Digital Media Buzz > DAM’s Future? One Complete Workflow

DAM’s Future? One Complete Workflow

By Barbara Gengler

Kristin Petrovich founded HD Expo in 2001 and continues to direct the company as a leading entertainment technology exhibition and conference for content creators. She transitioned the conference into Createasphere, which will hold Digital Asset Management conferences in California in February 2010 and New York in September 2010. Petrovich, who is president of Createasphere, created the conferences after taking a careful look at the industry’s critical needs.

With global spending on DAM estimated to increase from $500 million to $1 billion in the next five years, Petrovich concluded DAM is a natural progression for the company that has spent the past eight years speaking directly to content owners. Petrovich believes that ignoring the critical nature of DAM-related business would be shortsighted.

DMB’s Barbara Gengler spoke with Petrovich about DAM’s future and place in the digital space.

What will the rapid growth of spending on DAM, from $500 million in 2009 to more than $1 billion by 2014, bring to the industry?
In one word — innovation. It is always exciting to be at the forefront of a new area of technology and information and it is clear the DAM is on this edge.

How will the start of the expo tackle the industry’s growing interest and need for Digital Asset Management?
In two ways, by using our credibility in the entertainment, media and technology industries, we hope to disseminate information and options about DAM in these markets quickly and efficiently. Secondly, we will use our deep experience in training (we currently produce over 100 days of education) to ensure that the attendee is well informed about the topic and educated in clear and specific ways.

What do you consider some of the hottest topics in the DAM space?

• Management of rich media
• Taxonomy
• Use of cloud computing
• Management of viral assets
• And of course — storage

Any predictions for what to watch for in the future of digital asset management?
We feel that the link between creation, for example, on set acquisition, and the taxonomy and archiving of content will become one complete workflow where diverse functions will come together. To date, many of pieces of the workflow act independently and don’t speak clearly with each other. That will soon be a thing of the past.

How do cloud computing, disaster recovery, social media and Web 2.0 affect management decisions and expenditure for DAM now and for the foreseeable future?
These are all areas of great interest and concern within the media and entertainment industries. Poor planning or mismanagement of any of these within DAM could shut down an entire project or product. But, they are manageable, and will play a role in driving the technology.

Could you highlight some of the critical keynotes and sponsors of the expo?
We are excited to have some true industry leaders speaking and sharing their ideas and knowledge during the Conference: Stan Scoggins (Universal), Scott Phelan (Fox Entertainment Group), Ben Huh (Cheezeburger Network), and Jamie Vons (NFL), to name but a few. We are locking sponsors, exhibitors and additional speakers and sessions daily. To see our most up-to-date schedule, visit here.

Why have the event as a separate, co-located event in February in California and September in New York? Why the decision to launch now?
There is significant cross over of interest from the attendees and exhibitors point of view between these events. The Los Angeles event will focus on entertainment, studios and content creators. The New York event will have a slight different focus on broadcast, sports and advertising.

We have been researching the industry of digital asset management for about 10 months and saw that these events were needed. The industry is clearly being under served and we hope to serve it well.