That's a wrap, DAMLA!

the 4 Cs of Henry Stewart DAM Los Angeles 2024

I’ve enjoyed reading other attendee’s recaps this week - when in doubt, listen to Kara van Malssen - so this won’t compete with their work. Now that I’ve had a minute to think about DAMLA, 4 themes have emerged: community, change, content, and curiosity.

First off, community: in an age of GenAI claims, when we discussed the future of DAM, nothing beat community. All the technology in the world is not going to be effective without the people to figure out how best to use it. Which queries to prioritize in GenAI results? How should we measure success in the first place? Who is already employing new technology and will they share their learnings? Luckily we are surrounded by generous teachers who are willing (even more so after a cocktail) to tell it all - the good, bad, and ugly - to those of us who ask.

Secondly, change: Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, and those French know what they are talking about sometimes. Even as we have more exciting tech options to explore than ever, being developed faster than ever, change management - from ideation to training and every step in between - can make or break a DAM project. In several talks and panels, pros highlighted the importance of listening to the end users and stakeholders to make sure we were solving the problems they were facing, not just the ones the product solved well.

Third, content: from Hilton’s Liana Cave's talk on Content Readiness's importance in Personalization including the above breakdown we can all appreciate - we are dealing with levels of content generation and velocity at a new scale. In our panel on Dealing with Mis-Disinformation in the Generative AI Era, we discussed how this speed-to-market can mean lies are being spread worldwide before the truth puts on its pants - or at least fast enough that no one knows which pants are real. When it comes to AI, garbage-in-garbage-out still applies. The skills of curation, editing, organization, trust, and voice are more vital than ever.

Finally, our 4th C is curiosity. I left BUR (pro tip: easiest exit from Hollywood) with more questions than when I landed at LAX. Inspired by what I’m seeing from both established companies and upstart organizations, I plan to keep this conversation going. If you want to join me and you lost the stickers I was handing out, I got you.