Best Friends Animal Society is an animal welfare organization that finds homes for rescued pets across America. They use their digital asset management (DAM) system, the Widen Collective^®, to store, organize, and distribute all of their digital assets — which includes a lot of images of ridiculously cute dogs and cats. 

Sarah Kichas is Best Friends’ Photography Manager, and DAM administration is just a small part of her job. However, it entails managing a constant stream of new content from a diverse group of photographers — including staff, freelancers, and volunteers — many of whom take pictures at just a single event. Giving them all access to the Collective with the appropriate login credentials, permissions, and upload instructions could be a part-time job in itself. 

At the 2019 Widen Summit, Sarah shared how they use the Widen Dropbox integration to turn this onerous upload process into a simple, streamlined workflow. “I love it,” she said, “because it saves me time and energy, and most importantly, my sanity.”

The execution of digital asset management (DAM) software is dynamic — it’s constantly being modified with the goal of meeting, or even anticipating, evolving user needs. User feedback can provide valuable insights into what these updates should be, and why. 

At the 2019 Widen Summit, Sara Fix, Brand Project Manager at Pega, shared how her team uses surveys to gather feedback that informs improvements to their Widen Collective^® site. 

For over fifty years the Boston Ballet has brought internationally-acclaimed performances, world-class education programs, and valuable community initiatives to the Boston area. Their rich and interesting history is reflected across photographs, posters, brochures, news articles, and other artifacts. 

As the webmaster at the Boston Ballet, Michaela Donnelly manages this archive and administers their digital asset management (DAM) system. At the 2019 Widen Summit, she shared how she uses the Widen Collective^® to preserve and protect the Boston Ballet’s long-standing history.

Building trust is tricky. And as the saying goes, trust is hard to earn but easy to lose. So what does that have to do with digital asset management (DAM)? A lot!

Each year, the Widen Summit focuses on concepts that are key to DAM success. 

In 2017, we honed in on what it takes to set better goals. Expanding on that in 2018, we learned how to tackle those goals using a strong strategy framework. This year though, we took a step back to realize that in order for people to believe in your goals and strategy, you need to first earn their trust. And this theme carried throughout our three days together — taking center stage in workshops, sessions, and keynotes. 

The Best DAM Contest is always a highlight of our annual Widen Summit. Four exceptional Widen customers showcase how they use their Collective^® site to meet unique user needs. Each contestant has a different use case, a different strategy, and a different winning approach to their DAM system.

The Widen Summit brings over 200 Widen Collective® digital asset management (DAM) practitioners together for three days packed full of learning, professional development, and fun.

Whether 2019 will be your first Summit or your eighth, here are 19 reasons why you should attend!

In the final installment of our four-part 2018 Best DAM Contest series, we meet Melinda Lee from Kerry.

Her approach to digital asset management (DAM) and the Best DAM Contest is global adoption and growth, with continual improvements to meet the needs of users across continents. Learn more about Melinda and her DAM story.

In the third installment of our four-part 2018 Best DAM Contest series, we meet Barb Mitrovic, from the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Her approach to digital asset management (DAM) and the Best DAM Contest is really all about her users, and making their work-life better. Learn more about Barb and her DAM story.

In the second installment of our four-part 2018 Best DAM Contest series, we meet Caroline Gardner, formerly of New Balance.

Her approach to digital asset management (DAM) and the Best DAM Contest is hard work and continued optimization, not striving for perfection. Learn more about Caroline and her DAM story.

In this four-part series we’ll get to know the admins who took center stage at the Best DAM Contest during the 2018 Widen Summit. This contest gives contestants eight minutes to highlight the best parts of their Widen Collective^® site and share their biggest accomplishments with all Summit attendees. The Summit audience then votes for the most inspirational, engaging, and aspirational DAM story.

No two stories are alike as each contestant faces different challenges in their role as an admin and each offers a unique perspective about what they gained through their participation in the contest.

Read more about the admins, their accomplishments, and their DAM stories starting with our 2018 winner, Leah Hammes from McCormick & Company.