BoatU.S. Foundation Selects Widen Collective to Share and Store Digital Assets

MADISON, WI--(Marketwired - November 15, 2016) - The BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water has selected the Widen Collective for its digital asset management (DAM) needs. The non-profit organization will use Widen's cloud-based DAM solution to not only solve internal problems with storage and efficiency, but also improve boating safety and clean water through better asset sharing with partners around the United States.

Amanda Pérez, the Foundation's Director of Education, says her organization struggled for years trying to manage a growing number of still images and videos along with shrinking server space.

"Our videos were stored on various computers around the office and on an external hard drive hooked up to a shared server," she explains. "It was slow and getting worse and worse. We finally decided we needed something better."

To find the right solution for the organization, Pérez gathered a team of colleagues to determine their core needs from a DAM system. She says Widen quickly became a top contender, in part because of their company's easy-to-navigate website. "That's really important during the discovery stage," she says.

Knowing Widen's hosted DAM is safe and secure gave the IT team at BoatU.S. confidence in the product. As a non-profit, affordability was also important in the decision-making process. Pérez says Widen's quick response time and knowledge of the product made it clear this was the right fit.

"I want to work with the experts, the people who built and know their software," she says. She also knew what she did not want. "I can't stand working with a vendor who has to get in touch with the people who developed it, and it takes a day or two before I hear back."

Employees across the organization, from public relations and social media, to administrators and managers, will adopt the system, as well as external partners in need of graphics and the perfect images to help elevate the image of boating safety through carefully selected photographs. The Widen system will host BoatU.S.'s still images and large video files, along with graphic files and PDFs.

"We have all of these resources we want to make available to our partners," she says of how the Widen solution will impact the broader cause of boating safety and water quality. "We have great photos, and we want anyone -- from the Coast Guard to a local yacht club -- to visually reinforce our message."

"BoatU.S. needed an affordable DAM solution to connect their separate business units around the marketing and educational collateral that fuels the organization's good work," said Dustin Pence, Customer Experience Manager at Widen. "Upon making the switch to Widen, BoatU.S. employees and external partners can find content faster, share content easier, and ensure their message isn't hindered by inadequate technology."

About BoatU.S. Foundation

The BoatU.S. Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water is a national leader promoting safe, clean and responsible boating. Funded primarily by donations from the over half-million members of Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatU.S.), the non-profit provides innovative educational outreach directly to boaters and anglers with the aim of reducing accidents and fatalities, increasing stewardship of America's waterway's and keeping boating safe for all. A range of boating safety courses, including 34 free state courses, can be found at BoatUS.org/courses.

About Widen Enterprises, Inc.

Widen is a marketing technology company that powers the content that builds your brand. Leveraging cloud-based resources, Widen delivers configurable, scalable, and cost-effective digital asset management solutions to help you easily store, search, and share your digital content. Organizations of all sizes use Widen's SaaS DAM solution, the Widen Collective, to streamline their marketing and creative workflows and make their content work harder. Widen is trusted by hundreds of thousands of users around the world at organizations like LG, Roche, Trek, Cornell University, New Orleans Tourism Marketing, The Atlanta Falcons, Red Gold Tomatoes, Electrolux, and Yankee Candle. To learn more about Widen, go to http://www.widen.com.