For the first time stateside, Crestron’s Modern Work event is a hands-on product training program, not a conference. Here’s what IT and AV managers will actually learn in San Antonio.
I was in Madrid last May when Modern Work at Crestron Masters ran alongside the main Crestron Masters event in the training format it’s now bringing to the U.S. What struck me wasn’t just the curriculum. It was the range of people who had made the trip. I spoke with a technology director from Mastercard in New York. I talked to two professionals from U.S.-based higher education institutions who had flown to Spain specifically for this event. The fact that end users were making that trip to attend a Crestron training program said something about what the event had become and what it offers to the people who manage and operate these environments rather than build them.
In November 2026, that same format comes to the United States for the first time. Modern Work at Crestron Masters runs November 10 and 11 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country in Texas, with an optional third day on November 12. Registration is open now, with early bird pricing available through June 30.
What changed
The distinction between this event and what Crestron ran in the U.S. in 2024 is worth spelling out. The earlier American version was adjacent to Crestron Masters. More of a thought leadership event, in the words of Chris Sgroe, who heads the Crestron training program. What’s coming to San Antonio is training in the direct sense: structured sessions built around specific new products, with instruction designed for the full range of people who design, deploy, and manage these systems.
Sgroe describes the approach as role-based. The curriculum covers enough product depth for designers who need to spec the newest technology into upcoming projects, for technical staff who need to understand how new products fit alongside what’s already installed, and for IT and AV managers who need to understand what they’re going to find in the boardroom and how to support it.
That breadth matters. Manufacturer training events tend to skew toward integrators and certified programmers. The main Crestron Masters program is built exactly for that audience. Modern Work is specifically designed for the people in roles who don’t live in the Crestron platform every day but are accountable for the rooms that run on it. That’s a different value proposition, and the curriculum reflects it.
The curriculum
The two-day core program covers Crestron’s current workplace technology portfolio through six structured sessions.
Day one opens with a keynote framing the direction of smarter spaces, then moves directly into product content. A session on network infrastructure and deployments covers how NETGEAR AV networking and Crestron’s XiO Cloud operations management platform work together. A pairing that reflects where enterprise AV management has moved. Centralized device management, remote provisioning, and ongoing monitoring are now baseline expectations in most enterprise environments, and the session treats them as such rather than as advanced topics. The day closes with a session on DM NVX distribution and routing essentials, covering the fundamentals of AV-over-IP (AVoIP) with Crestron’s DM NVX technology and the latest updates to the platform’s capabilities and flexibility.
Day two covers four sessions. The morning opens with DM NAX intelligent audio and Sennheiser integration. Just how network-based, Power over Ethernet (PoE)-powered audio solutions operate within a Crestron environment and scale alongside video and collaboration systems. The pairing of DM NAX and Sennheiser shows up often enough in enterprise deployments that dedicating a full session to how they work together is a practical call. From there, the program moves to AirMedia: Crestron’s wireless presentation technology, covering bring-your-own-device (BYOD) content sharing and how AirMedia fits within broader AVoIP and unified communications setups.
AI Video
The afternoon addresses intelligent video. Specifically Crestron 1 Beyond cameras and automated switching, covering how those solutions scale from small huddle rooms to larger meeting spaces while delivering consistent, platform-compatible video performance. The day closes with a session on Collab Compute and how AV, video, audio, and control connect with leading UC platforms across different room types.
Collab Compute is worth singling out. It’s Crestron’s compute platform for running collaboration software inside Crestron-controlled environments. One of the more direct answers the company has offered to the question that comes up in nearly every enterprise AV conversation: how do AV control and UC platforms actually coexist in the same room, and who owns the support relationship when something goes wrong? The Masters session treats Collab Compute as the integration layer it’s positioned to be, rather than as a standalone product announcement.
The optional third day on November 12 is a technical showcase featuring Crestron’s technology partners. It functions as a working demonstration of the integrations covered in the first two days and includes the Crestron Masters closing ceremony.
The certification
Completing the two-day core program earns the Crestron Modern Workplace Certification 2026. For those who attended last year in Madrid and earned the 2025 version, the 2026 credential is the update. Staying current on a platform that has changed meaningfully in twelve months. For first-time attendees, it’s the entry point to Crestron’s broader certification path: completing Modern Work certification opens access to the Certified Technical Architect (CTA) courses through the Crestron Technical Institute learning portal, which is the prerequisite for attending the main Crestron Masters program.
The event also carries 6.0 AVIXA RUs applicable to CTS, CTS-D, and ANP certifications. For anyone managing renewal, two days in San Antonio covers meaningful ground toward that requirement.
Who should go
The clearest case for attendance is someone responsible for Crestron-based environments. Spaces like conference rooms, collaboration spaces, campus-wide deployments. As well as those whose day-to-day work doesn’t involve deep time in the platform. The sessions are structured to give that person an accurate picture of what the current product generation looks like, how the pieces connect, and what questions to bring back to their integrator or internal technical team.
There’s also a strong case for designers and consultants who are specifying Crestron products for the first time, or who are returning to the platform after a product generation or two. The curriculum is built around current products, not retrospective capability reviews, and hands-on training on DM NVX, DM NAX, AirMedia, and 1 Beyond in a structured environment is worth considerably more than a manufacturer demo at a trade show.
For IT and AV managers specifically, the network infrastructure session and the collaboration integrations session are the most directly useful. The XiO Cloud content addresses day-to-day operational management. The work that happens well after installation. The Collab Compute session addresses the integration question that surfaces in nearly every enterprise environment where AV control and UC platforms share the same room.
Logistics
Modern Work at Crestron Masters runs November 10 and 11, 2026, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country, 23808 Resort Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78261. Both days run 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. CT and include breakfast, lunch, breaks, and dinner. The optional Day 3 runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT.
Registration is $499 for the two-day core program. The Day 3 add-on is an additional $150. Hotel accommodations are not included; Crestron has a preferred rate at the JW Marriott available through the event’s booking link on the registration page. Early bird pricing runs through June 30. Registration is currently seeing some of the highest volume Crestron has recorded for this event. AVNation readers have access to a 50 percent discount on registration. Use code MW50-TA at checkout.
Register and view the full schedule at Crestron’s Modern Work at Crestron Masters page.
Tim Albright is the founder of AVNation and is the driving force behind the AVNation network. He carries the InfoComm CTS, a B.S. from Greenville College and is pursuing an M.S. in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. When not steering the AVNation ship, Tim has spent his career designing systems for churches both large and small, Fortune 500 companies, and education facilities.
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
- Tim Albright
