi-media production studio, the eDome is equipped with live videoconferencing and web meeting capabilities, in addition to onsite and on-location video production and DVD distribution. The 3,000-square-foot facility has a 120-person capacity and can also host galas and events. On-site catering is available through Chartwells and Cambrian College.
With more businesses expanding into markets around the world, the need for these services is growing, said Cindy Rocca, manager of sales and production at eDome.
“We’re really connecting businesses globally and connecting partners globally,” Rocca said. “That’s what I think the eDome’s base is: a venue that connects people to other people.”
Fully outfitted with its own video production equipment, the facility has broadcast-quality audio and video capabilities, lighting, surround sound and four large projection screens, in addition to a teleprompter and green screen. It operates in hi-definition, and has a sound booth and two full hi-definition editing suites.
A garage door allows for large equipment to be brought in for training or product demonstration purposes, and there’s even a console equipped with water, power, air and exhaust, which came in handy during production of a cooking show a few years ago.
The eDome is a great place to host training seminars, Rocca said. The facilitator’s presentation can be broadcast from the eDome to locations around the globe, or personnel can receive a broadcast of the training from another location. The session can then be recorded and saved for the company’s future training or employee orientation needs.
“Edome is different than other studios because we have equipment onsite, but we can also go offsite to shoot, so we can bring equipment as well, whereas many other studios, if it’s a production studio, sometimes have to bring in equipment,” Rocca said.
Originally designed for educational applications, the eDome (electronic delivery of modular education) has been in operation since 2006, but only shifted its focus to business applications a few years ago. Operation of the facility now falls under Cambrian’s Business Development Group.
“It helps to generate revenue for the college so that Cambrian College can be self-sustaining,” Rocca said. “Especially with government funds being cut back, schools are starting to look at ways to sustain themselves.”
Since the switch, Rocca believes the eDome has remained one of the North’s best-kept secrets, but she wants to change all that, getting the word out to Sudbury, then across the North and beyond, that the eDome is open for business.
The college sees the eDome as just one component in a package of services offered by the school, Rocca said, and it’s always looking to establish new partnerships. Cambrian’s portable trades trailers bring equipment and course content to remote locations to train people in the trades, while its graduates contribute to the future workforce.
“We don’t see eDome as just a service provider, but more so a partnership, because eDome is just one of the exciting things we have here at Cambrian College,” Rocca said.
