NEXPO Preview, Nos. 35-50

35. Online Ad Design Ltd.: When somebody tells me their product is based on templates, my first question is: “How many templates do you have and how much will it cost me to make some of my own?” The AdWizard, a browser-based, on-line display ad makeup and booking system, uses templates and Online Ad Design says they have 800,000 templates, that it takes only a couple of days to get a new template made and that they’re economical. Using a service bureau environment, AdWizard allows papers to choose from one of three business models (the full-service for a single paper, a limited service for a single paper or a group of clustered papers), choose which additional modules you want (scheduling, pricing, e-commerce and classified are all available) and away you go. The system has a library of images that advertisers can use, they can upload their own or there is a squad of photographers and artists just waiting to help your customers out. (604) 683-0446; e-mail: sales@onlineaddesign.com.

36. Pongrass Publishing Systems: Getting tired of rewriting plug-ins and connectivity code every time Adobe or Quark released a new version of a page layout application or word processor, Les Pongrass finally did something about it: he separated the program code from the specific requirements of the page layout application with a new layer, which he calls the cross-platform toolkit (XPT). Theoretically, this will free Pongrass up to build more features rather than tweaking code to work with InPress 8.23.4 (or whatever). Regardless, Pongrass has rebuilt his editorial and advertising offerings using the XPT layer, which brings the editorial system into the world of choice: you can have it in Adobe InDesign as well as the traditional Quark XPress. {011} 61-29369-3111; e-mail: sales@pongrass.com.au.

37. Proxim-IT: You’ve got to like a company that writes of its product that it’s “designed to put the newsroom at the heart of the publishing operation.” Well, if you’re from the newsroom you’ve got to like it, but those of you from Missouri (or parts other than editorial) should be interested in Control Tower (new to our shores, but in Version 2.0) too. The product (in use at the Ifra Newsplex “newsroom of the future”), is a collection of time-management features that allow editors to handle budgeting, event planning, idea development and resource scheduling. It’s designed for one newsroom or for a group of newsrooms. And if that’s not enough, the company claims Control Tower makes convergence “easy.” I’ll drink to that. {011} 44 20 7968 0608; e-mail: info@proxim-it.com.

38. Publishing Business Systems Inc.: This company really no longer looks like it (actually, its predecessor company) did when I first encountered it: two guys from Minnesota who had an idea of how to handle newspaper circulation and a development computer from Sun Microsystems. A lot of water has passed under the bridge in 20 years and PBS now sports other business applications, ad order entry and classified. New this year are three modules: MediaPlus AdTrack (does what the name implies), iBuild (an automated ad-building tool that can work as a self-service system or as something used by sales reps) and ReportPlus (custom reports made EZ). And hey, the company has a shiny new logo. In 1984, I don’t think they had a logo. (847) 381-9950; e-mail: marketing@pbs.com.

39. RSiCopyright: Digital rights management looked like it was going to get mired in another Microsoft-against-the-world thing a few years back, but mercifully that hasn’t happened, somewhat because of clear-minded folks like those at RSiCopyright, the makers of the Instant Clearing Service. Starting out as a reprint business (something it still does), the company provides fully automated on-line and fulfillment services, allowing Internet users to license, purchase and receive content for personal, commercial, nonprofit or academic reuse — and you, the publisher, determine all the prices and terms. Satisfied content sellers including the Associated Press, Reuters and United Press International. (651) 582-3800; e-mail: partners@rsicopyright.com.

40. Saora Inc.: Anybody in the newsroom who says that the Internet hasn’t changed the way they go about newsgathering — my guess is that Google gets hit harder by news people than any other user category — is fudging the truth. Saora’s Kee<p>oint product allows users of Internet Explorer on Microsoft Windows to click on a page, assign keywords to those pages, annotate or highlight the text, send the annotated pages by e-mail or save only the salient information from a page. And, if you want to offer this facility to your web site’s users, the company’s Keepage product can be licensed through a partnership program. The first time a user clicks on the “Keep this page” button, they are offered the opportunity to download and try the Kee<p>oint software. (408) 973-7840; e-mail: sales@saora.com.

41. Shoom Inc.: ShoomProof allows advertisers to proofread their ads from any web browser.

41. Shoom Inc.: This supplier of electronic tearsheets comes to NEXPO 2004 with a twist on its product: ShoomProof. Publishers can post draft display or classified ads on-line and get approvals of advertisers, who view the ads on their web browser. They can verify proofs on-line, make corrections and need little or no training and no technical skills. And, it’s all a service-bureau arrangement, meaning no in-house hardware or software. Additionally, I’m certain the company will be happy to talk about its iTearsheets system and its ad delivery system (used by many major motion picture studios). (800) 446-6646; e-mail: info@shoom.com.

42. The Software Construction Co.: The Media-GridCompare is a component of the MediaServer product, which now runs on Sun Microsystems’ equipment.

42. The Software Construction Co.: When you start selling a product into the big-market newspapers, and that product uses a database, sooner or later you hear the question, “Does it run on Sun and Oracle?” The former being a computing platform for the Big Boys and the latter being the ubiquitous high-end database. Apparently Software Construction got tired of saying, “No,” and has created a new version of its MediaServer system that does run on Sun and Oracle. The archiving and content-processing system includes the company’s MediaFactory archiving conduit, the Verity search engine, an assignment module and the delivery module (which includes the ServerOps Channel functionality). Clients can run on Windows, Mac OS X or via a web browser. And, yes, it still does Windows. (770) 205-5756; e-mail: sales@swcc.com.

43. Software Consulting Services LLC: European editorial system maker Wilkenson Scoop recently merged with European web-publishing system maker Bombus and the result will be in the SCS booth (as SCS is the U.S. rep for Scoop). The Headline system manages web and digital news packages with on-line search, print and e-mail capabilities, and provides optional visitor forums, comments and e-cards. New for Scoop are the ePaper on-line newspaper generator and the eLibrary web-based archive. (Eventually the Bombus and Scoop systems will be merged into one.) On the ad side of the house, SCS will show a new graphic reservation system for AdMAX and remote ad submission for SCS/Track. (610) 746-7700; e-mail: cichelli@newspapersystems.com.

44. Tearsheet Images LLC: In the great tearsheet PDF-versus scanning-debate, Tearsheet Images comes down square in the middle: you want scans, they do scans; you want PDFs, they do PDFs. The company has developed its own, high-speed scanning system just for tearsheets. A neat feature here is the “Tearsheet-on-Demand” button for those nervous Nellies among advertisers and agencies. During their transition from paper to electronic tearsheets, advertisers can press the button and an e-mail is sent to the publisher, requesting that a physical tearsheet be mailed. (210) 541-9500; e-mail: info@tearsheetimages.com.

41. Tecnavia Press Inc.: A longtime supplier of imaging products in Europe, Tecnavia now has a U.S. division and is focusing on its NewsMemory electronic edition service. New to NEXPO will be NewsMemory Suite, which will include electronic editions, archiving, tearsheets and clipping service. The tearsheets module uses technology from booth buddy Shoom, while the clipping service has been developed with press associations and clipping bureaus in mind. (952) 435-6744; e-mail: info@tecnavia.com.

45. ThirdParty.Net: Another company whose name is its business — ThirdParty provides third-party distribution of papers, in a way that’s sanctioned by the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ThirdParty even has integrated its system into the ABC’s). The company says that more often than not, publishers discard the notion of third-party distribution because it’s so difficult to make the numbers ABC-compliant; ThirdParty solves that problem straight off the bat. The company goes through your sellable non-subscriber names and produces an order, which is sent to both the ABC and the delivery contractor. Through an on-screen interface, the company can provide the contractor with a non-throw list. (972) 742-9434; e-mail: mark@mydistrict.net.

9. Unisys Global Media: The Hermes editorial system now supports Adobe InCopy and InDesign.

46. Unisys Global Media: The commitment toward moving the company’s proprietary text editor and page layout engine in its Hermes system toward using Adobe InCopy and InDesign is complete. Unisys has really created quite an impressive integration of its existing Hermes database to the Adobe products (courtesy of WoodWing plug-ins; see below). But the real treat is going to come when other third-party products are integrated in Hermes, because the abstraction layer used for the Adobe products could conceivably be used by “any extensible application,” as the company says. (770) 368-6141; e-mail: globalmedia@unisys.com.

47. Who’s Calling Inc.: An interesting ad sales tool in the era of Do Not Call, Who’s Calling provides patented call measurement and monitoring technology, sales and lead management services, call recording and monitoring, Web-based and personal staff training and “second chance marketing” services to more than 70 business categories, including media and publishing. Executives say the company’s mission is to “overcome sales transaction obstacles.” We used to call them “no sales,” but you get the idea. (866) 576-6055; e-mail: hcrace@whoscalling.com.

48. WoodWing USA: The longtime supplier of InDesign plug-ins for both end-users and system integrators has finally come out with its own editorial system — and it’s based on Open Source products. Smart Connection Enterprise offers the publisher a “free choice of databases”: Open Source mySQL (running on Windows, Linux or Mac OS X), Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle — whatever. It also runs under Open Source Apache or Microsoft IIS. The glue holding the system together is the Open Source PHP programming language and the company offers customers a “PHP Software Development Kit.” Features include a true automated workflow, write-to-fit functionality (with InCopy), integrated direct messaging, versioning and scalability. Quite a package. (313) 884-5581; e-mail: usa@woodwing.com.

49. X-Rite Inc.: Color management is one of the most important, overlooked technologies at most newspapers. X-Rite offers a variety of new products to help you overcome this problem, including its PulseTM ColorElite System, a low-cost color measurement system. The Pulse hand-held system allows the operator to easily scan color material; the system is accurate, simple and offers a distinctive design. Also new at this NEXPO is the MonacoOptixxr, a cross-platform flat-panel/cathode ray tube monitor calibration tool, and the DTP70, a one-button device that allows users to profile color targets “faster than ever before.” (616) 534-7664; e-mail: info@xrite.com. — dmc

From THE COLE PAPERS , June 2004, Copyright © 2004, All Rights Reserved.