Iconica Celebrates Successful Launch with New York Bash!

Thanks to a hugely successful launch in June, 2003, stock photography resource Iconica (www.Iconica.com) recently celebrated its six months of newfound success with a gala event for clients and photographers on October 29, 2003, at Manhattan's trendy Verlaine. The evening served as the perfect chance for Iconica to celebrate its earliest clients, as well as its newest -- and to also introduce itself to other interested prospects, artists, photographers, and members of the creative press.

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 16, 2004 -- Thanks to a hugely successful launch in June, 2003, Iconica (www.Iconica.com) recently celebrated its six months of newfound success with a gala event for clients and photographers on October 29, 2003. The party was held at trendy Verlaine (110 Rivington Street), a Manhattan bar known for its quirky and classy atmosphere. The evening served as the perfect chance for Iconica to celebrate its earliest clients, as well as its newest -- and to also introduce itself to other interested prospects, artists, photographers, and members of the creative press.

In honor of the occasion, Verlaine was transformed into a striking photographic haven, with walls and ceilings decked out in some of Iconica's coolest imagery (the perfect complement to the sounds of DJ 'MSG' on the turntables). Those who attended the event included clients, photographers, staff and friends of Iconica as well as sister company Photonica -- all of whom packed Verlaine until late into the night.

Attending clients from the advertising, book publishing, design, and corporate financial worlds included Lowe Worldwide, Citigroup/Smith Barney, Scholastic, St. Martin's Press and more -- as well as a rich array designers, photo editors, and art buyers who soaked up the evening's highly enjoyable atmosphere and ambiance. The event provided Iconica's staff with a valuable opportunity to discuss both Iconica and Photonica (the similarities, as well as what features set the companies apart) with clients and prospects, and also to build new relationships with creatives, artists, photographers, and art buyers.

"With this particular event, we really wanted to take the opportunity to meet our clients face to face, and to introduce our new baby in the chilled environs of Manhattan's Lower East Side," comments Iconica CEO David Neilson. "I'm thrilled that the evening was such an overwhelming success." The event was attended by dozens of photographers as well, many of whom flew in to New York specifically for the occasion. These included such Iconica luminaries as Paul Vozdic, Eric Meola, Sean Justice, Steve Puetzer and Andrew McCaul, among many others.

ABOUT ICONICA.COM
As the newest service from the creators of Photonica (the world's leading prestige image collection), Iconica.com has met with overwhelming acclaim from users, graphics and design professionals, and other industry notables.

With a slogan that proclaims "stock that's easy to choose and easy to use," Iconica provides an electrifying new direction in stock from some of the world's leading authorities in visual solutions. The company was launched in June 2003 with the goal of providing a bridge between the worlds of royalty-free and rights-protected images, and now offers even more affordable and instantly browseable illustrative images -- on even more universal topics and subjects. And with a library of thousands of images from some of the world's best photographers, Iconica delivers visual impact as well as accessibility, affordability, and ease of use.

RIGHTS-PROTECTED VS. ROYALTY-FREE (AND THE HAPPY MEDIUM)
In the world of stock visual content, there are typically two kinds of providers: traditional Rights-Protected (exclusive) images, and Royalty-Free, non-exclusive images. Rights-Protected agencies typically serve the business-to-business market, with high-quality images -- but higher prices and an often convoluted and complex purchase process. Royalty-Free, on the other hand, is geared towards both business-to-creative as well as business-to-business communities -- with lower prices, but with images that are often lower in quality as well.

The answer or "happy medium," meanwhile (long-awaited by creative business users) is a hybrid model that falls between RF and RP, and which offers the appeal of rights-protected, with the simplicity and affordability of royalty-free -- and the high-quality images today's businesses and creatives deserve. The meeting of these two worlds is where Iconica has forged its own brand-new place on the web.

ICONICA "FACTS AT A GLANCE"
• The site offers beautiful, in-demand image styles and subjects, from the world's most respected photographers
• Its collections include thousands of high-quality scanned and easily searchable images, organized by photographer or subject
• Iconica offers an instantly viewable, trackable rights history for every single image, a terrific tool that answers the question, "Where was that image used before?"
• Rights purchase via credit card is fully automated and is accomplished in just a few clicks, with charges on account available for regular repeat users, billable directly to them
• Secure, high-resolution image delivery takes place within moments, online
• Exclusivity on any image available in most cases for an additional fee (the image will then be withdrawn from sale on negotiation of worldwide buy-out)

For more information on Iconica, please contact Executive Vice President Kinya Horikoshi, at (212) 634-5666 or Kinya.Horikoshi@Photonica.com. For PR materials, images, or company background, contact publicist Angela Mitchell at (954) 983-5877 or Paramitch@aol.com.

For your convenience, an assortment of logos and images associated with the Iconica launch event are available -- please e-mail Paramitch@aol.com.