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It was with much interest that the Calder Consultants team read an article shared by the BBC on the professional life, and passing, of 1970’s word processing pioneer Evelyn Berezin.  Ms Berezin’s company Redactron launched the revolutionary word processing system ‘Data Secretary’ in 1971, a 1m-high machine featuring a keyboard, cassette drives, control electronics, a printer and later, a screen, which ran a word processing program that could record and play back what the user had typed, enabling edits and reprints to be undertaken with ease and in turn greatly increasing productivity and efficiency in the workplace .

Ms Berezin was also instrumental in the development of other special-purpose computing systems, including one of the first computerised airline reservation systems, an automated banking system, a weapons-targeting calculator for the US Defence Department and betting terminals for horse racing, which monitored the amounts bet on each horse .

Redactron, founded by Ms Berezin in the mid-1960’s, grew from nine employees to approximately 500 and was sold to Burroughs Corporation in 1976, selling or renting 770 Data Secretary machines during that time . Ms Berezin passed away aged 93, on 8 December 2018.

A message from James Calder:

I’d like to share some exciting news with our clients and partners – November 2019 marks the official transition from Calder Consultants to ERA-co, a new experience consultancy with capabilities spanning User Strategy and Change Management, Brand Experience and Urban Systems and Planning. While our team will continue to work on workplace strategy and specialist building projects, we are excited to expand our impact and our service range globally .

Calder Consultants Japan, launched in 2018 and lead by Rentaro Oku, will continue to provide workplace consulting services and assist clients with strategy,
consulting, implementation and research.  Rentaro and his team can be contacted at roku@calderconsultants.com or on +81 90 2021 0190 .

I started Calder Consultants in 2012 with a desire to shape the future of work, learning, health and cities. Over the last seven years, our team has worked on many of the world’s most innovative projects, assisting clients with strategy, consulting, implementation and research . Our consultants’ understanding of workstyles, organisational culture and technology has provided our clients with hopefully world’s best advice.

But the world is changing, and with that change comes great opportunity . Our new global team of data scientists, strategists and experience designers have been assembled to partner with clients to transform the future of cities, neighbourhoods, and business to positively impact the lives of people and the places they inhabit .

That is why we have partnered with global leaders Steven Cornwell and Jennifer Pehr to create ERA-co. We wanted to form a new consulting model that sits in the transformative space between creativity and consulting to enable our clients to tackle the 21^st century’s biggest challenges . The importance of evidence-based thinking – from I think, to I know – and the rise of Experience as a future business imperative convinces me that now is the time to offer something new and different .

Please feel free to call me on +61 417 888 513 if I can help answer any questions you might have. In the meantime you can visit our new website at ERA-co.com to explore our ensemble of diverse global talent .

Welcome to the Experience ERA.

Yours sincerely,

James