Stock Artists Alliance helps hundreds get meta-smart at cross-country events
In the wake of seven, free educational events over the past two months, nearly 800 picture professionals from Puget Sound to the Potomac have a better grip on the power and processes of embedding photographic metadata. The Stock Artists Alliance plans three more getMETAsmart events for this fall.
Audiences in Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Washington learned how to use metadata to help protect copyrights, make money licensing photography, smooth workflows, track image use, find images they need and find them again. In addition to sessions by metadata guru David Riecks, those who attended in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Washington also learned some of the newest techniques for search-engine optimization during presentations sponsored by Photoshelter.
Positive reviews abound. One commenter in Seattle said, “The speakers did a great job of catering to the full spectrum of audience experience/knowledge -- not easily done!” New York’s Susan Shamper described the evening as “such an impressively organized seminar presented by well-informed, inspiring and entertaining presenters. Well done!”
Many others said they were surprised both at how much metadata could help their businesses and how interesting several hours of metadata discussions could be.
Learn more online at www.PhotoMetadata.org
Thousands more have visited our growing website, PhotoMetadata.org, a tool intended as a resource the industry will value for years.
A glossary and “Field Guide” help you understand how to navigate the specific and evolving language of terms associated with image origins, rights and descriptions. Learn about the challenges of protecting, licensing and archiving digital photos. Learn how using standardized metadata can help. Find out what's new in the world of metadata. Our extensive guides to metadata standards and best practices pair with links to other resources to help you become meta-smart.
New pages and information continue to grow and we’ll soon have online video and printed tutorials to help you use leading software tools – from Adobe, Camera Bits and Microsoft – to quickly embed and leverage descriptive metadata in your digital files.
The Meta Mission
Working under an award from the Library of Congress, with support from project partners Adobe, Microsoft, Camera Bits, Photoshelter, PicScout and the IPTC, SAA is on a mission to promote industrywide use of standard photo metadata in every digital image file.
Our goal: Help everyone working with digital images become meta-smart. Photographers need to embed metadata in their images, while stock distributors, users, archivists and software developers need to ensure this information is preserved – and read correctly – as files are processed, copied, licensed, published online, reproduced and archived.
No matter how meta-smart you think you are, we can teach you better metadata practices to help your business – and protect your legacy. Our MetaSurvey showed too few images on the web have identifying metadata.
Look soon for announcements about our fall metadata events. These evening events, including receptions, are free, but registration is limited. To learn more and – once new events are announced – reserve a place, please go to www.photometadata.org.
About Stock Artists Alliance:
SAA is the only trade association focused on the business of stock photography. SAA supports its membership with exclusive benefits to enable and enhance their stock businesses. SAA speaks up for the interests of stock artists with a clear and powerful voice in the licensing industry. The heart of SAA’s mission is education and advocacy concerning core issues, such as the need to better protect and promote licensing through the use of standardized metadata. Learn more at www.stockartistsalliance.org
About the Digital Preservation Program at the U.S. Library of Congress: The mission of the Library’s Digital Preservation Program is to develop a national strategy to collect, archive and preserve burgeoning digital content. The Library awarded SAA a partnership to join its preservation network of more than 130 partners from across the nation to tackle the challenge. Learn more at http://www.photometadata.org/About-Library-of-Congress-Partnership
About our Project Partners: A diverse group of partners support SAA's Photo Metadata Project, warranting thanks not only from us but also from the entire imaging industry. Our partners committed to the usability and preservation of digital images include: Adobe, Microsoft, Camera Bits, Photoshelter, PicScout and the IPTC. Learn more at http://www.photometadata.org/About-Project-Partners
Editors:
Photographs of getMETAsmart events are available for download and publication. Please contact Greg Smith for instructions and access code.
Contacts:
Greg Smith
Media and Event Coordinator, SAA Photo Metadata Project
mediasmith@hargray.com
(843) 757-6557
David Riecks
SAA Photo Metadata Project Leader
register@photomedadata.org
(877) 646-5375 (CST)
