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PRESS RELEASES 16
April 3, 2006
NewsCom Launches RSS Service
NewsCom (www.newscom.com) first time as a business-to-business application. The NewsCom RSS Service will push continuously updated images and text direct to its professional content buyers' desktops.
"This is a big moment for NewsCom and our customers. We are among the first to offer RSS feeds in a business-to-business environment, flowing new and relevant content directly to editors' desktops and into a growing number of content management systems," says Bill Creighton, general manager of NewsCom. "We're now able to provide our customers the latest content when, where and how they want it.
RSS saves NewsCom customers time and effort, as updates are delivered directly to their desktop, eliminating the need to spend time searching for relevant information. NewsCom customers can sign up for RSS updates for no additional fee to receive content ranging from photos and graphics to full-length text features to crossword puzzles and editorial cartoons. To receive updates, customers load links to selected topics - such as Academy Awards fashion, lifestyle tips & trends, the NCAA Championship or Word Cup Soccer, for example - from a directory of hundreds of well-defined categories into an RSS reader. Feeds are updated automatically 24/7. NewsCom RSS works across many platforms, including Windows, Macintosh and other operating systems, as well as a growing number of wireless devices. RSS previews take up very little space on customer hard drives and updates run in the background without affecting other tasks.
NewsCom partners with some of the world's top content creators, such as, Reuters, Getty Images, Jupiter Images, WireImage and Grupo de Diarios América to make thousands of new images, illustrations, stories and features available to magazine, newspaper, online and book publishers every day.
"The benefits of the NewsCom RSS Service are multifold," says Creighton. "Not only do editors have an improved resource with which to work, it's one more way for NewsCom to alert our users to the content they seek, eliminating the need to spend time searching across different websites for the appropriate content. NewsCom is committed to finding new ways to help our customers become more productive. We believe RSS integration into their workflow is an excellent start."
The NewsCom RSS Service can be viewed at NEXPO '06, April 1-4, McCormick Place, Chicago, within The Software Construction Company's (www.swcc.com) content management system at booth # 5087.
Science Faction Inks Deal With Peter Ginter
As it continues to assemble the world's leading collection of science and technology images, Science Faction today announced that German photographer Peter Ginter has signed on as a major provider of science research images.
Over the years, Ginter has earned many prestigious awards, most recently 5 World Press Awards along with the Art Directors Gold Medal for producing photographic essays in all fields of science. His unique, artistic form of complex and mixed lighting is known globally for bringing a futuristic, almost mystical quality to his images of leading scientific centers all over the world.
"Peter Ginter's work is unparalleled. Whether shooting nuclear fusion or sophisticated medical research, he reveals stunning perspectives on science facilities that are too-often stark and unattractive. His long-exposure, light-painted images bring out advanced technology's beauty of purpose. When on the job, he sees and creates pictures that no other photographer can. We're thrilled that Peter's joining our cadre of world-class science photographers," stated Roger Ressmeyer, CEO and founder of Science Faction.
Peter's conceptual work for advertising, and editorial work for media and textbooks is already in hot demand in both the US and European markets. His images can be viewed by searching on the word "Ginter" at
www.sciencefaction.net. On April 15th Ginter's work will also be available at Getty Images, a Science Faction distributor, at: www.sciencefaction.net/gettyimages.
Of his partnership with Science Faction, Ginter says "I have been an admirer of Roger own photographs for many years and am thrilled to be represented by such a fantastic specialist agency."
"Ours is a unique stock photography website in that we give our photographers a lot of digital real estate" says Roger Ressmeyer. In addition to the standard method of searching by keywords, visitors browse photographer portfolios as well as science topics and feature stories. Currently the SCIENCE FACTION site has over 5,000 images, with rapid growth planned for 2006.
UpperCut Images Names Winters Vice President
UpperCut Images has appointed Benjamin Winters Vice President of Creative Strategy. Winters has been with UpperCut Images since 2004 and has been integral in developing both the content and business strategy since the inception of the company, which is owned and operated by royalty-free stock agency, PunchStock.
Winters formerly held the position of Director of Creative Development, and prior to joining UpperCut Images held development roles with Getty Images and London-based Imagestate. In this new position, Winters will be responsible for leading the rights-protected content strategy and guiding the creative vision of the unique collection.
Said Winters, "I look forward to working with our photographers to build a successful, comprehensive, and unique rights-protected offering as well as refining and elevating the UpperCut collection."
Additionally, UpperCut Images has relocated from Bainbridge Island to a new facility in downtown Seattle. The new space is just blocks from the Starbucks world headquarters located on First Avenue South and is more accessible for photographers wishing to visit the office.
UpperCut Images currently represents the work of more than 50 top photographers, including such noteworthy names as Steve Bonini, David Maisel, Paul Aresu, Chase Jarvis and many others.
Ethno Images Partners With Big Cheese Photos
Ethno Images, Inc., an agency specializing in multicultural imagery, has formed a partnership with Big Cheese Photo. The partnership with Big Cheese Photo launches Ethno Images' entry into the royalty free photography market and progresses Ethno Images' strategy to become the largest multicultural portal site.
Since its inception in 2000, Ethno Images has provided lifestyle focused multicultural imagery to the communications industry. In 2004, Ethno Images expanded its distribution in Europe, Asia and South Africa. "Big Cheese Photo is a perfect complement to our agency," said Troy Jones, President of Ethno Images. "Big Cheese Photo's multicultural images provides depth to our collection and enables us to become a player in the royalty-free market."
"We are delighted to join Ethno Images and are excited to be their first royalty free partner, stated Katy von Brandenfels, Managing Director of Big Cheese Photo. "We're proud of and committed to the ethnic diversity of our collection and believe we will do very well with our new partner."
The Big Cheese Photo collection has been integrated into the Ethno Images web site and through its sales team, offering complete access to Big Cheese Photo's multicultural imagery. The recent enhancements to the Ethno web site provide the convenient infrastructure to search and download the expanded collection of low-resolution files of African American, Hispanic and Asian lifestyles.
Clarkson Chooses Digital Railroad to Power NCAA Archives
Digital Railroad, Inc. has announced that industry veteran Rich Clarkson and Associates, LLC, has chosen Digital Railroad's technology to archive and distribute the images for NCAA Photos. Rich Clarkson is under contract to NCAA Photos for capturing distributing, archiving and selling images of all 91 men's and women's National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, along with historic pictures from American collegiate sports. Digital Railroad's solution will improve the productivity from their photographers taking photos at games, to efficiently distributing to sellers and buyers, while significantly reducing its business costs. The archive is located at NCAA Photos
or NCAA Photos.
In the early 1990s, Rich Clarkson and Associates expanded its long-standing relationship with the NCAA to create NCAA Photos. Beginning with the 1994 fall season, every official NCAA championship -- men's and women's, in each division -- is represented. In addition to the current championship images, NCAA Photos also offers an extensive portfolio of pictures dating back to the early 1950s from the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship: the Final Four.
By utilizing Digital Railroad's service, Rich Clarkson and Associates will open additional domestic and international channels for marketing and selling the NCAA Photos images online. The intuitive, feature-rich workspace provided by Digital Railroad is customized to the firm's specifications and is designed to significantly ease the process of purchasing NCAA Photos images. The combination of Digital Railroad's modern and effective archiving and distribution system, along with its buyer-friendly workflow tools, will enable the firm to optimize sales while minimizing costs.
"As we are expanding the reach and opportunities for NCAA Photos, it appeared to me that Digital Railroad offered the best set of features that both promote and deliver our services and images." said Rich Clarkson. "And not only did the technology and systems appear to serve our needs well, we are particularly anxious to work with the team creating and managing Digital Railroad, for they represent some of the best talent in the industry."
Archives powered by Digital Railroad uniquely enable photo buyers to use a single member name and password at all times. This provides buyers with a portable, personal workspace for managing lightboxes, pricing requests and managing high-resolution downloads. Buyer-friendly workflow tools are critical to any photographer or agency to efficiently sell their images online.
"Few people in the world understand the photography industry like Rich Clarkson and we are honored to have Rich Clarkson and Associates select Digital Railroad to power their archive," said Evan Nisselson, founder and chief executive officer of Digital Railroad. "Digital Railroad enables their team to concentrate on what they do best-make and sell incredible photos of some of the most highly-anticipated athletic events in the United States. We are thrilled to service NCAA Photos and to provide both their photographers and buyers of these images with the most efficient solution for their needs."