Another DAM Blog

Blog about Digital Asset Management

Tag Archives: mobile devices


by Leave a comment

Elegant Workflow

One year ago today,  Dave Ginsberg released an interview with this blog’s author on his podcast called Elegant Workflow

You can listen to this podcast interview here

In the past year, Dave has produced some great podcast interviews with people in the audio, movie and television world, including some Digital Asset Management professionals. I would encourage you to listen and subscribe to his podcast. Dave continues to deliver more great podcast episodes at http://www.elegantworkflow.com

The length of the interviews on Elegant Workflow are a bit longer in time than Another DAM Podcast, however these are often released as a multi-part series to bring you back for more. These are well worth the time to listen and learn from what is said. Of course, he asks every interviewee what is their definition of an Elegant Workflow. The answers are different every time.

When will I find the time to listen to all these podcasts?

Ever wonder when you could possibly have the time to listen to all these podcasts? These are often released weekly, but they are recorded so you can play them anytime, anywhere and as often as you need them.

Here is how I am able to listen to over 1000 podcast episodes on a variety of topics every year. I realized a few years ago that my ears are more available than my eyes and hands.

Ever wonder what you could do with all that time you spend:

  • traveling (even to/from work/school)
  • doing certain types of tasks that do not take any concentration
  • walking around town
  • exercising
  • waiting in line
  • waiting for your significant other

Now that you have discovered all this free time for your ears, what are you going to do with it productively?

Here is an idea: Listen to podcasts or even audio books. There are plenty of online libraries that have audio content to suit your interests. Now that bookstores are going the way of the dinosaur, your local library may have some free resources such audio books which may be of interest to you as well.

How do I listen to this?

If you live and thrive in the 21st century, you likely have at least one mobile device (such as a smart phone) that can store and play MP3 audio files. Most podcasts are available in this universal audio format, among others. Podcasts can be subscribed to, so you are automatically aware of them and downloaded (via WiFi) upon release of new content. If you have a mobile device, you likely carry it everywhere you go (the idea behind being mobile anywhere). Once these audio files are downloaded and if you happen to go places that do not have full coverage (such as subway or train tunnels among other places), you do not have to worry about getting cut off as if you were streaming these audio files online nor over use of your data plan for your mobile device. Every time your ears are idle, use your mobile device to play your favorite audio podcasts and continue learning every day.

Related Articles


by 5 Comments

Can I manage a DAM on a mobile device?


As a Digital Asset Manager, one of the things to keep in mind is that a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system can be used 24 hours a day,  seven days a week and almost every day of every year. But these are not my regular business hours. With that level of demand, I don’t live at the office nor would my employer want me to. Nor would my family.

As much as my laptop looks like an extra limb, I do put it down (sometimes). Of course, when you most need it, you don’t have it available or you can not get a connection.

What to do when you are away from the computer and the office, but you get a critical email/phone call? Waiting until you return is not an option. You can assess how critical the need is by talking the person or emailing them, but sometimes the solution may involve using the DAM remotely. Ignoring users or having them ‘wait until I am available ‘ in front of a computer again is not realistic today, particularly in a high production environment. Ignoring users or delaying assistance does not help user adoption.

If you can not access the DAM on the web, this limits the abilities of mobile users and admins alike. If that is the case, you should have trained people (as your backup) to cover the DAM duties if you leave (vacation, sick leave or otherwise) for the purpose of continuity as well as limiting delays in production. If you work in an environment with shifts covering the work 24 hours a day on a regular basis, you may need people on each shift who are knowledgeable in DAM to support the business needs and have them sync online by documenting the work done. Otherwise, your Digital Asset Manager or DAM admin is stuck working during alleged vacation time and sick leave. This should simply be a matter of unplugging because you can, need to and want to.

Now returning to the computer unavailable with critical issue pending assistance. I have a popular smart phone which actually displays the web properly (yes, I tested several smart phones before acquiring one), but almost every phone does not display Adobe Flash NOR Flex (yet). Luckily, the DAM I use does not currently use Flex. Flex has gained popularity in DAM space because it provides a flexible GUI display. And Flex looks cool…or at least gray. Flex is Flash-based and that remains troublesome for almost every mobile user…among others…since Flash requires special players and/or plugins to display properly.

It is possible to have a mobile version of a DAM User Interface (UI) as well, which is different from the regular DAM UI, but I have not seen many yet. So yes, admins as well as all registered DAM users should be able to access and use the DAM via mobile device.

Whether we like it or not, it is not a secret that mobile access has been and continues to be a growing need for mobile workers, but how many are ready to do this now?

Can you manage your DAM on a mobile device?