Guest blog: Equipping your event team for success

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By Cory Schmidt, head of marketing, Canto

There’s one thing that unites everyone in the events industry: digital overload!

No matter whether you’re in-house, agency or freelance, the volume of files we create, save and share on a monthly basis is vast.

If we only needed to access folders on our own devices, or if we worked in small teams that didn’t depend on third-party collaboration, there wouldn’t be a problem.

But the reality when it comes to events is that there are always multiple parties involved. Presentations, graphics and imagery, videos, design files, documents and spreadsheets – we produce more of these than ever before and regularly have to refer back to the content of previous projects.

Events in their many shapes and forms are synonymous with the need to carefully manage digital assets. Be it a regional conference, international exhibition, brand activation or major festival, close teamwork and knowledge sharing, along with operational efficiency, is paramount to success.

The growing use of ‘Digital Asset Management’ software

Forward-thinking teams in the event industry have found that internal shared servers and basic shared file storage services such as Dropbox and Google Drive have their limitations. They can be quickly outgrown and providing access to individual files is fiddly.

This is where a new type of software comes in, called Digital Asset Management (DAM).

It helps teams consistently and securely store digital assets in a central location so they can easily be found and shared. It makes life easier for colleagues and enables fast, secure access for outside parties such as agency partners, suppliers and venues.

How are events and broader sales & marketing teams using DAM?

DAM is rapidly growing in popularity as it equips teams in several new ways:

  1. Use across multiple locations – DAM is accessible on a web browser from anywhere in the world, you can open up instant access to files to whoever, wherever – regardless of their geography and IT.
  2. Third-party access to particular files – collaboration with external parties (i.e. people who don’t have access to your servers) is a necessity, especially in events. With DAM, event managers can provide access to approved individuals or teams, but limit access to only the files they need. This is particularly useful when working on sensitive launch events or other embargoed activities.

Need a branded portal to share videos, images or documents with customers or media? DAM also allows event teams to customise and share their own branded library.

  • Get everyone working in the same way – with numerous individuals involved in creating, sharing and using files, you need everybody involved – including outside suppliers – to work in the same way. One central and secure system provides consistent organisation, searchability and version control of all your digital assets.

DAMuses tags, keywords, metadata, customer fields and other ways of helping you locate what you need in just a few clicks. The ability to search by file size and other factors – including which photographer or content creator – can also speed up searches. Do you have imagery of staff, spokespeople, models or campaign ambassadors? DAM has facial recognition to help you find all images of a particular person instantly.

  • Fast onboarding and intuitive interface – everyone using software and apps today expects a great user experience and DAM is no exception. Your team or external partners won’t need support to show them how to use the platform – simply install and go. Easy importing means teams can have content in their library in minutes.
  • Integration with your web browser and design programmes – the Chrome plugin allows you to search your media library without leaving your browser-based email, document or presentation. Similarly, your designers can now work faster as they’re able to make quick edits to design files in their saved online location, without having to open them separately in Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign.

To bolster your event planning and delivery, consider how new software might help your team – so you can spend more time doing what you do best.

Learn more at www.canto.com

This post is sponsered by Canto

Molly Hookings
Author: Molly Hookings

Molly joined the editorial team in March 2019. She has several years’ experience working in broadcast and journalism, as well as marketing and PR. Past experience includes working for the BBC and independent publishing houses. If you have a story you think Molly might be interested in, please email: molly@eventindustrynews.com