Another DAM Podcast

Audio about Digital Asset Management

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Another DAM Podcast interview with Michelle Jouan on Digital Asset Management

Here are the questions asked:

  • How are you involved with Digital Asset Management?
  • How does a worldwide entertainment company use Digital Asset Management?
  • You recently started another DAM meetup group in your area. Tell us more about this.
  • What advice would you like to share with DAM professionals and people aspiring to become DAM professionals?

Transcript:

Henrik de Gyor: [0:01] This is Another DAM Podcast about Digital Asset
Management. I’m Henrik de Gyor. Today I’m speaking with Michelle Jouan.
Michelle, how are you?
Michelle Jouan: [0:11] I’m fine, thanks. How are you?
Henrik: [0:13] Good. Michelle, how are you involved with Digital Asset
Management?
Michelle: [0:16] I am the Digital Asset Manager for one of the online departments
of a global entertainment company, and I’m based in London. Like a
lot of other Digital Asset Managers, I stumbled into the field through a background
in photography, and digital imaging, and managing databases, and all
kinds of computer geekery. [0:35] These are skills that I acquired independently,
which suddenly made sense when I saw my first job listing for Digital Asset
Management. The first job that I got in Digital Asset Management, about 10
years ago, was working for a motion picture company as an image archivist.
Since then, I’ve been known as a digital librarian, and now, actually, a Digital
Asset Manager, so the field is progressing a little bit.
[0:57] I’ve been lucky enough to find positions in companies that recognize the
value of Digital Asset Management, and the benefit of having asset managers
that can bring their expertise to improving workflows, because I get the feeling
that a lot of companies that buy asset management systems expect their asset
troubles to just disappear magically.
[1:15] The thing is that these complex systems, they aren’t just merely software.
They’re systems, and without someone to manage them after implementation, I
think they’re much more likely to fail.
[1:27] That’s not to say that every company, or every team, might have the resources
or vision to employ someone solely for this purpose, or that managing
digital management asset systems is something that can’t be learned by your
current staff, but if you’re investing potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars,
or pounds in my case, in digital management asset systems, you’d be really wise
to bring in a professional to get the most out of your investment.
Henrik: [1:51] How does a worldwide entertainment company use
Digital Asset Management?
Michelle: [1:55] Well, my company has more than 30 asset systems, globally actually,
company wide, but this is in the context of a company that has more than
100,000 employees. There are all kinds of digital workflows to manage, and 30
asset systems seems in line with what we need at this point, but all of our departments
operate essentially as different companies. [2:23] One of my biggest
challenges when I started working here was to learn how the company worked
as a whole, and to understand where assets were created and how they were
distributed, but the great thing about being at a company of this size is that
there’s lots of other Digital Asset Managers.
[2:37] It’s been really a joy to connect with them and learn from all of their experiences,
because if you work at a really big company, don’t forget how important
internal networking can be. There’s a wealth of knowledge out there, and you
can tap into that.
Henrik: [2:50] Michelle, you recently started a Meetup group in London. Tell us
more about this.
Michelle: [2:55] Well, after attending a few Henry Stewart DAM Europe conferences,
I really enjoyed meeting up once yearly to talk with other Digital Asset
Managers and basically talk shop with people whose eyes don’t glaze over when
you mention Digital Asset Management. So, kind of following in the lead of the
other meet up groups in New York, D.C., and Los Angeles, I thought it would
be a really good idea to get London Digital Asset Management professionals
together and talk on a regular basis. [3:24] If you’re in the U.K., please search
for London DAM on meetup.com or follow our Twitter account @LondonDAM
with no space.
Henrik: [3:33] What advice would you like to share with DAM professionals and
people aspiring to become DAM professionals?
Michelle: [3:37] Well, if you’re already a DAM professional, I’d say just be nosy,
be curious, and learn about business processes, and seek allies within your
company and in the professional community. Get a better understanding of
user experience design, service design. There are lots of other fields that are
complimentary to Digital Asset Management that can help you in your role.
[4:00] Also, don’t be afraid to talk to the software developers and other asset
managers. We’re really lucky to be living in an age where the Internet allows you
to easily connect with others who are really far away, so make the most of that.
[4:13] If you’re aspiring to become a DAM professional, I’d say ask yourself, do
you spend your Saturday nights organizing your iTunes catalog or rearranging
your Google+ circles, does the thought of downloading and editing holiday
photos give you a spark of excitement. If so, find yourself a job in Digital Asset
Management right away.
Henrik: [4:31] Well, thanks, Michelle.
Michelle: [4:32] Thank you very much.
Henrik: [4:33] For more on Digital Asset Management, log onto
AnotherDAMblog.com. Another DAM Podcast is available on Audioboom,
Blubrry, iTunes and the Tech Podcast Network. Thanks again.

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Another DAM Podcast interview with Charles Cole on Digital Asset Management

Here are the questions asked:

  • How are you involved with Digital Asset Management?
  • How does this organization use place holders for packaging?
  • Is there an incentive for getting that information in correctly in the beginning and actually delivering the assets on time?
  • What advice would you like to give for DAM Professionals and people aspiring to become DAM Professionals?

Transcript:

Henrik de Gyor: [0:01] This is Another DAM Podcast about Digital Asset
Management. I’m Henrik de Gyor. Today I’m speaking with Charles Cole.
Charles, how are you?
Charles Cole: [0:09] I am doing well, Henrik. Thanks for asking.
Henrik: [0:11] Great. Charles, how are you involved with Digital Asset
Management?
Charles: [0:15] Well, I manage Digital Asset Management at a film studio where
I handle mostly home entertainment assets, so for the marketing department
and creative aspects.
Henrik: [0:31] How does that organization use placeholders for packaging?
Charles: [0:38] Well, placeholders, it’s an interesting concept. First, I guess I’ll
explain the concept of placeholders. It’s a pretty interesting concept. Essentially
the way to upload traditional embarks is whoever is uploading the file will select
the file, and they’ll tag it with whatever metadata. That’s the traditional model.
[1:00] What placeholders does is leverages upstream work that has to take place,
say in a marketing system where somebody is essentially planning out the marketing
and says, “I need this asset to fulfill my marketing requirements.”
[1:18] They put in all the information they need into the marketing system, and
then what happens is a placeholder automatically gets created in our Digital
Asset Management system where it’s already pre-populated with all the metadata
that’s required. So now whoever is uploading needs to find that placeholder
and just drop the file in. What happens is it’s automatically tagged with
all the appropriate metadata, and can even be sent downstream based on what
the marketing system says.
[1:47] If they for instance say, “I’ll pick the print vendor,” who is going to actually
manufacture this asset, this physical asset, then as soon as the file gets uploaded,
it can then be tagged with all the appropriate metadata and automatically
be sent downstream to whatever company has been selected.
Another D 82 AM Podcast Transcribed
Henrik: [2:07] Just to clarify, this is basically creating metadata and putting a
placeholder for an asset that will be created in the near future because there is a
schedule for it.
Charles: [2:15] Exactly. It is dependent on you having a plan and knowing what
assets you need. It’s not for everybody. So in a trim or ad hoc environment, or
you don’t know what assets you need, then, yeah, it may not be as useful. It has
been extremely useful in our case where we have thousands of assets that need
to be created, Yeah, it’s been great.
Henrik: [2:39] Granted, there’s a time frame or schedule of when you create
those things for your organization, so you already know that packing needs to
be created for that individual project.
Charles: [2:51] Exactly. Maybe it’s better just to explain it. A marketing manager
for a given territory, say Romania or whatever territory, will go into the marketing
system and say, “I need this specific asset, on this specific date.” The marketing
manager will go in and say, “For this given territory, for this given title, I need
these particular assets to fulfill my marketing plan. I need them on this specific
date. I need them from this specific vendor.” [3:28] As soon as they assign that
date and assign that vendor, that’s when the placeholder gets generated in the
Digital Asset Management system. Now, rather than the vendor just uploading
that file and tagging it with the metadata at the time of upload manually, it’s
done automatically. So they go in.
[3:49] The onus is on them to search for that placeholder using all the correct
metadata. It’s that subtle shift has created a really great situation in terms of our
metadata is now 100 percent accurate, 100 percent complete vs. before, just
trying to twist somebody’s arm into entering all the metadata and entering it
correctly. This just seems to be a much better approach.
Henrik: [4:19] Is there an incentive for getting that information correct in the
beginning, and actually delivering the assets on time in respect?
Charles: [4:27] Yes, actually. If you are responsible as marketing, for putting
together a well-executed marketing plan, obviously the goal is to generate the
most revenue possible. If you want those assets to be created, you have to ask
for them. You have to go into the marketing system and say, “These are the
assets I need to execute.” [4:58] If you don’t do that, those assets will never be
created, and you’ll be viewed as having falling down on the job. “Why this product
created and released? Well, I didn’t ask for it.” There is definitely incentive
there. If you fall short of your revenue targets, that’s a direct asset to revenue
correlation there. You want to make sure that you get those configured and set
up, the marketing funds configured and set up, including the assets that you
need in the marketing system on time, and we take care of everything downstream.
Create that container, and then creative vendor will go in above the file.
Henrik: [5:44] That’s a good way to keep people accountable. What advice
would you like to give to DAM professionals are people aspiring to become
DAM professionals?
Charles: [5:52] I think the best advice I can give which it’s sort I guess you
could say generic advice for maybe getting a job in general in the field that you
want is just really do your research. Go in, and if there is a company that you
want to work for, and do all the research regarding that company in that industry
space, as well. Do your Google News searches, see what all the relevant
happenings have been. [6:22] From a Digital Asset Management perspective, I
would say just network, ask questions. Go out there, do your research and sign
up for industry events, sign up for conferences. There are a lot of well-respected
digital a few really well-known Digital Asset Management conferences that you
can just sign up for. Go and just sit. Get an idea of what the relevant topics are,
and just familiarize yourself with the industry terms.
[6:57] I think that will go a long way towards getting you where you want to go.
Henrik: [7:00] Thanks, Charles.
Charles: [7:01] Absolutely.
Henrik: [7:03] For more on Digital Asset Management, log onto
AnotherDAMblog.com. Thanks again.

Related Articles

Listen to Another DAM Podcast on Apple Podcasts, AudioBoom, CastBox, Google Podcasts,  RadioPublic, RSS, Spotify or TuneIn

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Another DAM Podcast interview with Roger Howard on Digital Asset Management

Here are the questions asked:

  • How are you involved with Digital Asset Management?
  • How does an entertainment software company use a DAM?
  • You recently started a Digital Asset Management meetup group in Southern California. Tell me more about this meetup group.
  • What advice would you like to give for DAM Professionals and people aspiring to become DAM Professionals?

Transcript:

Henrik de Gyor: [0:02] This is Another DAM Podcast about Digital Asset
Management. I’m Henrik de Gyor. Today I’m speaking with Roger Howard.
Roger, how are you?
Roger Howard: [0:09] I’m good. How are you today?
Henrik: [0:10] Roger, how are you involved with Digital Asset Management?
Roger: [0:13] I’ve been involved on just about every level with Digital Asset
Management as a developer, as a systems administrator doing metadata taxonomy
design, designing work flow, building applications. I’ve gone through
vendor selections with about 10 different projects over the past 10 or 12 years.
Henrik: [0:32] Excellent. Roger, how does an entertainment software company
use DAM?
Roger: [0:37] Digital Asset Management means a lot of different things to a lot
of different people. In entertainment companies like video game developers, we
have Digital Asset Management systems involved in the production pipelines
for developing the actual games, the assets that go into the games, the source
code repository management. There is, of course, the marketing DAMs that
manage marketing assets, distribution for sales channels. [1:05] My involvement
is particularly focused on archiving valuable assets, so things like concept art,
and also in providing workflow applications for marketing, PR, and web teams.
Henrik: [1:22] You recently started a DAM Meetup group in Southern California,
along with Lilly. Tell me about this Meetup group.
Roger: [1:30] Well, inspired a couple of other groups around the country, we
thought that, given how dispersed people are in Southern California, but also
how many Southern Californians are involved, in one way or another, in Digital
Asset Management, it’d be a great opportunity to get people together in
person, maybe have a few drinks, talk, share war stories. [1:50] We just had our
first event, in fact, two days ago at the Henry Stewart conference in LA, the
night before the opening day, and it was fantastic. We had a lot of people. We
had maybe 20, 25 people show up. It was a good time, a couple of hours of
hanging out with colleagues, and we hope to keep repeating the event.
[2:11] We’re shooting for another event in maybe a month or two, after the beginning
of the year, and then we’re going to try to keep it going every two to
three months going forward.
Henrik: [2:21] What advice would you like to give to DAM professionals, or
people aspiring to become DAM professionals?
Roger: [2:25] Well, I think it’s actually a great career. I think that there’s a lot
of different opportunities. There’s a lot of different roles people can play that
all are kind of lumped under DAM, but I think my best advice is to go after as
broad and diverse a set of skills as you can possibly manage for yourself, so
both communications and business skills, but also technical skills, I think, are
incredibly important in many DAM careers. [2:59] Myself, I have a very technical
background, but I also have a background in creative production. I’ve done a lot
of production management. Now working mostly on the administration, design,
development, planning aspects of Digital Asset Management systems, having
that background both in technical skills that allow me to work with developers
and IT folks but also having an understanding and background in creative production
and, to some extent, in the business issues around content production
and distribution.
[3:30] It really gives you a much better insight into why it is that people might
want to take advantage of what you have to offer. My advice is not to pigeon
hole yourself into a very limited set of skills. If you can build up a basic understanding
at least of database management, get some basic Sequel skills that are
incredibly handy. XML skills can be incredibly handy, basic scripting tools.
[3:58] So if you’re working in a primarily Mac oriented creative shop, learn a little
bit of Apple script, learn a bit of Python. Learn some web development skills so
you can at least do basic html, a little bit of Java script, a little bit of CSS .
[4:12] Ultimately I think the most important think you can do is spend time kind
of living and walking in other people’s shoes, the people whose jobs you touch
as a Digital Asset Management expert. If you work in a creative environment,
spend some time with the designers, with the artists, with the production managers
that you work with.
[4:33] Try to see if you can book time and work as an intern for a day or a week.
Likewise, if your Digital Asset Management system is heavy on cataloging and
data entry, spend time frequently as a cataloger in your environment so you
understand not only the application of the taxonomy and metadata models
that you develop but the limitations of the tools that may be frustrating your
users. Live and breathe and walk a few miles in your user’s shoes. That will go
a long way.
Henrik: [5:04] Great idea. Thank you, Roger.
Roger: [5:06] Thank you.
Henrik: [5:07] For more on Digital Asset Management, log onto
AnotherDAMblog.com. Thanks again.

Related Articles

Listen to Another DAM Podcast on Apple Podcasts, AudioBoom, CastBox, Google Podcasts,  RadioPublic, RSS, Spotify or TuneIn

Need Digital Asset Management advice and assistance?

Another DAM Consultancy can help. Schedule a call today