Bio for H. Robert Wientzen

H. Robert Wientzen, a marketing veteran with over 30 years of experience, was appointed President & Chief Executive Officer of the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) in October 1996. In that capacity, Bob is responsible to The DMA Board of Directors and oversees all facets of The DMA's work. Prior to his appointment, Bob had been an active DMA member for over 20 years, serving six of those years as a member of The DMA Board of Directors.

As president and CEO, Bob has aggressively expanded The DMA. With The DMA’s 1998 acquisition of the Association for Interactive Marketing (AIM) and 1999 acquisition of the Internet Alliance (IA), The DMA became the largest organization committed to the development and growth of Internet marketing and electronic commerce. In 2000, The DMA acquired the National Federation of Nonprofits, which was renamed The DMA Nonprofit Federation.

Bob serves on the United States Chamber of Commerce’s Association Committee of 100, which is composed of the country’s leading association chief staff executives. He is a member of the Advertising Council’s Board. A proponent of earth-friendly industry practices, Bob is chairman of the Paper Industry Association Council (PIAC).

Prior to his DMA appointment, Bob was CEO/Chairman of Advanced Promotion Technologies, Inc. (APT). Bob took on the challenge of launching APT after a 27-year career with marketing giant Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of The DMA's founding member companies. At P&G, Bob pioneered the company's early direct marketing efforts, facilitated the development of its consumer database, orchestrated P&G promotions, and launched several catalogs for P&G.

A longtime devoted community activist for youth services, Bob served as Chairman of the Ohio Juvenile Justice Commission under three governors. In 1982, President Reagan named Bob to the U.S. Justice Department Advisory Board, which advised the President on criminal justice matters and budgeting. In 1969, he founded New Life Youth Services (now known as Lighthouse Youth Services), Cincinnati, one of the nation's largest private youth service organizations. He served as the organization's president for 25 years and presently sits on its Board of Trustees.

Bob holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from Providence College and a Master's Degree in psychology from George Washington University in Washington, DC. He served as a captain in the United States Army during the early 1960's. Bob and his wife Lucille, who reside in New York City and Boca Raton, have two children and three grandchildren.

The DMA is the largest trade association for businesses interested in direct, database, and interactive global marketing, with about 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 foreign nations on six continents. Founded in 1917, its members include catalog companies, direct mailers, teleservice firms, Internet marketers, and other at-distance marketers from every consumer and business-to-business segment, both commercial and nonprofit, and companies that provide supplies and services to marketers.

The DMA represents its members' interests in the 50 states as well as in on Capitol Hill and at the U.S. Postal Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Communications Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies. The DMA increasingly is active in international government relations, reflecting the rapid growth of transborder marketing.

The Association maintains an array of consumer education programs and services, including the Mail Preference Service, Telephone Preference Service, e-Mail Preference Service, which are free services for consumers who wish not to receive unsolicited commercial mail, telephone, and commercial e-mail solicitations, respectively.

The DMA's Corporate & Marketing Communications Department promotes the direct and interactive marketing industry and member companies to consumers, fights negative industry perceptions, ensures fair treatment by the media, and proactively addresses the issues affecting at-distance marketers. It maintains a consumer Web site, www.shopthenet.org, which provides consumer shopping and protection information and links to DMA-member companies.

The DMA's Professional Development & Training (PD&T) Department offers industry professionals a veritable direct and online marketing college. During Bob's tenure, its curriculum has expanded to reflect the rapid growth of Internet marketing and new technologies.

To serve the industry’s various segments, The DMA has 14 Councils: Alternate Response Media; Broadcast, Cable & Satellite; Business-to-Business; Catalog; Circulation; Direct Marketing Agency; Directo (Hispanic-American Marketing); Financial Services; International; List & Database; Marketing Technology & Internet; Research; Retail Marketing; and Teleservices/Customer Relations.

The DMA has seven regional Chapters: Atlanta, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Florida (Fort Lauderdale), Southern Ohio (Cincinnati), Northern California (San Francisco), Seattle, and Southern California (Orange County).

In addition to dozens of networking events around the U.S., The DMA annually offers 14 major conferences and exhibitions, including its Annual Conference & Exhibition, which is the largest gathering of direct and online marketing professionals in the world.

The DMA's Library, which is the world's largest direct marketing reference collection, includes a database of over 27,000 abstracts and full-text articles, periodicals and ECHO Award portfolios. The DMA's Research Department annually conducts and publishes dozens of member and industry studies and other resources, including the annual The DMA Statistical Fact Book and Economic Impact: U.S. Direct and Interactive Marketing Today.

The DMA's Web site (www.the-dma.org) provides immediate access to DMA information, research, and industry news, as well as an online job bank and service locator of member organizations.

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