#3 What is DAM?
Those who know me, know that after my blended family life started, my time is (in addition work & family) very much centered around basketball.
With a spouse who coaches and almost all the kids are playing (except our now 2 year old, who I haven't had the energy to drive to "Kiddybasket" on Sunday mornings, so far) - and every weekend morning starting with an NBA-infused morning coffee, there's absolutely no escaping learning the sport.
I've learned more about basketball in the last 4.5 years than I've learned about any sport in my entire life before that! π
So far, I've mainly contributed to this craziness from the management side of our local club's team, as well as running the bake sales and the (rather loud) cheering section on the court side.
Of course - my spouse's very enthusiastic national team fanaticism has also rubbed off on me, in addition to our kids.
Go Susijengi! πΊπ
Now in the beginning of the year -24 I even went to try out the game myself, a couple of times at a beginners' course for women. It was a lot of fun - and even made me think about whether this could be a good hobby for me too π€
What is this story doing on a blog about digital asset management?
Nothing really, but on my way home from practice, I started thinking about what similarities could be found between basketball and the practice of Digital Asset Management.
And the more I thought about it, the more I found them π
1. Metadata & performance monitoring
Metadata is a key element in both DAM and basketball because it can be used to gather information and create context between things.
In DAM, metadata refers to descriptive and technical information about an asset, such as keywords, descriptions, data format or usage rights as "additional information" to the asset. DAM metadata helps organisations to organize, discover and use media assets more efficiently.
Equally: there is a lot of metadata to be extracted from a single basketball match! π π―
In basketball, metadata could for example include, player, team and game performance statistics such as points, rebounds, assists and steals.
Metadata from match statistics could for example help team coaches to better assess, improve and optimize the performance of players, teams and games - by knowing where best to focus on.
2. Teamwork & communication
In both basketball and digital asset management, teamwork is an essential part of efficiency and success! In basketball, players must work together to achieve their goals on the court. Similarly, in digital asset management, different team members must work together to ensure that their digital assets are properly organised and available when needed.
In DAM, teamwork involves managing, sharing, editing and approval workflows for media assets. All steps are part of standardized processes, making sure that everyone knows how to work, to get the material published and re-used in the most efficient and value-added way.
In basketball, teamwork involves (and this is what I have learned from watching my kids play) in particular passing the ball to the player who's in a better position, actively participating in the process (play patterns) and communicating both verbally and non-verbally to teammates, so that everyone knows what is going to happen next.
Once these things have been internalized and mastered, the team can often operate like a well-oiled machine tha'ts set on autopilot - and results will follow!
3.Strategy and planning
In basketball, teams develop different game plans and strategies to create a competitive advantage over their opponents. The team's strategy defines, among other things, offensive and defensive game objectives and the optimization of players' roles and positions (playing position) in relation to, for example, a player's strengths.
In the same way, digital asset management requires a strategy and plans on how to organise, exploit and share the various assets securely and efficiently with the world.
Strategic thinking is an essential element for both DAM and basketball, as it helps to achieve the desired goals.
It's easy to answer: Community. π
A community of basketball fans is based on mutual respect, a sense of belonging and a general passion for the sport and its skills (often crossing team and country boundaries).
These create a strong foundation for community and cooperation to develop and thrive.
This mindset could also be incorporated more into the way organizations see and work with their DAM systems: When you work together, with common goals and a sense of doing things together, even the mundane tasks can feel more meaningful, and have a significant impact on the big picture (strategy) of things.
Photo Credit: Samira Lee