By Picturepark Communication Team • Jan 23, 2018
Dear member of the DAM Guru Program
It was a European midnight in early 2013 when David Diamond texted me from San Francisco. A US competitor of us had just released its affiliate program. We had been preparing our own such program over the last weeks for launch the next day. Now that competitor was grabbing the markets attention earlier than us.
Of course, David was super-furious. He swore to me the same night that he would come up with a completely different and far more innovative program.
When I woke up a few hours later, I found an expose of the DAM Guru Program in my mailbox. The paper sketched a not-for-profit association that connects DAM experts with people new to DAM, advocating education in DAM and giving members at the grassroots level a voice and platform.
Although this clearly was no source of revenue to Picturepark (and would be a cost item projected over the next few years) I was immediately enthusiastic about it. We worked on a few more details and then I released the extra budget for the DAM Guru Program.
What started as an idea overnight has turned into the DAM industry’s largest community: More than 1100 members strong with expertise across all sectors and systems. The program has organized highly successful webinars, relentlessly connected members, posted countless DAM jobs and events, and published hundreds of interviews with DAM professionals.
Now after almost five years, we are opening a new chapter with the
DAM Guru Program that aims at establishing far greater cross-industry
collaboration, enhancing DAM education and fostering an
environment that encourages greater innovation in the DAM sector.
For achieving these goals, Ralph Windsor who most of you know best from DAM News will become director of the program. I have known Ralph for many years now as an active member of the DAM community. We might differ from time to time in opinions but we share the idea of a new association required for the DAM industry which itself needs to wake up and become more active in defining its future.
Big thanks go to David Diamond for creating the program and directing it previously, to Ben Smidt for his many years of passionate curation, and Carol Thomas-Knipes who joined the DGP team about a year ago.
Most of all, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to all DAM Guru Program members who contribute to the program and have shown their trust in Picturepark for funding and operating it but never abusing their data for sales-related activities.
Thank you all for being the reason why this program exists and will continue to grow!
Ramon Forster
CEO Picturepark