1996 Ad

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 15, 1996 by Jennifer Sucov

Every trade show exhibitor needs a good gimmick. WAM!NET's coveted purple high-tops were a big hit at Seybold Boston; the anti-sneakernet sneakers drew attention and foot traffic to a low-profile booth and a less-than-sexy product.

While the usual coterie of big-name vendors occupied much of the show floor, smaller companies with nuts-and-bolts products held their own at the biannual conference and expo at the Hynes Convention Center February 27 through March 1. Caren Eliezer, associate editor, Seybold Publications, noted the industry's current preoccupation with hardware and new media. "All the glue is being neglected," she said.

Internal and external networks--part of this "glue"--are becoming central to the publishing process. Art departments retrieve images from server-based archives; production departments send files through high-speed telecommunications links; and the files are trapped, imposed and RIPped using OPI (Open Prepress Interface). Here's what Seybold Boston had to offer to glue it all together.

Digital assets

Managing digital assets is a necessity as publishers amass more and more images--from photographs to sounds to Quick-Time movies. Networked database archives that organize, store and repurpose this valuable content were in abundance.

Canto Software, based in San Francisco, announced that its Cumulus Network Image Database 2.5 will be integrated with Live Picture's networked image-editing solution. Cascade, based in Andover, Massachusetts, introduced a World Wide Web extension to MediaSphere allowing clients to browse the library on the Internet using any HTML browser. Similarly, Archetype, based in Boston, added Web functionality to MediaBank 1.1 with the Gateway module.

Newcomer North Plains Systems showcased TeleScope. The Mississauga, Ontario-based company says TeleScope is the only ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) compliant, software-based desktop image-management solution available. It is customizable, non-proprietary and can use Oracle, Sybase, Butler SQL and other powerful database engines.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

ISDN ASAP

High-speed network providers tried to make a connection. NetCo Communications bills WAM!NET as a "fax machine for digital files." The Minneapolis-based company's Digital Courier service offers a pay-as-you-go alternative to high-speed data transfer.

DAX, based in Boston, provides ISDN solutions specifically for the prepress and publishing industries. Through its partnership with AT&T, DAX offers volume discounts as well as workflow expertise. In another alliance, DAX will resell Des Moines, Iowa-based 4-Sight's ISDN software.

Downhill battle

Seybold ushered out its final year in Boston (the spring show will be in New York City next year) by urging publishers to take a long-term view of the dynamic, exciting and confusing changes occurring in the industry.

"We're all over the place," said Craig Cline, vice president, program development, Seybold Seminars. "It's like learning to ski--we're overcompensating."

Advised closing-sessions moderator and avid skier Tim Gill, chairman, Denver-based Quark: "Look downhill."