Celebrating 20 Years of Digital Asset Management at DAM New York

join me to reminisce and prepare for the next 20 years together

This year marks the 20^th anniversary of Henry Stewart DAM New York. I have been taking part for slightly less time. Over the past two decades, DAM New York has been the premier event for digital asset management professionals to come together to share knowledge, learn about the latest trends, and network with peers. As a regular speaker and attendee, I’m happy to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on how the conference, and the field of DAM as a whole, has evolved over the last two decades.

My first year was 2014. I had already transitioned from photo editing to digital asset management, bringing my love of organization, structure, and beautiful interfaces with me. I was a plus-one with my boss, Charlie Bory, who had attended for years. He, our colleague Bernie Middendorf, and I divided and conquered - each choosing a track and regrouping with notes over lunch or coffee. At the time, the focus on metadata and systems reinforced what we were trying to do at work and it felt great to meet fellow industry peers who cared just as much as we did about doing it right.

Fun times with Bernie, Charlie, Marcella, and Emily during our DIRECTV and AT&T days checking out Henry Stewart DAM NY over the years

While I’ve certainly attended other conferences for digital media, asset management, and creative operations in the years since then, the balance felt off in some cases. Too vendor-led. Too short. Too narrow. Too unfocused. While I enjoyed my time there, I saved my professional development budget to ensure the annual DAMNY was a priority. I’ve been lucky enough to connect with people at DAM New York from all over the world and all over the industry, as well as share it with new colleagues like Emily Hughes and Marcella Mailloux. The balance means a mix of common struggles with unique solutions.

When the first DAM New York conference was held in 2003, DAM was still a relatively new concept, used primarily by creative agencies and marketing departments to manage their digital assets. However, while Henry Stewart Events has expanded the DAM conference space to include more locations and industry focuses, digital asset management has become essential for businesses of all sizes across a wide range of industries.

Today, DAM is used to manage everything from product images and marketing collateral to customer files and employee records. As the amount of digital data continues to grow, the need for DAM solutions that can help businesses organize, store, and access their digital assets has become even more critical.

DAM New York has played a key role in the evolution of DAM. The conference has featured presentations from leading DAM experts, case studies from successful DAM implementations, and discussions on the latest DAM trends. DAM New York has also been a forum for DAM professionals to network with each other and learn from each other's experiences.

The 20th anniversary of DAM New York is a time to reflect on the past two decades of DAM and look ahead. The future of DAM is still growing as businesses continue to adopt DAM solutions to help them manage their digital assets more effectively. DAM New York will continue to be a leading event for DAM professionals, providing them with the knowledge and resources they need to stay ahead of the curve. The relationships and knowledge I’ve gathered over the past several years have helped with my career as well as outside writing, speaking, and future plans.

Enough reflection. What are we going to be talking about over the next 20 years? Here are some of the key trends that will shape the future of DAM:

• The rise of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already used in DAM solutions to automate tasks, improve search, and generate insights. In the future, AI will play an even greater role in DAM, helping businesses manage their digital assets more efficiently and handle adding complexity to categorizing effectively with new classes of GenAI assets.

• The growth of cloud-based DAM solutions. Cloud-based DAM solutions are becoming increasingly popular, as they offer businesses the flexibility and scalability they need to manage their digital assets in the cloud.

• The increasing importance of DAM for compliance. As businesses become more regulated, the need for DAM solutions that can help them to follow regulations is growing. Even more on a global scale.

The theme of the conference is "The Future of DAM" so if you are interested in learning more about that future, I encourage you to attend DAM New York 2023. The experiences I have had so far on both sides of the lectern have been beneficial and even fun. The conference will be held in New York City from September 14-15, 2023. 

Here are some of the things you can expect at DAM New York 2023:

• In-depth sessions on the latest DAM trends: Learn about the latest trends in DAM, such as AI-powered DAM, cloud-based DAM, and DAM for compliance.

• Case studies from successful DAM implementations: Hear from businesses that have successfully implemented DAM solutions and learn from their experiences.

• Networking opportunities: Meet with other DAM professionals from all over the world and learn from their experiences.

• Inspiration: Get inspired to take your DAM program to the next level.

You can learn more and register on the HSEvents DAM New York 2023 site. Please use my speaker’s code: SPEAKER100 for a $100 discount on your ticket. I hope to see you there!