Another DAM Podcast

Audio about Digital Asset Management

Another DAM Podcast interview with Chad Beer on Digital Asset Management

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Here are the questions asked:

  • How are you involved with Digital Asset Management?
  • You recently started the NYC Digital Asset Manager meetup group on Meetup.com which has been very successful this year. You have had numerous events almost every month. What inspired you to start this group?
  • Now that you have accumulated over 150 members at the time to this recording, do you anticipate more events coming up soon?
  • What advice would you like to share with other DAM Professionals and people aspiring to become DAM Professionals?
  • Do you foresee people following your model for the meetup group for Digital Asset Manager or Digital Asset Management Professionals or people aspiring to become DAM Professionals to start groups in their areas?

Transcript:

Henrik: [0:00] This is Another DAM Podcast about Digital Asset Management.
I’m Henrik de Gyor. Today, I’m speaking with Chad Beer. Chad, how are you?
Chad: [0:08] Good, Henrik.
Henrik: [0:09] How are you involved with Digital Asset Management, Chad?
Chad: [0:12] I’ve been working in the field for about a dozen years. I’m currently
the Director of Digital Assets and Rights Management at American Express
Publishing. We publish “Food and Wine” and “Travel and Leisure” “Departures”
as well as some other publications.
Henrik: [0:29] Excellent. Chad, you recently started the
NYC Digital Asset Manager Meetup group on Meetup.com which has been very
successful this year. You had numerous events almost every month. What inspired
you to start this group?
Chad: [0:44] I was clued into Meetup.com by a friend of mine. I was looking
for just information about other specialties and other sort of vocations around
[0:55] Digital Asset Management, kind of looking to expand my horizons and
network some.
[1:00] I couldn’t believe that there was no Digital Asset Management Group on
Meetup at the time. There were sort of ancillary disciplines on there, but nothing
about DAM. I tossed it around for a little bit. I mentioned the idea of setting
up a group to a couple of people at Henry Stewart last year, and they liked the
idea. So I just went for it, and set it up just to see what would happen.
Henrik: [1:23] Awesome. Now you’ve accumulated over 150 members at the
time of this recording. Do you anticipate more events coming up soon?
Chad: [1:31] Yeah. We have taken a break for the latter half of July and August
this year. We have an event coming up in September, around September 23rd,
to coincide with the Createasphere DAM Conference here in New York.
[1:49] We’re working on something to sort of kick off the fall for earlier September,
but that’s still in development. We hope, as of September, to get back on our monthly meeting track.
Henrik: [2:02] Awesome. What advice would you like to share with other DAM
professionals, or even people aspiring to become DAM professionals, Chad?
Chad: [2:10] Well, if they’re just looking for advice on getting into the industry,
so to speak, a lot of people come to it through Academia. A lot of people start
out with MLS Degrees. I did not. I don’t have a MLS Degree. I stumbled into this
profession, as do a lot of people. [2:30] If people are curious about the work we
do, and the sort of cross-disciplinary mindset it takes to do DAM work, LinkedIn
is a great site for networking and eavesdropping on conversations between
DAM people.
[2:48] Meetup is great too. There are not a lot of DAM groups in Meetup at all,
even now, but there are a lot of groups that coincide with it. There are taxonomy
groups. There are other groups about library sciences or searchability or
information retrieval. All of those sensibilities feed into a DAM head really.
[3:11] I think just getting your feet wet, and talking to people who are in the industry.
Like any line of work, but I do not ascribe to the belief, and I don’t think
anybody really does, that you have to enter it with a degree necessarily.
Henrik: [3:24] Yeah, so networking would be a great point. Do you foresee
people following your model of the Meetup Group for Digital Asset Managers
or Digital Asset Management Professionals or people aspiring to be DAM
Professionals to start groups in their areas?
Chad: [3:42] I’d love it if they would. I don’t know if I foresee it, but I’d love it if
they would. What I came away from the whole experience with was that it was
just really easy. I have the luxury of living in New York which is just packed full of
people, but the fact is I don’t do much membership promotion. It’s grown organically.
We do post on Listservs for colleges nearby that have MLS programs.
Henrik: [4:12] That’s smart.
Chad: [4:13] That really has boosted our membership, and sort of changed our
raison d’etre a little bit. We have more of an Educational Impetus now than I
originally intended, but I love that. I would just encourage people, if somebody
wants to start a network, just to set it up. If you build it, they will come is my
experience of it.
Henrik: [4:37] That’s great. Thank you, Chad.
Chad: [4:39] Sure.
Henrik: [4:40] For more on Digital Asset Management, log onto
anotherdamblog.com. Thanks again.

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Author: Henrik de Gyor

Consultant. Podcaster. Writer.

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