Feature Interview
Rob Hummel Preserves Assets

Rob Hummel currently serves as the Chair of the Public Programs Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences’ Science and Technology Council and sits on the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee. Rob has hosted several programs at the Academy on film formats, film technology, and 3D stereoscopic imaging. He is also an associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers and was the editor of the 8th edition of the American Cinematographer Manual. Hummel will moderate the keynote panel “Mission Critical” at Createasphere's Digital Asset Management Conference.

How did you get into Digital Asset Management?
My career has always been closely tied to the preservation of Motion Pictures. I realized early on the value of archiving color negatives to B&W 35mm Separation masters. Color negatives could fade, while B&W never faded, and were especially stable archivally when combined with polyester based film (what Eastman Kodak calls Estar™). Also, the restorations of "Wizard of Oz" and "Gone With the Wind" that I was involved with further helped me appreciate the value of long term storage of valuable assets. Read full article

DAMMY Corner
Join us in sunny Los Angeles March 2-3 for some exciting announcements about The DAMMY Awards 2011. We will announce a NEW exciting 5th category and will hear from 2010’s DAMMY winners: Elizabeth Keathley & Jennifer Griffith of UPS, and Jason Bright of MediaBeacon. One of this year’s DAMMY judges, Mark Davey of Cliffe Associates, will be moderating the conference session on “The Future of DAM”.

The DAMMY awards initially debuted on September 24th in New York, recognizing companies and individuals who have pushed the boundaries of the burgeoning digital asset management industry. Read full article and see the winners.

Techie Talk
Picking the right DAM system?

There's no such thing as one size fits all when it comes to DAM - a perfect product for one company would be a lemon for another. Alan Pelz-Sharpe, Real Story Group Analyst will discuss this topic at our upcoming DAM conference.

In his presentation, Alan will share key tips on the best way to select a DAM product for your organization. Based on real world experience of countless DAM product selection exercises, he will provide some truly independent and critical inside knowledge and market analysis to improve your chances of success in what can be a confusing and difficult to navigate marketplace.

You can learn key tips on how best to approach the DAM market:
- Categorize the Vendors
- Platform vs. Product
- New Interfaces
- Emphasis on Video

In addition, get a quick tour of the major DAM vendors: mega-vendors, enterprise DAM pure plays, mid-market challengers, niche/up-and-coming DAM vendors. But Alan is so excited to share his thoughts, he wants to get you primed before the conference with a 30-minute free webcast. Alan will review key components of picking a DAM system, and then conclude with a short Q&A session, so bring your questions!

DAM Poll
What does your organization keep in their archive?

In our last survey, we asked: "How Important is Digital Archiving to Your Organization?".

Fifty percent answered that it was "Critical". Fifty percent said you have some digital archiving and are making improvements. Thankfully, no one answered that your "hard drives are working just fine", "we'll tackle archiving later", or "don't know".

Learn more about Strategies & Tactics for Managing Permanent Data Storage.