Last month, the annual SMPTE conference shared its Manhattan venue with a new conference put on by the Global Society of Asset Management (G-SAM). This inaugural program had an ambitious scope and attracted a remarkable group of speakers, including VP-level representatives from film studios including Universal and Sony, and television networks HBO, Showtime, Lifetime, ABC, and the BBC, as well as more regional broadcast players such as College Sports Television. The keynotes were delivered by top-level executives at media-giant Ascent Media (formerly Liberty Media) and international advertising firm BBDO. In addition to these news and entertainment industry participants, the conference also included executives from companies such as Pitney Bowes, Cisco Systems, Whirlpool, and Harley-Davidson, demonstrating the scope of questions and enterprise that swirl around asset management.

In short, nearly all of the participants in the conference came from big national or international companies. Not surprisingly this is where asset management has found its early audience. However, I was personally surprised to see how far many of these companies had come with their asset management initiatives in just a few years. It was equally surprising to see how complex issues — particularly human resource and rights management issues — had proliferated. At Video Systems we've tended to focus on the technical aspects of asset management. But there are just as many legal and cultural issues at work.

For example, in addition to the sessions on standards, G-SAM sessions focused on such issues as intellectual property, copyright, ROI and business plans, user acceptance, training and reorganization, and internal politics. These concerns may seem like big company worries, but in listening to the panelists, it was clear that these are core concerns for anyone who is planning to improve their workflow or change their business plan through asset management.

Asset management will provide tomorrow's competitive edge and not just for big companies. But it won't be important to everyone at the same time. In addition, judging from the discussions at the G-SAM sessions, asset management will be useless to companies — whether large or small — who don't understand their own workflow and business opportunities. From that standpoint it doesn't hurt to start some good asset management habits, whether you are in the middle of deciding on an asset management system or years away.

Here's what's important now: Get in the habit of really understanding whether or not you own your assets and so-called “work product.” If you do nothing else, at least come up with a way — an Excel spreadsheet even — to track the terms of your contracts and what you own or partially own. Make sure you understand copyright and the rights issues of any stock you buy or work you produce. Consider writing agreements that give you additional ownership of assets that might be inconsequential to your client but useful to you. Maybe you retain ownership of outtakes. If you develop a graphic design “look” for a project, does your client need to own it, or could it be part of your graphics library, allowing you to use it again for other projects? Not everyone needs original design. If you are an internal corporate video department, you will need to know which of your assets are available for reuse or resale. Beyond that, many companies such as Cisco and Pitney Bowes are asking themselves when internal expertise — such as training videos for example — can be sold as product. Speaking of training videos, you will need to understand if you own the component parts or not. If you downloaded that inspiring music off the Web, you don't.

I think it's telling that G-SAM chief engineer Reza Rassool suggests that the organization's contribution will largely be a non-technical one. That's because the real questions of asset management are the fundamental questions of what tomorrow's productive workflows, successful business plans, and sustainable companies will be like.