'The Great Email Debate' Panel Opens Day Two of Email Evolution Conference

Email Marketing Experts Share their Insights to Emailing in the New Economy

New York, NY, February 11, 2009 — The second annual Email Evolution Conference, the event for email marketers, hosted by the Email Experience Council (eec) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), today opened the final day of conference programming with the exciting keynote panel presentation entitled “The Great Email Debate.”

The panel of email marketing experts included: Greg Cangialosi, president and chief executive officer, Blue Sky Factory; Dave Hendricks, executive vice president, Datran Media; Peter Horan, chief executive officer, Goodmail Systems; Bill McCloskey, chief executive officer, Email Data Source; Kara Trivunovic, founder & principal, The Email Advisor; DJ Waldow, director of Best Practices & Deliverability, Bronto Software, Inc., and was moderated by Jeanniey Mullen, founder, Email Experience Council; global executive vice president, chief marketing officer, Zinio and VIVmag.

Greg Cangialosi is an ambassador of email marketing and new media and has built his reputation as a pioneer in today’s online landscape. Dave Hendricks is a frequent speaker and commentator on a variety of issues including email marketing, lead generation, loyalty programs, and database marketing. Peter Horan has over 25 years of experience and has held management positions at numerous corporations including About.com, BBDO, AllBusiness.com, and Ogilvy & Mather. Bill McCloskey is a well-known speaker and writer in the community and was named one of the 50 Most Influential People in Interactive Marketing by Media Magazine. Kara Trivunovic has nearly a decade of experience and has worked with many leading brands in travel, consumer packaged goods, financial services, retail, and technology. DJ Waldow is a well-known email marketing leader, and currently serves as Co-Chair of eec’s Consumer Education Roundtable. Jeanniey Mullen is recognized in the community as pioneering the first global email marketing practice, and was named one of the top 25 media people to watch.

The group of leading email experts split into two groups and tackled the very real and much debated questions among email marketers today. During these harsh economic times marketers need to be smart about where they spend both their time and their money, and learning from the experts is one sure method that will pay off. Panel questions included: Do you remove non-responders from your email list?; Do you pre-check an opt-in box or not?; and Do you ask for single opt-in or double opt-in?.

The session let all seven experts share their experiences, insights, and personal approaches to email marketing in our new economy. Attendees listened in as panelists went head to head, arguing their case for each of the positions they supported, as well as providing evidence, testimonials, and best practices to support their view.

Attendees were also encouraged to take an active role in this interactive “Great Email Debate.” Many were joining the conversation, reacting to the evidence, as well making their own views known in the live Twitter stream made available.

About the Email Experience Council (eec)

The Email Experience Council (eec) (www.emailexperience.org), the Direct Marketing Association’s vertical working group that is focused on the email marketing industry, is a global professional organization striving to enhance the image of email marketing and communications, while celebrating and advocating its importance in business, and its ROI value. The eec is committed to regularly conducting a broad series of email initiatives for a variety of organizations that highlight the positive impact and importance of email as a marketing tool, communications vehicle, and branding device. Additionally, eec members are setting the standards for email through Member Roundtables. The eec members are representatives of other trade organizations, agencies, advertisers, technology partners, clients, and companies focused on the potential of email marketing via mobile and other digital devices.

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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