Another DAM Blog

Blog about Digital Asset Management

Author Archives: Henrik de Gyor


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NYC Digital Asset Managers Meetups now shared on YouTube

Due to a global popular demand, the New York City Digital Asset Managers Meetup group (NYC DAM Meetup) is beginning to record and post their Digital Asset Management (DAM) Meetups on YouTube.

Who wanted this online

DAM professionals, people aspiring to become DAM professionals, people just interested in Digital Asset Management and people just interested in what is going on have asked for the NYC DAM Meetups to be recorded and shared online for the past couple months.

They emailed, tweeted, left comments and messages pleading to sharing this content online.

So the three organizers of NYC DAM Meetups, Chad Beer, Michael Hollitscher and Henrik de Gyor (author of this blog) figured out how we could  share this knowledge online with the right quality.

Why

We looked to see what we could do to make this happen. Why were these local events so popular and in demand?

Maybe it is due to the fact we had 33 Meetups since Chad Beer created the NYC DAM Meetup back in July 2009.

Maybe it is because we had 8 Meetups in the first 5 months of 2013.

Maybe it is the great content and discussion we have shared among our Meetup members in person, including panel discussions on topics people want/need to hear about, such as:

Maybe it is due to the fact that many people, even if they are in New York City, can not make it to the NYC DAM Meetup due to scheduling, geographic or limited space reasons. People still want to listen and learn from what is discussed at the NYC DAM Meetups. It only makes sense to video record our panel discussions in order to share this knowledge beyond scheduling constraints, across all time zones and through most geographic  borders.

This is is why we decided to share the NYC DAM Meetups. Openly. Globally. Video online.  Free of charge to all viewers.

How

As I visited other Meetups which I joined, some events were recorded while most were not. I visited a Meetup called MoDevDC (on Mobile Development in the Washington DC area. They record every Meetup because Mobile Application Development is kind of really popular right now and they too have a global audience. It happens that I know the person who is doing their video recording. So I did what anyone should do when they have an idea and see a potential solution in front of them. Ask lots of questions, explore what is possible and then plan a pilot project to see how realistic it is for all parties. We are very luckily, Anthony Allen was ready and willing to do this for the NYC DAM Meetup.

We are still working out the details on how to fund this initiative while we have people’s attention. Some are already interested in contributing to this.

Where

Since YouTube is one of the most popular channels we decided to post these videos so there were no limitations. Sharing and embedding from YouTube is easy. This will be shared elsewhere. Now all you need to do is visit http://www.youtube.com/nycdam1

What

We plan to record the NYC DAM Meetups going forward.

Now you can literally see what happens when you ask to share openly.


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Midwest Digital Asset Managers launches in Chicago

In May 2013, the Midwest Digital Asset Managers meetup group was launched in Chicago (IL) as “…a group intended for anyone interested in the various aspect of Digital Asset Management.”

I would imagine DAM professionals and people interested in Digital Asset Management (DAM) from all over Chicago area could meet together with like-minded people about DAM. Regardless of market sector, they are likely are faced with similar challenges around people, process, technology, information, budgets and other issues. There are solutions to all of these issues a

Then again, maybe Chicago has more rainbows than everyone else in the world and they may not have to face any issues with Digital Asset Management. Otherwise, Chicago can join their regional DAM community just like New York, Southern California and London has to discuss their successes and challenges with all aspects of DAM.

Speaking as one of the co-organizers of NYC Digital Asset Managers, our membership have grown by over 20% between January 2013 and May 2013 by having 7 meetups in 5 months. Meetups are possible with good content, discussion, marketing, networking and organization. The interest in DAM does exist and it is a matter of people with that interest wanting to get together.

We wish the Midwest Digital Asset Managers all the best.


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Launching first Kickstarter project related to Digital Asset Management: Transcribing Another DAM podcast

I launched the first Kickstarter project related to Digital Asset Management (DAM).

The Project

We need to fund Transcribing Another DAM podcast. Over 120 episodes of this podcast series including 80 interviews with different professionals from various organizations. The goal is to transcribe these podcast episodes from audio to searchable text.

How?

Kickstarter is a crowd funding site for projects. Someone posts a project with a defined end result. People back the projects they believe in. In this case, project involves transcribing the audio podcast episodes into text.

No, we are not going to ask you to transcribe the audio for us.

A Transcription service will do all the transcribing of these podcast episodes and they charge for every minute of audio. There are hours of audio to be transcribed. This is why we need financial backing to pay for this work to be done and that is why I started this project to fund this effort.

Why?

Why do this? What is in it for you as a project backer? If you back this project with your funds and help make this project happen, you can get a reward depending on the amount you pledge. Aside from the rewards, you will be helping yourself and anyone interested in Digital Asset Management to have a full text version of most podcasts episodes, especially the 80 different interviews. These transcripts will be indexed and fully searchable so you can easily reference these podcasts and not have to take notes on what someone said. This also makes this more accessible to everyone for learning and enrichment of Digital Asset Management.

Rewards

If the project gets fully funded and we reach the goal of $3000, every backer who pledges at least US$20 to this project will get an ebook of all the transcriptions. The ebook will not be available to people who do not back this project. The ebook is a Kickstarter exclusive offer.

There are other very limited edition rewards offered. Check out the site for details.

Risks

If the project is not fully funded, does reach its goal, then nothing happens with the project. No transcriptions. No ebook. No rewards. All the money is reimbursed to backers. Move on to the next project.

I have taken in consideration that transcripts will need to be reviewed and that will take some time. There should be enough time to avoid delays in the timeline of delivering these transcripts and rewards by sometime in August. This will not be a rush job.

Am I done?

I am not finished creating more content and improving the site for users. Another DAM blog and Another DAM podcast will continue to exist. These will continue to be free of charge to access and reference for everyone.

I will continue creating more original content regularly since there is still plenty to talk about in the field of Digital Asset Management. There is plenty more to contribute and share. Some people who want this to go away, but I keep sharing more.

Are you ready to support these efforts of sharing more through this crowd funding effort?

Help support Transcribing Another DAM podcast at http://kck.st/YWTDPL


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I see your DAM trading cards and raise you

Recently, a company came out with their list of Top DAM Influencers and I am honored to be listed as one of them. Maybe the blog and podcast had something to do with it.

Then, during a recent Digital Asset Management (DAM) event, the same company introduced their first set of DAM trading cards based on their list of Top DAM Influencers. I see your DAM trading cards and raise you some DAM voodoo dolls.

What I am wondering is where are all the DAM voodoo dolls? Someone has to have these somewhere. Really. Think about it. A voodoo doll of each DAM professional could come ‘complete with a large set of pins.’ Every pin could be listing each of the common DAM challenges, issues and pitfalls. I would be curious to know who has these dolls and who is inserting the pins into each doll. If you are a DAM professional, how many of these pins have been inserted into your own voodoo doll? (I am not going to ask where these pins were inserted though)

Just imagine that large list of pins (challenges) to choose from. (Come on. We could either cry about it, ignore these issues or we can laugh about them and do something about it, right?)

  • Lack of user adoption
  • Plan? Where do you see a plan?
  • No file naming convention nor guidelines
  • Missing metadata
  • Lack of metadata field ownership and accountability
  • Lack of metadata consistently and accurately associated/embedded to digital assets, individually or as a group
  • Taxonomy oops
  • Poor search results
  • Search engine? What search engine?
  • Inability to filter  to relevant results
  • We do not have time for an audit. Breathing is optional as well.
  • Implementation delays
  • Contract oops
  • SLA does not cover this or that
  • No version control of metadata
  • No version control for digital assets
  • Siloed thinking
  • Why do we need to collaborate with people? I thought everyone worked on their own island.
  • How do you spell communication again?
  • Implementor has not touched a DAM before…oops
  • Budget woes
  • Lack of sponsor buy-in
  • Stakeholder dissatisfaction
  • Internal politics
  • Scope creep to include new requirements…daily
  • Lack of executive sponsorship/support/understanding
  • Forgot to illustrate  value of DAM when talking to sponsors
  • ROI just means ‘king’ in French
  • User interface confusion
  • Missing vital functionality
  • You want this to do what this time?
  • Forgot this is supposed to make our lives easier.
  • Loss of productivity
  • Unscheduled outages
  • Backup? What backup?
  • Term not clearly defined nor documented
  • No complete DAM Glossary of terms and definitions
  • Lack of information
  • Missing documentation for review
  • Lack of readily available training
  • Lack of ongoing support
  • Long hours
  • Unrealistic deadlines
  • And much, much more

All DAM professionals have experienced some or all of these challenges. Maybe more. These pins in our side are some of the challenges we face and these  become opportunities to overcome and succeed. DAM professionals have experience in resolving these issues.

Now, where did this metadata pin come from?

Where is your DAM voodoo doll? By the way, Happy April Fools Day.

What pins (challenges) are you feeling with Digital Asset Management?

Note that the author does not practice any voodoo. The author has been found to have a sense of humour. Insert another pin.

Let us know when you are ready for some vendor neutral consulting on Digital Asset Management.