What is "Digital Ad Lab"?

Mission
The Digital Ad Lab's continuing mission - from its founding in 1996 until to today - acts to be a real-world proving ground for emerging digital workflows, procedures, and technologies through local dialogue among all partners in the digital advertising workflow. Digital Ad Lab combines a hands-on approach with just-do-it attitude by setting and achieving short-term objectives and delivering quality benchmarks and best practices.

Focus
As a group of graphic arts professionals, we look at digital advertising as a set of workflow steps - encompassing everything from creating the original ad and contracting the space to telecommunicating the standard file format for the ad and printing the page. Our members are everyday business workflow partners and represent both major players in the digital ad arena and smaller companies who will ultimately bring digital advertising into the mainstream. Digital Ad Lab focuses on: " Advancing the graphic arts industry's transition to digital advertising workflows; " Testing all phases of the digital ad concept within real-world benchmarks; and " Providing education in digital proofing, standardizing digital workflows, and benchmarking of file formats. The ultimate goal of the Digital Ad Lab is to allow the advertising, publishing, and printing community to reap the full benefit of digital technology.

History
WAM!NET Inc. was instrumental in launching Digital Ad Lab at Seybold San Francisco in 1996. The founding members were WAM!NET Inc., Time Inc., World Color, RR Donnelly, and NEC, Inc. The initial group organized into four case studies, each with its own specific digital ad problem to solve. Over the years, the group has pursued additional projects in digital proofing, standardizing digital ad workflows, and benchmarking the PDF-X format. In addition, several focus groups have explored relevant issues such as electronic job ticketing. Look to the Digital Ad Lab Resource Center for case studies and research that Digital Ad Lab has produced in the past.

Organization
The Digital Ad Lab is a digital advertising users group representing ad agencies, publishers, suppliers, printers, and manufacturers committed to promoting and facilitating the adoption of a 100% digital ad workflow. The Digital Ad Lab group is an activity within IDEAlliance, a non-profit membership association. The key organizing principle of Digital Ad Lab is to keep the structure informal and the culture at a grassroots level. Local Digital Ad Lab Networks meet monthly at luncheons to gather and exchange ideas. Today, a grassroots network is has been organized in New York City and new networks are now being organized in Chicago and at a West Coast location to be determined. If you are interested in assisting to help organize a grassroots network in your area, please contact David Steinhardt at dsteinhardt@idealliance.org.