Jenkintown, PA (March 19, 2005) – Managing Editor Inc. (MEI), a Philadelphia-based provider of software solutions for the publishing industry, today announced an agreement with Wave2™ Media Solutions Limited (UK) to market and support Wave2 products in the U.S. and Canada. Wave2 produces workflow and content management software, including the Wave2 Publishing Platform. The agreement provides MEI exclusivity within all vertical segments of the publishing industry for the U.S. and Canadian territories.
Third-tier support for MEI will be provided by Wave2’s offices in the UK and in Toronto. The deal was signed just prior to the opening of NEXPO 2005, being held March 19 – 22 in Dallas, where Wave2 Founder Chris Hodges and MEI representatives will be on hand at Booth 3131 to show Wave2 products.
Hodges, also managing director of Wave2, said MEI was a “perfect fit" for Wave2. “We needed a respected, capable and innovative company to introduce the Wave2 products to the North American markets. Having been familiar with MEI for a number of years, I consider that they are the perfect partner for us,” Hodges said. “We have been in discussions with them since we first previewed the Wave2 products at NEXPO last year, and as a result of those early discussions, we jointly undertook a thorough market assessment before embarking upon this partnership. I am looking forward to a very close and successful relationship with MEI.”
Phil Rugile, business development strategist for MEI, agreed. “After careful consideration and evaluation of what publishers are thinking about—in terms of growing revenues on the one hand, and the desire to find methods to better engage their readership by intelligent packaging of content on the other—MEI felt the Wave2 offerings were absolutely unique in the marketplace,” Rugile said. “Both the content personalization and rules engines are going to open up some very exciting possibilities. The use of Adobe® InDesign® as the composition back-end dovetails beautifully with many of our existing products. We look forward to tremendous success in the U.S. and Canadian publishing arenas.”
About Wave2 Products
The foundation of all Wave2 software products is the Wave2 Publishing Platform. This is a powerful rules engine that allows for the automated creation and building of documents. The resultant documents can be produced for either electronic or print delivery. The company has, to date, developed three products based on the Wave2 Publishing Platform:
Apollo provides for an exceptionally powerful automated creative system, which is particularly suited for the automatic production of display advertisements, signage and marketing materials. This software is appropriate for numerous applications such as the local creation of professional collateral or as an in-house automation tool.
Zeus is a unique personalized publishing solution for the creation of custom inserts, newspapers, journals, etc. The system is capable of producing both electronic and print output.
Artemis is a dedicated automated layout system for the creation of editorial pages and complex listings pages. The system is capable of producing both electronic and print output.
Hodges called the software concept behind all three software packages “the second wave of content management.” Similar solutions are available for Web-based environments, but the unique feature of Wave2 products is that they will be able to intelligently paginate raw text into a pre-defined print format. The business rules which help to define all of this activity can also mix advertising and editorial content in an intelligent way. Utilizing a variety of user-defined templates per job style, and a powerful rules engine, the products are capable of working out which is the most suitable layout for the content in question.
Hodges said he sees a wide variety of potential applications for the new products. “With the highly competitive nature of the newspaper and magazine market, publishers need to be able to see the very unique marketing opportunities offered by Zeus, Apollo and Artemis.” Regional or point-of-purchase variations of a section within a publication could be quite possible with this software, in addition to the opportunity for special publications by subscription. “We also see potential applications within the automotive sector, the travel industry, the corporate world, as well as the retail sector. The potential is certainly huge,” said Hodges.
“The original idea behind my previous business, MidSystem Technology, was to provide software to structure pre-press activity, to enable users to manage digital content, and to generally work in a more productive and effective way,” Hodges said. “Wave2’s products aim to take this concept to the next level by automating the complete selection, assembly and presentation of content for published documents.”
Stop by Booth 3131 at NEXPO 2005 for a demonstration. For more information about Wave2 and its products contact Phil Rugile at prugile@maned.com. Visit MEI on the Web at http://www.maned.com, or Wave2 at http://www.wav2.com.
Managing Editor Inc. (MEI) is an industry leader in the development of quality, proven software solutions for the evolving publishing industry. The Page Director® Series of Advertising and Classified Layout Systems, K4 Publishing System, TruEdit® Collaborative Workflow System, Integrated Production Suite (IPS) with QuickSilver™, AdWorks Ad Management System, PublishNow, and the Roundhouse® Ad Tracking System deliver automated pagination and workflow solutions to newspaper and magazine publishers, as well as to other print and electronic publishing markets. Founded in 1990, the company was named a laureate of both the 1999 and 2000 Computerworld Smithsonian Collections. Managing Editor is a portfolio company of Adobe Ventures LP, the investment arm of Adobe Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: ADBE), as well as the exclusive distributor of the K4 Publishing System in the Americas. Additional information regarding MEI’s products and services can be found on the company’s Web site at http://www.maned.com.
Wave2 Media Solutions Ltd. are specialists in the field of content management. Based in Buckinghamshire, UK, and founded by Managing Director Chris Hodges, Wave2 has a unique understanding of digital asset management and content management across all media channels. The Wave2 team has many years of experience developing and implementing content management and content workflow solutions. This includes the supply and implementation of solutions for many leading publishers, retailers and corporate organizations around the world. Visit Wave2 online at http://www.wav2.com.
