'Tonight Show's' Jay Leno Headlines International ECHO Awards at DMA08 in Las Vegas

May 2, 2008 — Emmy Award-winning “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno, who is known for ironic comedy, will soon be “Jaywalking” with multichannel direct marketers as he headlines the 2008 International ECHO Awards Ceremony & Gala (www.dma-echo.org). This event that honors the best in direct marketing will take place on Tuesday evening, October 14 at the Bellagio Las Vegas, during the DMA08 Conference & Exhibition at the Las Vegas Convention Center (October 11-16).

Leno employs many “bits” on his NBC talk show, including “Jaywalking,” in which he asks people on the street about current events and often gets hysterically wrong answers. But Leno’s hilarity is the right answer in celebrating and honoring direct marketing’s best and brightest on the night of their highest achievements, said Barbara Parker, DMA’s director of award programs.

“What more magical night could there be than having an international icon laud international direct marketers’ greatest work on their special night,” Parker observed. “We couldn’t be happier to have Jay headline our awards gala, which features the only international accolade that symbolizes excellence in direct marketing creativity, marketing strategy, and response results.”

Just as it has taken Leno’s immense creativity and originality to keep viewers tuning in at 11:35 p.m. (ET) weeknights since he began hosting the “Tonight Show” in 1992, the International ECHO Awards have been evolving since 1930, and now recognize every type of media used in multichannel direct marketing campaigns.

Last year, those who partook of the reception, dinner, and night of dancing saw the introduction of awards for five new advertising media: email and instant messaging, mobile, search engine marketing, Web advertising, and Web development. This year’s ECHO Award winners will be chosen from the best entries submitted to DMA by Monday, May 5.

Despite joking that “Anyone can have a life — careers are hard to come by,” Leno is nearly as well known outside of his “Tonight Show” role as in it. He is touted as one of the nicest people in show business who loves to perform for live audiences and travels across the country and internationally, performing for military troops. During his “spare time,” the published author is known to tinker with classic cars.

Prior to becoming host of the “Tonight Show,” Leno had been the exclusive guest host on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” since September 1987. He first appeared as a guest on the show March 2, 1977, and he made numerous additional appearances on “Tonight” as well as NBC's former program “Late Night with David Letterman.”

To learn more about the awards or to take advantage of the extended entry deadline of Monday, May 5, please visit www.dma-echo.org.

About DMA08 Conference & Exhibition

The DMA08 Annual Conference & Exhibition, the Global Event for Integrated Marketing, is the world’s largest gathering of multichannel marketing professionals. DMA08, which will be held October 11-16 in Las Vegas, 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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