DMA Names 2008 ECHO Award 'Ambassadors'; Program Now Includes US Ambassadors

March 25, 2008 — In an effort to draw upon direct marketing talent from around the world and raise awareness and participation in the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) annual International ECHO Awards (www.dma-echo.org), DMA in 2007 launched an International ECHO Ambassadors Program. Today, DMA announced that the program has been expanded to include American ECHO Ambassadors.

“Last year, the ECHO Awards’ International Ambassadors did an excellent job of helping DMA increase the awards’ global profile,” said Barbara Parker, DMA director of award programs. “In fact, in 2007, we had more direct marketing campaigns submitted than we have in the ECHO Awards 79-year history. So, it made perfectly good sense, of course, to expand the ECHO Ambassadors program to include ECHO Ambassadors right here at home.”

Last October during DMA07 Conference & Exhibition in Chicago, DMA presented 130 International ECHO Awards. Reflecting the true international presence of multichannel direct marketing, 26 countries were in that winning circle: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Last month, DMA kicked off its 2008 International ECHO Awards competition. Submissions for the 79th annual ECHO honors — which recognize the world’s outstanding direct marketing campaigns based on excellence in strategy, creativity, and results — will be accepted until Thursday, April 24.

Hosted by Emmy Award-winning “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, the 2008 International ECHO Awards Ceremony & Gala will take place on Tuesday evening, Oct. 14 at The Bellagio, during the DMA08 Conference & Exhibition in Las Vegas (Oct. 11-16). DMA’s 2008 ECHO call-for-entries campaign was created by MRM Gillespie, Princeton, NJ, while the ECHO website was developed and managed by BKV, Atlanta.

Serving as the primary ECHO contact in his or her country or region, each Ambassador has been chosen for their professional experience, seniority, and stature in their local direct marketing communities. Ambassadors will nominate prospective ECHO judges for judging sessions held in Europe, Australia, and the US, and will serve as valuable sources of input for the ECHO committee. In addition, they help develop programs to build ECHO participation in cooperation with their local direct marketing associations.

2008 DMA ECHO Ambassadors — International

The 2008 chairman of the ECHO Ambassador Subcommittee is Ezequiel Trivino, founder & principal of Wiretap in San Francisco. The 26 International Ambassadors are:

· Argentina: Mary Teahan, CEO, CP Comunicación Proximity

· Belgium: Georges Van Nevel, Managing Partner, DVN

· Brazil: Marcus Tavares, Client Services Director, MRM Worldwide

· Canada: Michael McGovern, Executive Vice President–Creative Director, Proximity Canada

· Chile: Luis Felipe Rios Yrarrazaval, Director General, CP Comunicación Chile

· Colombia: Luis Germán Quintero Mesa, General Manager, Datatiempo

· Czech Republic: Ales Hybner, Lion Services

· Denmark: Finn Overgaard, Founder & CEO, GEKKO

· Finland: Leena Vento-Selen, Family Relations

· Germany: Detlef Rump, Chief Creative Officer, Proximity Germany

· Greece: Nasos Papachristofouros, Product Manager–Garnier, L’Oreal-Hellas

· Hungary: Attila Vamos-Hegyi, Head of Partner Wholesale, Magyar Telekom Plc.

· India: Rajat Sethi, Reader’s Digest India

· Ireland: Gary Brown, Chief Executive, RMG Target

· Japan: Akira Oka, President & CEO, Direct Marketing Japan

· Mexico: Nestor Marques, Owner, Upgrade Marketing

· New Zealand: Patrick Laughran, Chief Executive Officer, Gestro Home International

· Norway: Jens Harisson, Account Director, Rapp Collins Oslo

· Peru: Alejandro Tripoli, General Manager, 121 Relationship Marketing, SA

· Portugal: Jorge Castanheira, Client Services Director, Wunderman

· Russia: Elena Doubenets, Russia Direct Ltd.

· Slovenia: Bostjan Zrimsek, Manager, Dima Center d.o.o.

· Spain: Alfonso Marian, Executive Creative Director, Shackleton Direct

· Sweden: Christina Knight, Creative Director, OgilvyOne worldwide

· United Kingdom: Frazer Howard, Creative Director, EHS Brann Cirencester

· Venezuela: Orlando Lokpez, President, Power Marketing

2008 DMA ECHO Ambassadors — United States

The chairman of the USA ECHO Ambassador Subcommittee is Scott May, president of Marketing Dialog in Atlanta. The 13 USA Ambassadors are:

· Atlanta: Jana Ferguson, Vice President and Group Account Director, BKV

· Boston/New England DMA: Alexandra MacAaron, Creative Director, Plan B Marketing Communications

· California (Northern): Carolyn Goodman, Managing Partner, Goodman Marketing Partners

· California (Southern): Ronald Perrella, President, Ron Perrella Drs.

· Chicago: Suzy Ridenour, President, Ridenour & Associates

· Detroit: Jennifer Monaghan, Senior Vice President, Management Supervisor, Campbell-Ewald

· Kansas City: Susan Reiter, Vice President, Weyforth Haas Marketing

· Minneapolis (Midwest DMA): Steve Penn, CEO/Executive Creative Director, Penn Garritano Direct Response Marketing

· New York City (Direct Marketing Club of NY): Rich Feldman, Managing Partner, Source Marketing

· Philadelphia: Birgitta Sama, Director, Creative Services, HCI Direct, Inc.

· Seattle: Brian Hunt, President, Hunt Marketing Group

· St. Louis: Maurice Parisien, President, Parisien & Associates

· Washington, DC: Karen Rice-Gardiner, Director of Creative Services, National Geographic Society

Additional Information

For additional information on the International ECHO Awards, including submission information, click here.

The DMA08 Annual Conference & Exhibition is the world’s largest gathering of multichannel direct marketing professionals. DMA08 will feature keynote presentations, educational sessions, roundtables, case studies, white papers, and research reports. DMA08’s exhibit hall will feature hundreds of exhibiting companies. For additional information, or to register for the six-day multichannel marketing event of the year, please visit www.dma08.org or call 1.866.486.0734.

For information about DMA08 exhibition and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Donna LoPorto at 212.790.1468 or dloporto@the-dma.org.

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