The document describes a role-playing exercise conducted at a workshop on digital asset management (DAM). The class was divided into groups, each representing an organization facing a challenge that could be addressed through proper DAM practices. One person in each group acted as the digital asset manager tasked with identifying how roles contributed to a problem and devising a DAM solution. Scenarios involved a greeting card company sued for using an unauthorized image and a publisher needing to reduce budgets while maintaining production. The exercise allowed participants to gain insight into DAM's multi-faceted challenges and how problems can arise without proper asset management.

1. Introduction to Digital Asset Management
A workshop for the Metropolitan New York Library Council
Class Exercise.
Intent: This role-play exercise was designed to stimulate discussion around how DAM professionals use their
broad expertise to design effective workflows, identify solutions, and work with cross functional teams to better
manage assets.
Instructions: The class was divided into groups of 6. Each group was told they represented an organization
that recently faced a challenge that could be addressed with the application of proper DAM practices. Each
participant was handed a paper detailing their role in the organization. One person per group was the
designated Digital Asset Manager. This person was tasked with figuring out how each team members’ role
contributed to the problem, and how a solution could be found using DAM principles.
Results: In discussions prompted by this role-play, the teams gained a sense of DAM’s multi-faceted
challenges. They were able to identify how problems can arise in a workplace when digital assets are not
managed. In discussing solutions they also became aware of common challenges facing DAM professionals
as they try to implement solutions, like achieving adequate staffing, and managing a backlog of unmanaged
assets.
On the next pages are the scenarios and roles that were assigned to the groups.

2. Scenario 1: Each participant works for a greeting card company who has been sued
because they used an image they did not have rights to use. A Digital Asset Manager is hired to prevent
another lawsuit while ensuring that new product continues to be made.
Roles:
You are the Digital Asset Manager
Talk to all involved parties. Identify the aspects of the current workflow that allowed for the problem. Devise a
new workflow to prevent it from happening again. Suggest some tools to help make it work.
You are a Designer
You are tasked with creating artwork that reflects current trends and plays off
popular culture, appropriating imagery from mass media. You know you must change the images enough to
avoid copyright violations. Unfortunately, you’re no lawyer, so you aren’t always sure when you’ve achieved
that goal. When you are finished with a design file, you place it on a server for the Brand Manager to approve,
and Production to pick up. You work on a Mac.
You are a Lawyer
You know intellectual property law like the back of your hand, and can tell if artwork created by a designer will
violate copyright. However, you’ve typically had no awareness of what they’ve created until a design has been
sent to press and released to the public. You do not know where finished design files are kept, or how
Production gets them. You work on a PC.
You are a Production Manager
You must keep printing new artworks as quickly as possible after the Designers create them. You have been
told to pick up new Design files from a specified server as soon as the Brand Manager has approved them.
You learn about these approvals via emails you receive several times a day. You work on a Mac.
You are a Brand Manager
You must review each artwork the Designer creates to make sure it reflects the aesthetic of your brand. Your
review has nothing to do with Legal concerns. You look at the new designs on the Designers’ server, and
notify Production by email about which you’ve approved.
You are an Information Technology Expert
You know that all teams work on Mac’s except for the Lawyer, who works on a PC. You know that any new
technological solutions must work on both Mac and PC platforms. You are also the only person who can give
access to new users of any servers, systems, or other software or solutions.

3. Scenario 2: Each participant works for a publisher. Budgets need to be reduced but new
books, magazines, and marketing material must still be created.
Roles:
You are the Digital Asset Manager
Talk to all involved parties. Identify the aspects of the current workflow that allowed for the problem. Devise a
new workflow to prevent it from happening again. Suggest some tools to help make it work.
You are an Art Buyer
You bring in 3 photoshoots a month, with dozens of images in each. You also hire writers to write greetings.
You store the image and text files on a server. You have your photographers and writers sign a contract that
grants your greeting card company 2 years of image reuse, with no limitations. You have no time to organize
the files you get, and they come in a variety of formats, most with no metadata. You store them on a server
just as you get them from your contributors.
You are a Marketer
You need image files for your campaigns. You are always on a tight schedule, so you just purchase images
from stock agencies. You like stock agencies because their websites are easy to search, making it easy to find
the images you need. To keep costs low, and to keep things moving quickly, you just use the contracts
provided by the stock agencies. Usually you only get the rights to use an image once.
You are a Brand Manager
You approve all marketing campaigns, and require that they use lots of imagery. You have been unhappy to
see stock imagery in an ad that also appeared in adsfor other companies.
You are a Photographer
You were commissioned by an Art Buyer from the publisher. You are eager to please this client. In order to
work with them, you have signed a contract granting them the right to use your images in any way for 2 years.
No one has given you any specific instruction about file delivery so you’ve just delivered them in whatever
format your camera captures.
You are an Information Technology Expert
You know that because the Marketers do not have Photoshop or Bridge, they could only work with image files
in one specific format. You know that all teams work on Mac’s except for the Brand Manager, who works on a
PC. You know that any new technological solutions must work on both Mac and PC platforms. You are also
the only person who can give access to new users of any servers, systems, or other software or solutions.