MGM MIRAGE acknowledges Apple’s unique qualifications to develop its software tool. “Apple is the only company that combines the powerful technology we need with the dazzling design that’s fueled our reputation,” says Dearborn. “And they’ve let us focus on our strength — developing content — instead of programming and maintenance.”
Successful installation and training
“We implemented location by location, and even though each property has numerous installations — Bellagio alone has nine — we experienced only minor glitches,” explains Dearborn. MGM MIRAGE also installed Apple Remote Desktop to allow users to manage the software tool remotely. With Apple Remote Desktop, employees at any MGM MIRAGE location, on any platform, can log in directly to the internal network and manage movie updates, reconfigure queues, and adjust the crawl text.
“After we got the software tool loaded and running on each Power Mac G5,” Dearborn says, “we went to each HR department and taught them how to get into the text file on their iMac and load their daily messages on the crawl. It took only a few minutes to train them, and now they manage it completely on their own.”
While MGM MIRAGE’s multimedia department runs primarily on Apple products, the rest of the company is multiplatform. “By using iMacs in HR, we’ve been able to educate our colleagues on the benefits of the Mac platform. Our president of retail was impressed, so I set him up with a G5 tower. Today he’s interested in Mac-based solutions for his own department,” explains Dearborn.
“We looked at alternatives to Apple, but none were worth pursuing,” continues Dearborn. “Multiple-stream players cost twice what each G5 costs and I’d still have to program them to behave like Apple’s software tool. Other solutions might look cheaper, but when you consider additional hardware and software, not to mention maintenance costs, Apple is the only choice.”
Movie makers
By using a combination of Final Cut Pro and Motion, MGM MIRAGE has dramatically improved the quality and flexibility of each video it makes. Final Cut Pro has precise editing tools that work with virtually any format, allowing MGM MIRAGE staff to utilize digital video (DV), native high definition video (HDV), and fully compressed high definition (HD), depending on which format most appropriately fits the bandwidth, resolution, and quality requirements of each film.
Once the film is completed in Final Cut Pro, Apple’s QuickTime digital media creation program lets MGM MIRAGE produce and play a wide range of standard formats that combine a variety of media (audio, video, still images, text, and so on) into a single movie. MGM MIRAGE compresses the movies developed in Final Cut Pro into QuickTime to move them around the network, then compresses in Squeeze software to run automatically on a Mac. Using QuickTime, employees can easily tailor movies to apply to a particular property. “If Mandalay Bay is having their health fair on Wednesday, and MGM Grand’s is on Friday, all we have to change is a little bit of text,” explains Dearborn.
“The software interface Apple developed is so user friendly that we need only one person to operate it,” says Dearborn. “She works with the creative team to create movies, builds the playlists for each location, designates the queue, and maintains the movie files.”
An ongoing collaboration
“Apple went beyond helping us develop a tool; their expert combination of software, hardware, and support made them an essential business partner,” says Dearborn. “And they did more than provide the best software and hardware for this initiative — the Apple Professional Services team anticipated the potential challenges of implementing in multiple locations; flexibly reengineered the solution; and trained our internal staff to run the tool independently.”
Apple’s next project with MGM MIRAGE involves developing an interface tool to coordinate meeting places for hotel guests. Visitors will view two 40-inch screens: one with a static map and the other with a touch screen that provides interactive access to information about the location and schedule of onsite meetings and conferences, with additional details about the property in general. When guests aren’t using the screens, they will run in-house promotions.
“We are excited about continuing projects with Apple,” says Dearborn. “Apple does more than just give us technology that works better than anyone else’s. They understand the ‘wow factor’ — that crucial component of exquisite design we expect from them that mirrors the visual sensations our visitors expect from us. Thanks to Apple, we can provide that for our employees now too.”
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