Concerto: A Story about Strength in Numbers

Concerto would never have happened if it weren’t for the general support from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute community as a whole. But there are a number of organizations that made the launch and growth of the RPI Concerto network happen at a rate that none of us could have ever predicted. We would like to say thanks to those organizations here.

Rensseler Union, Bookstore, and Mueller Center

The Union funded and supported Concerto from its inception. The Union’s Executive Board, made up of student members, voted to approve seed funding for the first Concerto installation in early 2008. Since then, the Union has supported the growth of the network in almost every way possible. Union club officers and student club members use the RPI Concerto network every day to share messages about community service, club meetings, festivals, workshops, and many other events. And the Union website’s front page is also powered by Concerto, which helps it to serve as a dynamic window into what is going on within and beyond the Union each day. Finally, the Union Bookstore and Mueller Fitness Center also now feature their own Concerto displays.

Rensselaer Center for Open-Source Software (RCOS)

RCOS has been supportive of the Concerto Project from its first months of development. As a strong financial backer of the growth of the network at RPI, RCOS funded the installation of four Concerto displays, and has also funded several developers of the Web Technologies Group for continued Concerto development, as well as other important software projects. RCOS was started with funding from RPI alumnus Sean O’Sullivan, who has made many generous gifts to the Institute over the years to fund innovative and intriguing projects and initiatives.

Rensselaer Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Relations

The Alumni Association at RPI covered installation costs for the first Concerto display on the RPI campus. The Office of Alumni Relations has also been responsible for placing a Concerto display inside the lobby of the Heffner Alumni House at RPI.

Lally School of Management & Technology

The Lally School supported the Concerto Project pretty much from its inception. Two displays in the lobby of the Pittsburgh Building at RPI were turned over to Concerto in March 2008.

Folsom Library

RPI’s main library generously donated funds for the installation of a Concerto display in an outdoor enclosure. As the first vertically oriented display, the Library screen is a unique addition to the Concerto network at RPI.

Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD)

The CCPD granted the Web Tech Group use of a corporate-funded television inside the West Lobby of the Rensselaer Union for Concerto. Since then, the CDC has also installed Concerto in its front lobby.

Sodexo / RPI Hospitality Services

Sodexo is the food vendor for RPI, and funded displays in the Commons Dining Hall, Russell Sage Dining Hall, and Rathskeller.

The School of Humanities donated money toward the installation of Concerto in the Russell Sage Laboratories building on RPI’s Troy, New York, campus.

RPI Registrar’s Office

The Registrar’s Office also has a Concerto display and has used Concerto to share with the rest of campus notices about droip deadlines, course registrations, and important changes to the academic calendar.