MONUMENT, COLO.—MediAnswers' crash course in IMF is heading back out onto the road in 2017 after what has been described as a successful first run in 2016. MediAnswers, along with partners Mesclado, Tedial, Diversified, and specific sponsors at the program’s stops, is providing a one-day seminar designed to get participants up to speed on what IMF is and how it can help users to thrive in the new realm of file-based workflows.

“IMF: Unleashing the Benefits of File-Based Content” is an interactive experience that looks to provide an overall standing of the IMF standard; a focus on specific aspects of IMF; and a focus on the business and technical fundamentals required to use the IMF standard. MediAnswers says that course participants will gain an understanding of the basics of interoperability and versioning problems using IMF.

The one-day seminar will make three stops across the U.S. during from Feb. 14-17. Its first stop will be in Washington D.C. on Feb. 14 and will be hosted by PBS. It will then travel to New York on Feb. 15 for a session hosted by ANA. The tour will then wrap up with a program in Los Angeles hosted by Fox on Feb. 17.

Registration for a full-day seminar is $299 per person, or $285 for SMPTE or ACIE members. Deadline for registration is a week before each seminar.

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.—In what the two companies are calling an address the transition to IP, the cloud and the overall media landscape for the broadcast and media industries, MediAnswers has announced that consulting firm Affinis Advisory Group will join its ranks. Glen Sakata, who was the managing director for Affinis Advisory Group, will now serve as vice president for MediAnswers.

Glen Sakata

MediAnswers was founded in 2013 by Chris Lennon as a company that focuses on media management and workflow optimization. According to the release, a key area of MediAnswers’ work includes driving standardization with organizations like CIMM and NABA.

Prior to forming Affinis Advisory Group, Sakata help positions at Vinten, Louth Automation and Harmonic. It was at Louth Automation that he first began working with Lennon when he worked for Enterprise Systems Group.

“Combining the diverse skills and expertise of both companies to better address the needs and challenges of our growing client base across front-end acquisition, business process management, content delivery and more instantly became apparent,” said Sakata. “It’s an ideal meshing of talent to help a diverse range of players from the manufacturer to the media network.”

MONTPELLIER, FRANCE—MediAnswers and Mesclado have announced the first dates in a series of planned seminars on Interoperable Master Format across North America. The one-day seminars will first kick-off in Toronto before heading to New York.

IMF aims to create a single, standardized, master file for distribution of content. The seminar from MediaAnswers and Mesclado will look to bring attendees up to date on IMF and how it can help users and organizations.

The seminar will be held in Toronto on March 10. It will then travel to New York on March 15.

To find out more information, or to register, click here.