Digital Ad Lab UK (DAL UK)

May 5th, 2005

Digital Ad Lab Meeting Notes, 5th May, William Goodenough College

If you would like any topic discussed or wish to invite colleagues, please email hannah@leafagency.com.

The next meeting is likely to take place early August 2005.

Sponsor Update – Savvis
Our principal sponsor Savvis gave the group an update on its current name change and activity in the market. The WAM!NET brand is still there, but encompassed under the umbrella of Savvis. The company is now much more than just file transfer and is expanding its offering by bringing in proven technology developed by Savvis in the media industry. The company is holding a seminar on 9th June to talk about where the company is heading and the value it can bring to existing and potential customers. Please email james.marshall@savvis.net for further information.

Flat Planning and Ad Booking
Marcus Kirby began this session by asking how many people in the audience use an ad booking or flat planning solution. Five raised their hands and of those users, only a couple have systems that are linked and they have had to do this themselves.

There appears to be some reticence in the industry to adopt such systems and the general reasons are:
The need for standards upon which to base such systems, eg AdsML, JDF
Lack of clarity as to financial incentives and drivers
Decisions over who should drive such productivity benefits, eg publisher/advertiser
Lack of interoperability between systems in the market
Different audiences within an organisation that could benefit from such a system

The audience felt that there are different departments that could benefit from such a system, but there tends to be very little communication between those departments. There are also significantly different levels of IT understanding within different departments. The consensus was that there is not currently an end-to-end solution in the market that can be used across the board. The only way to do this seems to be by purchasing a solution or developing one in-house and patching it together which isn’t really satisfactory.

A question was asked whether there is a financial return for the publisher in using such systems, if these are not visible then other purchasing decisions will always be seen as more important. Increasing the perceived value of such systems and reducing the costs would make it a more viable proposition.

AdsML is going some way to answering many of these issues and DAL will endeavour to get an update on this at the next meeting. More agreed standards are needed to act as the necessary glue between such systems.

An effective system needs to include crucial information such as:
Unique reference
Size
Positioning
Colour
Insertion date
Publication
Repeat dates

However, the discussion was concluded by saying that the industry has to quantify what it wants from a system in order for manufacturers to deliver the goods. How intelligent are we asking such a product to be, as full automation is not a reality or a necessity. After all, within any system you will always have the need to override the automation and bring in human interaction.

The myth versus the reality of ICC profiling and colour management for photographers.
Bob Marchant led an interesting discussion on the above topic, his presentation is posted with these meeting notes.
ADSpresentation.mov (movie) right-click this link and 'Save Target as...'

Ghent PDF Workgroup

Andy Psarianos updated us on the interesting work this group is carrying out in the area of pdf, as well as other arenas such as colour management, packaging, RIPS etc. Andy’s presentation is posted with these meeting notes. Andy_Psarianos.ppt (PowerPoint) right-click this link and 'Save Target as...'

Sponsor Update – filetransfer.co.uk

Chris Bird gave us an overview of the current offerings from filetransfer.co.uk, a summary of which you can see in the presentation posted with these meeting notes. File_Transfer update (PDF) right-click this link and 'Save Target as...'

Any Other Business

Vio announcement - As a follow on to the soft proofing discussion at the February DAL meeting, a recent announcement by Vio was brought up regarding its newly launching a contract soft-proofing package with Associated Newspapers. Please see the press for more info.

BRIDGs – there will be updates to the BRIDGs folders this year, hopefully including the production section, input from other industry bodies and more.

DAL North – we are looking into holding our first DAL meeting in the North, so people in those areas can benefit from similar meetings that we hold in London. Watch this space for more info.

DAL website – we are looking to change the design of the website and make it more interactive. The Steering Committee is currently researching options for a new site that we can self-administer. If anyone can help or recommend the tools to do this, please email hannah@leafagency.com.

Attendees (apologies to anyone not listed)

Andy Barklam, FT	Annette Kilroy, Mack Brooks
Anthony Kay, ACCA	Bob Marchant
Brent Martin, Colour Emotions	Chris Bird, filetransfer.co.uk
Chris Friend, Vio	Chris Reed, William Reed
Craig Santus, Savvis	Darren King, filetransfer.co.uk
Darren Parker, Admagic	Dave Willets, MGN
Gareth Perry, Eaglemoss	Gary Hoxby, Adtec
Gio Cantarella, DataActive	Harvey Jones, Exponential-e
John Charnock, St Ives	Laurie Pate, KPG
Marcus Kirby, Vertis	Mark Maguire, Tag
Martin Garrett, Savvis	Nick Finegold, Icon Repro
Paul Sherfield, Missing Horse	Barney Cox, PrintWeek
Selena Smith-Taylor, William Reed	Jo Head, KPG
Kevin Gratwick, Willams Lea	Alan Darling, Vio
Gary Voisey, DuPont	Scott Eaton, Savvis
James Marshall, Savvis	Damaris Kuzminski, DataActive
Lisette Sens, EFI	Andy Eakins, Hermstedt
Chris Bunnett, Art Group	Andy Psarianos, FE Burman
Rich Mason, Emap	Savio Luis, Savvis
Sharon du Cruz, Wyndeham	Simon Evered, B1
Stephen Irving, MGN	Steve Davies, Electronic Solutions
Steve Ricks, Studio One	Sue Kingsley, Exponential-e
Tim Daly, Interoute	Timmie Steele, Natmags
Vince Pitman, Square	William Morrish, Interoute
Stephen Douglas, FEP	Tim Cox, RES