DALLAS, March 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- In a move that reflects its expanding business profile, Wieck Photo DataBase, Inc. has changed its name to Wieck Media Services, effective immediately.
Wieck, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this spring, pioneered the distribution of public relations photographs. In recent years, the company has branched out into managing Web sites, online pressrooms and digitized press kits, streaming video and audio, and satellite photo delivery.
"This name change has been a long time coming," said Jim Wieck, the company's president and one of its founders. "We thought the anniversary of our 10th year in business would be the ideal time to mark how far we've come. We think our new name better reflects our expanded services."
Wieck began operations in the spring of 1991 with a contract to distribute The New York Times News Service photos using analog technology.
"We started sending photos using a network of five PCs with one meg of RAM in each," said Tim Roberts, the company's general manager. "What began as a pure photo database service for the media has grown into a real powerhouse in just about every area of high-speed media delivery services."
In 1994 Wieck added corporate images to its database and began experimenting with Web technology. It set up its own media distribution site on the Web and began working with automakers and others to link images from its database to their media Web sites.
"By the late '90s, our clients were asking us to manage and maintain their media Web sites," said Roberts, who joined the company as its first photo editor. "From there it was a short hop to designing and building their multimedia sites.
"Now we manage and maintain nearly two dozen media sites that distribute from our database all types of media materials, including text, graphics, photos, video, pdf files such as fully paginated newspaper features -- even The New York Times crossword puzzles," Roberts said.
The company's clients include a "Who's Who" of media and Fortune 500 companies, including Agence France-Presse, American Honda Motor Corp., Anheuser-Busch Cos., AT&T, General Motors, Hearst News Service, LAT Photographic, Lyrick Studios, The New York Times Newspaper Group, The New York Times Syndicate and News Services, Newsmakers, Toyota Motor Corporate Services and Visteon.
Wieck Photo DataBase was founded as a partnership in late 1990 by two United Press International veterans: Wieck and Travis Hughs, who is chairman of the company. They soon enlisted Marge Boatright, also a former executive with the wire service, and Roberts, a former freelance photographer for the company, to help develop the new service.
For more information, please visit the company's Web site at www.wieck.com. To see a company logo, click onto www.wieck.com/public/wik2001030167578. To see a photograph of the Wieck operation, go to www.wieck.com/public/wik2001030161779.