On October 6, 2009, Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind Sesame Street, used the WheresMyMedia digital asset management system to release four new PSA’s about children’s health safety to multiple Broadcasters. The new spots, featuring Sesame Street’s “Elmo”, are designed to sustain public awareness from its initial WheresMyMedia –powered campaign launch on September 1^st, following President Obama’s press conference on Swine Flu prevention.   

The children’s health safety public awareness effort started when the federal government tapped Sesame Workshop to aid it its health education initiatives. To launch this campaign, Sesame Workshop created an electronic press kit containing the four original PSAs, and strategically distributed it on September 1^st as an immediate press conference follow-up.

First on September 1^st, and then again on October 6^th, the electronic press kits were sent as an embedded link within an email.  The link contained the PSA’s in Flash format for preview, and two edit system compatible formats for download and program integration.  Almost immediately after the first four PSA’s were sent, footage of Elmo was visible across several news entities, including CNN properties.

Based on how heavily Sesame Workshop’s Health Safety footage has been repeatedly downloaded, this distribution effort illustrates how timely distribution can be critical to campaign success. Had tapes been delivered in lieu of electronic delivery, reaching multiple Broadcasters at the same key moment would have been nearly impossible to achieve.  Furthermore, shipping physical assets would have cost exponentially more than using the WheresMyMedia D.A.M. system.

“We are so pleased with the results, and the vast depth of coverage we achieved.  WheresMyMedia’s strategy of providing formats compatible with edit systems was a great way to maximize downloads,” said Pam Hacker, Publicist of Sesame Workshop.  Neil DeRosa, SVP Sales of WheresMyMedia sister company Syncro Services, also attests to WheresMyMedia’s strategic approach. “When you don’t know how the video will be integrated, and you’re faced with sensitive timing, WheresMyMedia can turn around several viable solutions in what used to take people days,” said DeRosa.

This children’s health safety effort has been one of many instances in which Sesame Workshop had used the WheresMyMedia system.  Sesame Workshop has digitally delivered press kits the same way for Sesame Street’s U.S.O. Tour and the Families Stand Together feature program on managing economic hardship.  As was the case with Sesame Workshop’s health safety PSAs, footage from the Families Stand Together press kit, featuring Al Roker and Deborah Roberts, was integrated into television programming including The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC’s Squawkbox, and various CNN newscasts.  

Aside from public awareness campaigns, Sesame Workshop has also used WheresMyMedia to deliver footage of Sesame Street guests to Broadcasters looking to integrate the footage into other programming.  One of the most popular Sesame Street clips to date, that was delivered by WheresMyMedia, featured First Lady Mrs. Obama discussing exercise and healthy eating habits.

While primarily known for its flagship digital asset management system, WheresMyMedia offers and employs many other tools for maximizing workflow efficiency.  One of its latest innovations is the Telestream Pipeline, which was used to save time preparing Sesame Workshop’s electronic press kit. Unlike the traditional method of ingesting footage prior to transcoding, the pipeline integrates with Flip Factory to simultaneously capture and transcode footage to other formats.  

“As workflow management experts, we are constantly incorporating new tools to achieve breakthrough levels of efficiency,” said William Steele, Partner and Co-Founder of WheresMyMedia.  “Whether it’s the Pipeline, or our D.A.M. that supports uploads of terabyte plus size files, we always strive for improvement and embrace technological change,” said Steele.

Certainly in the field of technology, embracing change is critical to grow and flourish.  However, there is one constant that is unlikely to change, which is WheresMyMedia’s mission to delight its clients.

FOR RELEASE: SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

WHERESMYMEDIA D.A.M. NOW UPLOADS FILES LARGER THAN A TERABYTE

Digital asset management provider, WheresMyMedia, has officially released breakthrough uploading functionality to its digital asset management application with automated transcoding integration.  Unlike most web-based digital asset management systems that limit file upload size to two gigabytes, WheresMyMedia is capable of uploading files larger than a terabyte.

For industry professionals exchanging and distributing long-format and uncompressed content, this new functionality accelerates workflow efficiency.  Until now, the alternatives to digital uploading have traditionally been file compression, shipping, and ftp sites.  All three of these methods however, have considerable drawbacks: compression can compromise video quality, shipping takes extra time, and configuring and maintaining an FTP site is complex and time-consuming, especially when supporting the needs of an FTP client.  Plus the other down side of FTP transfers is that they occur in clear text over port 21, meaning the content is visible to anyone.

Contrary to FTP technology, WheresMyMedia operates over standard ports and assimilates large files using a Java applet.  This process is simple and easy to access from the WheresMyMedia digital library.  “Clients no longer need to disrupt their workflow to use a separate ftp site. With WheresMyMedia, clients can upload, transcode, and digitally deliver a file and preview all within seconds,” said Greg Van Dell, Lead Web Architect/Partner of WheresMyMedia.  WheresMyMedia Partner/Web Architect, Seth Wright, who developed this functionality with Van Dell, points out another advantage. “Anyone can use WheresMyMedia to upload and send a feature length HD film without losing any resolution or video quality,” explains Wright.

Beyond long-format content creators and distributors, virtually anyone working with video can leverage the benefits of WheresMyMedia’s latest technology. Rob Krizek, Partner of WheresMyMedia, and Senior Vice President of sister company Syncro Services, sees a clear value for clients fairly early in the production phase.  “Clients can upload and send a full reel of uncompressed footage on WheresMyMedia immediately after shooting. This can potentially save several days of production,” said Krizek.  Considering today’s challenging economy, and audience’s “on-demand mentality”, saving production time is never inconsequential.

Contact: Christie Calahan
Partner, WheresMyMedia
Phone (646) 436-8990
E-mail: christie.calahan@wheresmymedia.com

FOR RELEASE: JULY 23, 2009
WHERESMYMEDIA ANNOUNCES SERVICE EXPANSION BEYOND DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

Digital asset management provider, WheresMyMedia, has recently added workflow management and digital mastering services to better serve clients faced with content distribution challenges. Known for its flagship digital asset management application with automated transcoding integration, WheresMyMedia’s expansion addresses two core challenges plaguing the digital distribution industry: many workflows entailing content exchange are inefficient and not industry compliant, plus the visual quality of distributed video content often deteriorates due to multiple format conversions.

Improving how content is exchanged, processed, and distributed, WheresMyMedia has participated in the development of industry format standards created by AMWA (The Advanced Media Workflow Association, Inc.). Formerly known as AAF (Advanced Authority Format Association), AMWA is a trade organization that protects content creators by establishing standards for how content is digitally exchanged between platforms. These designated media format specifications and guidelines, commonly known as “Open Standards”, enable content to be moved easily across platforms, systems, and applications.

WheresMyMedia consistently incorporates Open Standards as a core component of its workflows services, but has also made yet another stride to improve workflows involving HD footage. To maximize the speed and efficiency of working with HD video, WheresMyMedia, in partnership with Syncro Services, has constructed an HD pipeline that integrates with its Final Cut Pro HD edit system and its Flip Factory transcoder. This integrated pipeline allows HD footage to be edited while directly captured to ProRes 422, DNxHD, DVC PRO HD, HDV, and IM30/40/50 formats. Traditionally kept as separate workflows, editing and ingesting simultaneously dramatically decrease a project’s turn-around time, which is indispensible for news, live events, and other time-sensitive content.

Also related to their workflow initiatives, WheresMyMedia has introduced digital mastering services to address video quality deterioration typically seen with multi-platform content distribution. Using its new digital mastering facility, WheresMyMedia can restore video quality compromised by multiple conversions for destinations to its original quality or better. “Efficiency is not the only component analyzed with our workflow services. An asset’s appearance is always paramount,” said WheresMyMedia CEO and Syncro President, William Matz. “A creative asset’s visual quality should maximize the recipient’s engagement with it. Creative integrity should never be sacrificed for convenience”, said Christie Calahan, Partner of WheresMyMedia.

The WheresMyMedia team has eagerly embraced their expansion of content distribution services. “We are committed to solving clients’ problems before they become commonplace in the content exchange marketplace,” said WheresMyMedia Partner, William Steele. With emerging media and content distribution, WheresMyMedia’s dedication to troubleshooting these types of challenges will likely be a long-term, dynamic effort.

Contact: Christie Calahan, Partner; Sales, Marketing, Client Service
Phone (646) 436-8990
E-mail: christie.calahan@wheresmymedia.com