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The DAM News...

The surprise news of the week, which seems to have passed by pretty much unnoticed, is Avid’s purchase of German DAM system developer Blue Order.  Trouble is, there’s absolutely no information to be had about the sale or purchase, depending on which way you look at it, anywhere.

The only reference to it seems to be a quote from Gary Greenfield, Avid CEO. He said in a press release that the company is noting “signs of a rebound in the broadcast industry”, and that the acquisition would help its growth in that area.

As soon as we can find some details we’ll let you know.

Elsewhere...

The DigitalAssetManagement.com site features a great item by AIIM President John Mancini, originally published on his own blog Digital Landfill.

It’s entitled ‘8 Ways To Kill Your ECM Project’. I won’t spoil the fun by giving too much away, but here are the top 3 No-No’s, according to Joe.

One - Make sure to include only high-level managers in the planning stages

Two - Do not appoint a project manager

Three - Write up a detailed project plan and timelines, and then ignore them


To read the other Do Nots and what John has to say about them, and to find out more about his ‘8 Things’ project, visit his blog at aiim.typepad.com/aiim_blog

A headline on the Digital Asset Management.com site - always a valued source for these round ups - also caught my eye. How could I resist digging further into a story entitled, ‘Publishing’s Weekend War: 48 Hours That Changed An Industry’?

Amazon has had a stranglehold on the digital book publishing business since the launch of its Kindle e-reader. As a wholesaler, its been driving ebook retail prices down to $9.99 - that’s less than cost price - to stimulate the market, and so it will sell more Kindles.

The publishers lose out, as sales of more profitable hard-copies drop and Amazon’s market dominance grows.

The rules of the game were changed on 26 January when Apple launched the iPad and a new business model for selling ebooks was introduced.

Apple acts  as a distribution agent rather than a wholesaler through its iBook store, taking 30% of a retail price of up to $15.

MacMillan seized an opportunity to use this against Amazon and told the company it would no longer have access to new books until several months after they were first published unless Amazon agreed the same terms as Apple offer.

Amazon responded by disabling the "Buy" button next to MacMillan titles on its sites, but within hours it relented an agreed to the same terms.

Other publishers are expected to do the same as MacMillan.

What does it actually mean to the book publishing market, though?

Amazon will make more money, but publishers will sell fewer ebooks, slowing the transition from hard copy to digital download.

It will also offer other companies such as Google a chance to step in and get a piece of the action.

For a good analysis of the saga and its impact on book publishers everywhere, have a look at the article by Steven Pearlstein on the Washington Post website.

Continuing with the iPad, Om Malik of gigaom.com buttonholed three industry figures at the launch event to get their views on what its arrival means for digital publishing. They were John Doerr of venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers, the New York Times media critic David Carr and Josh Quittner, who assists time Inc. with its digital devices strategy.

To view Om’s video, visit gigaom.com and search on ‘iPad impressions’.

Upcoming Events!

Createasphere
I'll be presenting and moderating panels at the Createasphere Digital Asset Management Expo in Burbank February 17-18.  This is a new DAM show and offers a great opportunity to share ideas and meet the experts and I'd love to meet you there.  

NAB and IBC
For NAB and IBC we are taking interview requests and scheduling appointments.  We do have a number of slots booked with existing sponsors and industry leaders so please let us know if you have something DAM to talk about.  Send us an email to interviews@thatdamshow.com.   

Henry Stewart DAM
Digital Asset Management New York 2010
The Art and Practice of Managing Digital Media
May 20 and 21, Hilton, New York

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