February 2005

In this Issue:

We're Talking, But the Customers Aren't Listening
The New World of Three Dimensions
10 Reasons Why Advertising, Marketing, and PR Pros Should Blog -- 6 through 10
The New Marketing Conversation
NEDMA Membership News
1. Member Promotions and Appointments
2. Members in Print and On Stage
3. Member Milestones
Butterworth Seminar Returns to Its Roots
Email Marketing Seminar
The Direct Marketing Renaissance
Getting "Ink" in NEDMA News

This issue of NEDMA News is sponsored by Bowne Enterprise Solutions and Passaic Parc.

Bowne Enterprise Solutions offers full personalization and customization of your critical marketing communications from creation through to production and delivery. Whether you have a short run print on-demand or a lengthy commercial print job, full color or black print, Bowne's QuickPath Solution reduces your time to market, offers you high-quality output with remarkable speed and no large upfront fees. Bowne produces communications such as direct mail, targeted and general marketing communications, statements and complex multi-page documents. Our integrated services, in addition to print and email distribution include address services, an array of fulfillment and insertion, binding and finishing features as well as bulk or direct mail shipping. Bowne Enterprise Solutions is a segment of Bowne & Company, the global leader in the creation, production and distribution financial communications. For further information please contact Bill Duncliffe at 617-646-3712

Passaic Parc is a direct marketing shop that unites unconventional creative concepts with sophisticated direct marketing techniques for record-breaking results. To date, we've developed dozens of record-breaking campaigns and won 36 NEDMA awards. To see a retrospective of our work, go to www.passaicparc.com/optimarketing/work.htm. For more info - including details on our complimentary Optimarketing® seminar offer - email Robert Rosenthal at or call him at 978-897-3800 x11.

"It's time to stop shouting and time to start listening," said Steve Lynch, EVP and Executive Creative Director of Digitas, at the January meeting. His subject was "Active Branding: How to Connect with Customers Who've Stopped Listening." We are living in an "ADD Culture," he said, and it's no longer possible to reach people by simply saturating a medium with your message. There are too many ways for people to tune you out.

He pointed out that as of last July, over 50% of American homes with Internet access have broadband. And last year, for the first time, U.S. consumers spent more on accessing media than marketers spent on reaching them. These are just two signs that consumers are taking a more active role in the marketing communication process. Lynch suggests the way to succeed when consumers exercise so much control is "active branding," which he defined as how a company engages its customers across channels and over time to create relevant, motivating experiences.

He offered advice on unlearning "push marketing," (including "ask what you're going to do, not what you're going to say" and "put behavior before attitude") and then presented an active branding showcase. These were marketers who had found effective practices to engage customers. The hit of the evening was American Express, which had decided it needed to rework its image to appeal to a younger, hipper set. It did this by hiring Jerry Seinfeld and Barry Levinson to create a video story. The producers were hired to create a marketing message, but they were given far more creative control than traditional marketers would be comfortable sacrificing. The result was a four-minute story in which Jerry had lunch and ran errands with Superman, who was animated. The marketing message was more of a product placement than a commercial: Jerry used his American Express card to replace a broken DVD player.

But when American Express put the video on its website without publicity, it attracted a substantial audience just from the buzz of a "new Seinfeld episode." It gained such a following and was so successful that American Express eventually took it to television. The company was extremely pleased with the success of the Seinfeld venture, and Lynch said it had gained a new position in its market by "appealing to a generation that can't be reached through traditional advertising."

"Marketers," said Lynch, "now have to be willing to give up control to the consumers."

The New World of Three Dimensions

Some Things Just Can't Be Mailed
The February meeting was devoted to dimensional mailing, but members got a head start on the topic January 20, when the Direct Marketing Forum presented Jerry Kelley, Mailpiece Design Analyst for the Massachusetts District of the United States Postal Service. His presentation, "The Strangest Things Put Through the Mail," featured cans, boxes of cereal, wooden postcards, and other bizarre artifacts, some of which were not actually put through the mail since the Postal Service could not accommodate them. He showed members an array of samples, including the unmailable and the expensively mailable.

But there's a third category, which you might call "expensively mailable under special conditions." This is the Postal Service's Customized Marketing Mail Service, which allows a marketer to send mailing pieces in almost any imaginable shape. In order to qualify for the service, you must mail at least 200 pieces and you must mail them at the same Post Office that will deliver them. Even then, the postage is 57 cents each. Pieces successfully delivered as Customized Marketing Mail have included those in the shape of pizzas, doughnuts, and mailboxes.

While it was very entertaining to see the cloth envelopes that had been turned away and the folded mailers that had been inadvertently opened by the Postal Service's sorting machines, Kelley also offered some important tips. He suggested having the Postal Service review your mailing piece. These days, he said, a Mailpiece Design Analyst can give you technical advice based on a PDF, which you can send by email. For more information, start at the USPS website: http://www.usps.com/directmail/mailpiecereview.htm.

Gary Lubarsky, in the audience, suggested a good rule of thumb: "If you haven't mailed it before, and you have any questions about it, check first with the Postal Service."

Good Results and Great Packages
The February 17 Direct Marketing Forum featured three seasoned professionals who have earned their stripes in dimensional mailing project management. Bruce McMeekin, President of BKM Marketing Associates, Traci Cacioppo, Account Supervisor for Yellowfin Direct Marketing, and Dom Spinosa, Vice President and Creative Director at Epsilon, brought samples and advice to share on the subject "When Good Results Come in Great Packages."

Bruce McMeekin's advice was wide-ranging, and his powerful take-aways included
*don't use dimension just because it's cool
*spend as much time on list as you do on creative
*build two extra days into the production schedule
*make sure you have sales follow-up resources before the mailing
*verify you have enough units of the outgoing premium and that everything fits in the mailing container.

Traci Cacioppo emphasized that dimensional pieces can be simple and still be spectacularly effective. She showed a mailing she developed for Dragon Direct last year (which won a NEDMA Creative Excellence Award) that was only dimensional because it included a bandana keyed to the campaign's "outlaw biker" theme. She said there were three keys to a smooth campaign: over-communicate, have great vendors and make them partners, and expect the unexpected.

Dom Spinosa showed some packages at the high end of the dimensional spectrum, including one that cost $800 per unit. But the list of recipients was only eight names long, and the sales were extremely high value. He stressed the importance of creative that targets the prospect, which he illustrated with a story. Epsilon had given a competitive presentation to try to win Nordstrom's as an account. After the presentation, they wanted to follow up somehow. The competing agency, they later learned, sent the Nordstrom's executives a mailing with a Swiss Army knife and a message stressing that they had many capabilities. But Epsilon won the account when Dom sent a package including a glass slipper with the message, "We're a perfect fit." Both messages were witty, but the Nordstrom's executives felt that Epsilon's glass slipper showed the agency connected with the sensibilities of their customers.

"Out of the Box" with Structural Graphics
The February 20 dinner meeting featured a presentation by Mike Maguire, President of Structural Graphics, Inc., whose very business card is a pop-up that presents the recipient with miniature origami office equipment. When you open the card, the lid of the laptop opens and the message "Break thru" comes up out of the fax machine.

Structural Graphics has been creating dimensional mailings for clients for several decades and Maguire showed some of their recent successes. His samples included boxes, pop-ups, slides & wheels, packages with lights & sound, interactive devices, and lenticulars (which are those plastic pictures that change when you tilt them).

His energetic presentation, "Out of the Box Direct Marketing," involved musical magazine inserts, flashing greeting cards, and two members assembling punch-out cars. A decade ago, he said, dimensional mailings were generally done as a "Hail Mary Pass" -- spectacular gestures with uncertain results. Today, the dimensional is much more common and is usually part of an integrated effort. In fact, one of his most strongly emphasized pieces of advice was not to consider a dimensional unless it is part of an integrated effort.

He said dimensionals were particularly suited to product introductions, B-to-B (because of the high-value relationship), getting past gatekeepers, making more of an occasion out of the delivery of samples or premiums, and getting prospects to attend events. He further suggested using dimensionals when you can combine them with a well-timed sales follow-up, when you can integrate them with electronic or other tactical executions, and when you really understand your metrics and return on investment.

He outlined the steps of a dimensional project, which involve a lot of planning, back-up strategy, monitoring, and testing. He said that testing was vitally important for dimensionals and advised this testing method: "Mail it, drop it, bind it, kick it, ship it." He has even left dimensionals in his freezer overnight so he knows how glue and other things might react to the cold the piece might encounter during shipping. Test prototypes, he said, that are made with the actual final materials so you can see how they behave in real-life.

His presentation was a genuine insight into how dimensional projects actually happen, the risks they embody, and the things you can do to control them.

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(Continued from Last Month)
10 Reasons Why Advertising, Marketing, and PR Pros Should Blog -- 6 through 10
By Bob Cargill
Senior Creative Director, Yellowfin Direct Marketing

6. Blogs are Empowering. Today's consumers and business prospects are desensitized to the sales pitch. They've seen and heard it all. Such rampant skepticism reared its ugly head in a recent Gallup survey, which ranked people in advertising very low for their honesty and ethics. Ouch! At the very least, we may as well accept this much: we have lost more than a modicum of control. However, because a blog is such an open, grassroots medium, unadorned and unplugged, its trust factor is high from the get-go. The format alone is engaging and empowering. With RSS (Really Simple Syndication), the audience decides what they want and when they want it. They have the upper hand. And when blogs give recipients the authority to post their own comments, it's easy for the public -- and fellow bloggers -- to hold advertising, marketing, and PR pros accountable for their claims. Think quid pro quo.

7. Blogs are Enjoyable. There are many sound business reasons to blog, but let's not forget how much of a pleasure they are for both author and audience. Seriously, the fun factor should not be underestimated. Most blogs are quick and easy to absorb, and a refreshing change of pace from typical marketing riffs and age-old corporate-speak. Bloggers aren't just writers, they're also publishers, opinion-leaders, risk-takers, and entrepreneurs. They're people who are inclined to live by the mantra, carpe diem. They're passionate about their craft and evangelical about their content. And in many cases, their readers are just as fanatical.

8. Blogs are Authoritative. We're not talking about those cathartic, diary-like blogs kept by moody, meandering teenagers. We're talking about the most sophisticated among the blogosphere, the ones owned and operated by today's savviest business people. Written by the heaviest hitters in their fields, these blogs go a long way toward formalizing their authors' knowledge, insight, and overall sphere of influence. Ideally, your blog will provide readers with plenty of fresh, premium content they can't find anywhere else. But you had better think twice before posting. If you haven't done your homework, your readers won't hesitate to call you out. On the other hand, if your commentaries are consistently on the mark, your blog may soon become a frequently visited destination and raise your industry profile to unprecedented, new heights.

9. Blogs are Valuable. A blog is tailor-made for storing and managing your intellectual capital. It's a centralized repository for experience and expertise, an incredibly easy way to disseminate key, timely information to an audience of readers who are already interested in what you have to offer. The cost to set up and maintain a blog is practically nil. And the dividends -- for those on either side of the equation -- can be priceless. As Jeremy Wright, author of the business and technology blog, Ensight, says: "Anything which can get the right info to the right people at the right time, empower your company to become a thought leader and let you know what your customers and the industry are thinking about you in real time is something that has massive value."

10. Blogs are Popular. As recently as five years ago, there really weren't that many blogs in existence, but today the blogosphere is growing so rapidly that it's only a matter of time before this revolutionary, new medium reaches the tipping point. If you use press releases, newsletters and bylined articles to promote your products and people, blogs are the next better thing -- now. In 2004, the word, blog, topped Merriam-Webster's list of the ten most looked-up words. And blogs received wide acclaim in The New York Times Magazine's recent Year in Ideas issue. Blogs are here, there and everywhere to stay.

Editor's Note: "Why Advertising, Marketing and PR Pros Should Blog" was first published December, 2004, in Bob Cargill's blog, A Fine Kettle of Fish, which you can read in its entirety -- and subscribe to -- at http://www.afinekettleoffish.blogspot.com. Subscriptions are free. Reasons 1 through 5 appeared last month in NEDMA News.

Book Excerpt
The New Marketing Conversation
By Donna Baier Stein and Alexandra MacAaron

Picture yourself at a dinner party. You are seated between two people you have never met before. Both are attractive, intelligent, and well-spoken. The person to your right introduces himself and starts talking. He doesn't stop to ask if what he is talking about is of interest to you. In fact, he doesn't let you get a word in edgewise. He is engaged in his topic, so he assumes you are. When you do manage to ask a question, he either ignores it or rushes through an answer in order to get back to his monologue. You get the sense that there might be something interesting in what he's saying, but he hasn't given you a chance to find out for sure.

Now, the person to your left introduces herself. She tells you a little about herself, but she also asks you some questions about your family, what you do for a living, and where you're from. She asks if you're interested in something and waits until you affirm that you are before sharing her perspective on it. She stops talking frequently to allow you to contribute. She listens attentively and answers your questions. She actually shifts her train of thought in response to what you've shown interest in.

With which guest would you rather converse? With whom would you rather reconnect at a later date?

The problem with so much marketing is that while it may attempt to engage the customer or prospect, it's really taking the role of the first person we've just described. Even committed integrated marketers, professionals who champion the concept of two-way communication, spend most of their time, effort, and money talking about their own product or service. Too often, marketers don't listen -- and that means that consumers won't listen either.

Historically, the advertising industry operated under a gross misconception -- if we build it, they will come. This is not necessarily true anymore. Advertise and they may come, but they may not. Most mass messages no longer work as stand-alone vehicles. In fact, the consumers of today, and especially tomorrow, will be able to "tune out" your marketing messages. They can do so using technology, like online ad blocking, caller i.d., email filters, and interactive TV. And even without these tools, they certainly will ignore your messages as they multitask through their ever more fragmented and complicated lives.

Gone are the days when the family sat around one television set rapt with attention. Today's family is more likely to be receiving hundreds of concurrent messages via dozens of media and devices.

What about so-called "targeted marketing?" It was certainly an improvement and has been a highly effective strategy for decades, but it didn't encourage the idea of building a relationship. After all, you're not likely to have much of a relationship with someone who's hunting you. What about a long-term commitment? There's none implied at all.

Integrated marketing became the industry's cause celebre about twenty years ago. And again, it represented an improvement. A consistent message delivered over a variety of media vehicles did increase awareness and response. Yet, even these efforts were usually limited to one, multimedia, message, (and that one most often a message about the marketer's product, not the customer's needs). These marketing programs were rarely designed to start, build, and nurture ongoing customer relationships.

It's Time for a New Approach.
Why now? Today's consumer is adept at reviewing, considering, and, too often ignoring, the bombardment of media messages he or she receives each day. In fact, more and more consumers are putting themselves in control of when, how, and where they go for the information they need to make a purchase decision.

Consider a person who is looking for a new car. He is exposed to mass media advertising on television billboards, and print ads in major publications, and may form some brand preferences based on those experiences. He goes online to research the product attributes of a particular vehicle using both the manufacturer's website and independent resources like Consumer Reports. He hears radio spots for the local dealership and checks the Sunday newspaper for current special offers. Once he has purchased his new vehicle, he receives direct mail reminders and opts-in for email service offers.

Buying a new car is a carefully considered purchase for most people. Consumers are driving the same kinds of multimedia interactions across many categories, from high-ticket business-to-business (B2B) purchases, to furniture, running shoes, baby products, books, and CDs.

To make matters more complicated for marketers, each individual consumer has his or her own preferences as to which channel they want to use, and when. Some people focus on just one medium; for example, they may browse, research, and purchase online. Most use some combination that fits their schedule, comfort level, and preferences. As a marketer, it's important that you recognize this and pay close attention to what consumers say they want, and to what they actually do. While consumers will cite channel or media preference, the reality is that most consumers use, respond to, and interact with a rich mix of media.

The integrated marketing approach would suggest that marketers must ensure that these consumers see, hear, and experience a consistent brand message across each of these many media. Consistency is only the beginning however, and, asking for feedback or a response is not sufficient anymore. Today, you need to build an ongoing conversation.

The new marketing conversation is the next step in an evolution from one-way and two-way communication. Here's why.

The Fine Art of Really Conversing with Your Customers
As a marketer, you need to introduce yourself to your prospects and customers, pique their interest, attain their permission to speak, listen -- really listen -- and speak again. The customer will tell you how and how often they want you to contact them. Again, think of rich and satisfying conversations. What are some of the attributes they share?

Next Month: The Qualities of a Good Conversation.

From The New Marketing Conversation, Creating and Strengthening Relationships Between Buyers and Sellers 1st edition by Donna Baier Stein/Alexandra MacAaron. ©2005. Reprinted with permission of South-Western, a division of Thomson Learning: www.thomsonrights.com. Fax 800 730-2215.

NEDMA Membership News

1. Member Promotions and Appointments
Katharine Barr, President, Katharine Barr & Associates, has joined the faculty of the Boston Center for Adult Education in Boston's Back Bay. This semester, she will be teaching "Heartstrings to Pursestrings: The Fine Line In Effective Fundraising Copy." Her "INN*Ovation Business -- Marketing to the Hospitality Industry" has been retained by the historic 4-diamond Captain Lord Mansion in Kennebunkport, ME. She will be promoting the inn as a destination for those interested in fishing, boating, biking, and birding.

W.A. Wilde Company has named William Nethercote, a direct marketing executive with 20 years experience in the industry, as the company's new Chief Operating Officer. Nethercote reports to Thomas A. Wilde, Chief Executive Officer of Wilde, New England's largest direct marketing solutions and fulfillment provider. Nethercote joins Wilde from Protocol Integrated Direct Marketing where he was Senior Vice President and General Manager, responsible for their Braintree, MA and San Diego, CA operations.

Tom Hurley, Partner/President of DMW's Non-profit Division, announced that the agency has added two additional members to its staff. Jodi Scheib had been hired as Vice President of Fundraising for DMW. In this role she is responsible for strategic planning and account management of the agency's key public broadcasting accounts. Scheib comes to DMW by way of Tucson, AZ, where she served as Membership Manager at KUAT Television and Radio and was responsible for all aspects of membership, from direct mail campaign production to database management to member services and cultivation. Hilary Hunt joins DMW as Account Executive. Her responsibilities include project management for a variety of non-profit fund raising campaigns. Before joining DMW, Hunt was Senior Associate of Marketing Operations for Boston, MA-based Digitas, LLC, one of the country's leading digital and direct marketing agencies.

PreVision, the relationship marketing agency, today announced the appointment of Ken Dec to chief marketing officer. He is a 23-year marketing veteran with executive-level experience advising such firms as Mercedes-Benz, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, EMC, Schering Plough, Pfizer, Nationwide and other top names by developing, managing and optimizing brand, marketing, direct marketing, communications and sales strategy. Ken joins PreVision after leading strategy and business development at Boston's VIA. He was also executive vice president of business development at the agency's parent company, Epsilon, a leader in relationship marketing.

David Hazeltine, President and CEO of Yellowfin Direct Marketing, announced that the agency has hired Theodore (Ted) Moxon as Senior Account Executive. In this role, he will be responsible for new business development, working closely with all Yellowfin staff members to help promote the agency's services and solutions to partners and prospects as well as to bring his considerable experience to bear on behalf of existing clients. He has worked for the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania and the United States Election Corporation. In 1992, he co-founded Image Tech Associates, Inc., a full-service direct mail data processing and laser printing company. In 12 years as President, he grew the company from the ground floor up, ultimately reaching $4,000,000 in sales and 20 employees.

2. Members in Print and On Stage
Margie Dana, president of Dana Consulting, was a featured speaker at a February 10th Print Buyers Conference in San Francisco, where she presented "Congratulations -- You're a Print Buyer! (What the Heck Does that Mean?)" and "20 Ways to Keep the Love Alive with Your Printers."

3. Member Milestones
Alex MacAaron reports that Plan B Marketing Communications continues to work with major retailers. The agency has just started a direct mail program with Talbots, building on their new theme "What Kind of Classic Are You?" When they're not thinking about pearls and sweater sets, the Plan B team has kept busy with a new home equity line campaign for a regional bank, print ads for some local restaurants, several direct mail and email assignments from Forrester Research, and the promotional material for NEDMA's 2005 Annual Conference.

Bob Whitworth, writer and president of FrontRunner, has gained two new clients and received another project from a current client. The two new clients are MGM Mailing Lists and a Regional office of Brokers Express, a financial services company. The MGM Mailing Lists projects will include creation of marketing materials and web content. The Brokers Express projects will include brochures and DM letters. A new project for Riverside Technologies involves an international e-mail campaign.

Net Atlantic has announced a new service: Live Support Pro(sm), which allows website owners to chat online with people who are visiting their websites. The chat session is entirely text based, all done by computer keyboard. Such chats, with their instant response times, can provide better sales, service, support. Your operator runs a monitoring applet on his or her computer, and when someone visits the website and clicks on the Live Support Online button, the chat begins. Prices start at $19/month.

"The strength of e-Dialog is that we adapt our services and technologies to our clients instead of them having to adapt to a cookie-cutter solution. This strategy consistently boosts ROI and client satisfaction," said e-Dialog CEO John Rizzi. The occasion for the remark was a 49 percent increase in revenue for 2004. With an emphasis on strategy and flexible offerings, including full-service, self- service or collaborative solutions, e-Dialog has experienced more than two years of profitability.

GHW Associates, Mansfield, MA, announces the addition of two new clients, The Potomac Funds (mutual funds), New York City and Amica Mutual Insurance Company (casualty and life) of Lincoln, RI. For Potomac, GHW is assisting Potomac introduce several new mutual funds including The ContraBond Fund, and the Commodity Bull Fund. For Amica, GHW is providing an array of direct mail campaigns for the life and casualty companies. George Wojtkiewicz, principal of GHW, commented that Potomac and Amica join GHW's growing list of financial services clients. Other GHW clients include RS Means Company, Cathedral Corporation, BTS Asset Management, AXA Advisors and Diversified Resources.

Alan Rosenspan reports that Alan Rosenspan & Associates has signed on four new clients. They include: The Education Center -- which creates activity books and magazines for elementary school teachers. MetroGroup -- major lettershop and printing company that mails over 2 billion pieces a year. Smart Bargains.com -- a fast-growing Boston-based web retailer. Danbury Mint -- one of the leading collectibles companies in the world. Alan Rosenspan, in addition to being a past president of NEDMA, is the author of the 2002 book, Confessions of a Control Freak: How to Get the Results You Want from Your Next Direct Marketing Program.

Sullivan Creative has been selected to work on several marketing and creative projects for clients in Massachusetts and New Hampshire that represent the private sector, public agencies, and non-profit organizations. For the Massachusetts Governor's Highway Safety Bureau (GHSB), Sullivan Creative is creating an animated PowerPoint presentation on the importance of safe driving that will be used by the GHSB and representatives of the Massachusetts State Police in presentations to high school students. Each year, Datawatch Corporation, a Lowell (MA)-based company that helps organizations distribute, share, and analyze information, holds a conference for its users throughout the US. This year, it has engaged Sullivan Creative to design a new logo and direct mail brochure. For one of New England's largest certified public accounting and business advisory organizations, the CCR Advisory Group, which includes Carlin, Charron & Rosen, LLP, Sullivan Creative designed a direct mail brochure promoting the executive education seminars offered by CCR's Institute for Management Solutions (IMS), a joint educational venture with Babson College. Sullivan Creative is working with the Jett Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research, on a number of projects to help broaden awareness of the organization. For the Boston University Division of Extended Education, Sullivan Creative has developed a new brand design and concept for a series of integrated marketing pieces to promote the university's Summer Term program. The pieces include a course catalog, poster, direct mail piece, and advertisement. The Mount Kearsarge Indian Museum and Cultural Center in Warner, NH, is a non-profit organization that promotes the awareness of American Indian art, as well as environmental protection. Sullivan Creative is currently writing and designing a new brochure to promote the Museum's purpose and its educational offerings, and was recently selected to develop a year-long strategic marketing campaign to help build awareness of the museum and increase attendance.

Sullivan Creative has also recently moved its Massachusetts operations to a new location at One Bridge Street in Newton.

ListPerfect Direct Marketing Services (Lincoln, RI) has installed a 600 dpi Continuous Form Laser Imagery System to their print arsenal. Chuck Mattera, VP of Sales/Marketing said, "This is one of the only 600 dpi continuous form machines in the area, which gives our customers excellent specialty media printing capabilities for large or small runs!"

Butterworth Seminar Returns to Its Roots
The Paul Butterworth Direct Response Copy Seminar returns to its classical form -- priceless tips you can put to use on your copy from New England's best pros -- and FREE (but you must pre-register)! It'sWednesday evening, March 23, 2005, 7:15-9:15PM, at the John Hancock Hotel & Conference Center, 40 Trinity Place, Boston. Speakers are some of the best of the best: Steve Tharler, Tharler/Opper; Nancy Harhut, Hill, Holiday Relationship Marketing; and Tracy Emerick, Taurus Direct Marketing. All three are former Direct Marketers of the Year, so it will be a fabulous evening! Please register by emailing now -- space is limited! The Butterworth Seminar is sponsored by ProofreadNOW. www.proofreadnow.com

Email Marketing Today
NEDMA's Email Marketing Today seminar will be held Monday, March 7 at the Microsoft Seminar Facility, Waltham, MA 9:00am to 1:00pm.

Join NEDMA for an intensive seminar on exactly what's working in email marketing today - and tomorrow. You'll get expert advice, tips, and tools that can help you improve your email marketing results ... and achieve your marketing goals right now.

This seminar will cover: Today's Top Email Marketing Trends, Chris Baggott, CMO and co-founder ExactTarget, Inc.; Using Email to Overcome the Consumer Ad Backlash, Shar VanBoskirk, Consulting Analyst, Forrester Research, Inc.; How Marketers Use Permission-Based Email to Drive Retail Sales and Keep Customers Connected to the Brand Longer, Joel Book, Director of Agency Partner Development, ExactTarget, Inc.; Case Study: KaBloom, John Sheldon, Partner, Customer Portfolios.

The charge is $79 for NEDMA members (add $20 after 5pm on March 2) or $99 for nonmembers (add $20 after 5pm March 2). To register, go to http://nedma.com/events3.html or call 781.237.1366

Your registration includes morning coffee and pastries, the workshop and handouts. Advance registration and payment is required for this workshop.

Save the Date: NEDMA's Annual Conference: June 15-16, 2005
The Direct Marketing Renaissance

Something very interesting is happening in direct marketing. Despite all the obstacles -- do-not-call, CAN-SPAM, postal rate hikes, increasing competition for the marketing dollar and for the attention of those being marketed to -- we're seeing a surge of interest in direct, including a revival of direct mail.

Contrary to all the predictions of our industry's demise, we're actually witnessing a renaissance -- a rebirth of the art and science of direct marketing. Who's leading this renaissance? What are they doing to make it happen? What can you do -- now and in the future -- to profit from it?

At the NEDMA 2005 Annual Conference, you'll get answers to these questions, and more.

Join NEDMA on June 16 and you'll gain insights from some of the most influential thought leaders in marketing today. Here's a sampling of what's in store for you:

Morning Keynote Address:
J. Walker Smith, President of Yankelovich Partners, will speak on
"Coming to Concurrence: Addressable Attitudes and the New Model for Marketing Productivity."

Afternoon Keynote Address:
Jon Roska, Founding Partner, Chief Creative Officer, Roska Direct, will educate and entertain with "Ducks in The Henhouse, Part II: Integrating Direct and Brand Advertising."

Plus, you'll choose from a dozen sessions in four tracks: Creative, Integrated Marketing, Business Issues, and New Customers/New Markets. Visit three sold-out Exhibit Halls throughout the day, participate in technique-focused roundtable discussions at lunch; network with your peers, and make the valuable business connections you're looking for.

And...

Join us for one of NEDMA's hands-on Pre-Conference Seminar on June 15th. You can choose from three information-rich sessions... "DM 101" with Pat Friesen is the perfect choice for anyone new to our business - or anyone already involved but looking for an expert refresher. Our Interactive Intensive includes two workshops: "Performance Media Buying" and the highly acclaimed "Search Engine Marketing" led by interactive expert Harry Gold. Or choose "Media Decisions That Drive Success" with Nancie Freitas from the Freitas Group, one of NEDMA's highest ranked speakers.

No matter which seminar you choose, you'll want to join us Wednesday night for NEDMA's red-carpet event ... the New England Direct Marketer of the Year Award Ceremony and Banquet.

So, why not plan to attend both Conference days and get the very most out of The Direct Marketing Renaissance?

The Renaissance is coming! Save the Dates: June 15-16

Getting "Ink" in NEDMA News
If you've gotten a promotion, signed a new client, written a book, had a baby, introduced a new product, or otherwise distinguished yourself, tell your colleagues! "NEDMA Membership News" is a free service for and on behalf of NEDMA members so we can all keep up with each others' professional (and sometimes extracurricular) lives. Members can also use this space to advertise items of particular interest to NEDMA members, such as office space or used equipment.

We must reserve the right to edit any submissions. And the free advertising feature is not intended to promote your business (you can buy an ad for that). It's limited to the kind of things you might ordinarily find in a classified section. Send your information via email to . Be sure to provide as much information as you can, including the URL for your company's website. If you want to send your information as an attachment, please use Microsoft Word or any text editor and save the editor the trouble of retyping PDFs, since he doesn't have any software for extracting text from such files.

Submit your information by the 15th of the month for publication sometime in the first week of the following month. We are striving for more precision in the publication schedule.

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