Keynote Speakers Announced for National Conference on Operations & Fulfillment (NCOF)

Conference to Take Place March 23-26 in Las Vegas

New York, NY, February 4, 2009 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Multichannel Merchant announce three creative visionaries: Nolan W. Burris, president & chief vision-eer, Visionistics Enterprises, Inc., Robert Stephens, founder and chief executive officer, Geek Squad, and Kathleen Peterson, chief vision officer, PowerHouse Consulting, Inc. keynote speakers for the 2009 National Conference on Operation & Fulfillment (NCOF).

NCOF, co-produced by DMA and Multichannel Merchant, is sponsored by the United States Postal Service and runs March 23-26 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. NCOF 2009 is the only conference focused on meeting the operations and fulfillment challenges that face today’s catalog, online, and multichannel retailers. The event will offer information-rich conference sessions, insights into the latest trends impacting the direct marketing community, as well as practical strategies, tactics, and ideas from three dynamic keynote speakers.

“Operations can make or break your business,” said Yasmin Melendez, DMA’s group show director. “That’s why it’s so important in this economy to take advantage of every solution and idea to help your business survive and thrive. Ideas are free — NCOF is the place to cash in on some of the ideas that really work; our three keynote speakers are full of them.”

“Today’s business leaders have to know how to compete,” said Angela Eastin, group show director, Penton Media. “They have to know when, where, and how to think outside the box. That can be especially difficult with the economy right now, which is where our NCOF keynote speakers come in. Every attendee is bound to have ideas of their own sparked from these three presentations.”

Tuesday, March 24

The Future is Now

Nolan W. Burris, President & Chief Vision-eer, Visionistics Enterprises, Inc.

8:15 a.m. — 9:15 a.m.

During this opening general session keynote presentation, Burris will take attendees on a whirlwind tour of the future by exploring past and present trends as well as today’s visionary ideas and discuss how to make it all work for today.

Tuesday, March 24

The Geek Squad Saves the World

Robert Stephens, Founder and CEO, Geek Squad

12:15 p.m. — 1:40 p.m.

In his luncheon keynote presentation, Stephens will explore how he took $200, a crazy idea, and his love for all things technical and made the boring world of computer support famous.

Wednesday, March 25

Brand Energy Power

Kathleen Peterson, Chief Vision Officer, PowerHouse Consulting, Inc.

12:15 p.m. — 1:40 p.m.

Peterson’s luncheon keynote presentation will focus on teaching attendees how Brand Energy Power can help move organizations from vision to action, drive the brand and customers’ experiences through every touch point, unify every employee with a shared set of goals, and create loyal customers.

About NCOF

The National Conference for Operations & Fulfillment (NCOF) is the only conference for catalog, online, and multichannel retailers. NCOF is dedicated to providing information, ideas, and trends in operations management to help companies achieve greater productivity, efficiency, quality, cost control, customer satisfaction, and profitability. With a 19-year track record of success delivering buyers and sellers of operations and fulfillment products, services and systems, NCOF’s unique back-end focus makes it an important educational resource for direct-to-customer business.

About Multichannel Merchant

Multichannel Merchant is the leading information source for senior-level executives at catalog, online, retail and b-to-b merchants. Our suite of print, online and event services takes these industry professionals to the heart of multichannel retailing, helping them stay on top of tactics and techniques that are crucial to improving market share and profitability—while integrating front-end and back-end operations and everything in between. Our editors provide the expert strategic advice and practical techniques that operations professionals urgently need to improve efficiencies, productivity, cost savings, and customer service covering the entire fulfillment process—from the moment an order is entered to its delivery at the customer’s doorstep. For more information, visit http://www.multichannelmerchant.com.

About Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of businesses and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates standards for responsible marketing, promotes relevance as the key to reaching consumers with desirable offers, and provides cutting-edge research, education, and networking opportunities to improve results throughout the end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,400 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 48 other nations, including half of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2008, marketers — commercial and nonprofit — spent $176.9 billion on direct marketing, which accounted for 52.1 percent of all ad expenditures in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated approximately $2.057 trillion in incremental sales. Last year, direct marketing accounted for approximately 10 percent of total US gross domestic product. Also, there are today 1.6 million direct marketing employees in the US. Their collective sales efforts directly support 9.3 million other jobs, accounting for a total of 10.9 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

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