THE DMA ANNOUNCES 2005 HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES: MARTY EDELSTON, TIM LITLE, TED SPIEGEL

NEW YORK, June 30, 2005 – The Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) Board of Directors today announced the selection of the 2005 honorees for The DMA Hall of Fame. This year, three direct marketing leaders are being honored: Martin "Marty" Edelston, who built Boardroom, Inc. into a multimillion-dollar publishing empire; Tim Litle, principal, Litle & Co., a leading payment processor for direct marketers and the e-commerce industry; and Ted Spiegel, who helped cement Spiegel’s reputation as one of America’s leading catalog marketers.

All three honorees will be formally inducted at DMA•05, The DMA's Annual Conference & Exhibition this October 15-19 in Atlanta, GA.

"We honor the contributions and commitment to direct marketing that these three giants have made," said John A. Greco, Jr., president & CEO, The DMA. "While today we honor their work, it is the entire direct marketing community who stands to benefit most from the decades of service and support that Marty, Tim, and Ted have given to legions of colleagues and peers. Their work lives beyond today in the many professionals they have touched throughout the years. On behalf of the entire direct marketing community, for their past work, their present commitment, and the future they have helped to shape for us, I want to publicly thank Marty, Tim, and Ted."

Established in 1978, The DMA Hall of Fame honors direct marketing professionals’ outstanding career contributions to the practice, growth, and stature of the direct marketing discipline. With the induction of the 2005 honorees, the Hall of Fame will have 87 inductees.

From a business in his basement 30 years ago, Marty Edelston built Boardroom, Inc. into a multimillion-dollar publishing empire responsible for newsletters such as Bottom Line/Personal, Bottom Line/Health, Tax Hotline, and Bottom Line/Tomorrow. Bottom Line Books, the company’s book division, is recognized as one of the largest sellers of one-shot mail order books in the country. His innovations in creative, editorial, and product development have earned him widespread recognition among his peers. But it is his generosity with guidance, information, and private tutorials that rank him as one of the industry’s great teachers. His "I-Power" management incentive program serves as a model for many companies, including Kodak, Ford Motor Company, and Rubbermaid. "I-Power Seminars" have been given to thousands of individuals from hundreds of companies, large and small, across the country. A generous supporter of political and educational causes focused on direct marketing, he has also encouraged several Boardroom, Inc. staff to hold leadership positions on various DMA councils and committees.

For more than 35 years, Tim Litle has played a critical role in the growth and evolution of direct marketing. As the founder of Litle & Co., he was a pioneer in the development of payment processing and e-commerce systems for direct marketers, and played a key role in the creation of what eventually became the USPS Carrier Route Presort System. Litle is a past member of the DMA Board of Directors and its Executive Committee. He helped found the DMA’s Privacy Task Force, and is past chairman of The DMA’s Committee on Ethical Business Practice, and a Board member of the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation. A recognized direct marketing expert, Litle is frequently invited to speak before industry groups and professional organizations. His expertise has also been called upon by the International Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the White House during hearings on privacy issues. During his tenure, Litle & Co. was featured twice in Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 fastest growing private companies, and Litle himself has been honored with many entrepreneurial awards for his contributions to the direct marketing practice.

One of America’s most-recognized direct marketer brands, Spiegel mailed its first catalog in 1905. From 1957 to 1987, Ted Spiegel served in a variety of roles in the "family business," starting out as a women’s sportswear buyer and rising to leadership roles in helping change the company's image from budget-minded chain store-type catalog to one that represented an upscale "department store in print." As the founder and president of Spiegel Marketing Associates and a current partner with the Callahan Group, he has worked as a consultant to businesses, government entities, and nonprofits since 1987. His expertise in catalog marketing and business strategy has helped clients ranging from Walt Disney to Reader’s Digest to the Library of Congress. Spiegel also currently serves as professor emeritus in integrated marketing communication at Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. An active participant in The DMA, Spiegel has also served on the advisory board of Direct magazine and the U.S. Postal Service’s marketing advisory board.

Each year, The DMA Board of Directors may elect as many as four industry leaders to The DMA Hall of Fame. The DMA Hall of Fame Committee of Judges makes its selections based on nominations received through the annual call for nominations to DMA member companies and the industry at large.

John F. Temple, president and CEO of Guideposts, chaired this year’s committee of judges. Joining Temple on the committee were C. Eduard Bjorncrantz, partner, The Callahan Group, LLC; Lee Epstein, chairman, Direct Marketers Gateway, Inc.; David W. Florence, chairman & CEO, Direct Media, Inc.; Alan M. Glazer, Alan Glazer Associates LLC; Richard Hochhauser, president & CEO, Harte-Hanks, Inc.; Jim Kobs, president, Kobs Strategic Consulting; Katie Muldoon, president, Muldoon & Baer, Inc.; Jerome W. Pickholz; Stan Rapp, The Maxi Marketing Place; Jerry Shereshewsky, Ambassador Plenipotentiary to Madison Avenue, Yahoo! Inc.; Emily F. Soell, The Sloan Group; Jack E. Rosenfeld, chairman of the Board, Potpourri Group, Inc.; Ronald L. Bliwas, president & CEO, A. Eicoff & Company; and John A. Greco, president & CEO, The DMA.

The DMA is the leading trade association for businesses interested in interactive and database marketing, with nearly 4,700 member companies from the United States and 53 other nations. Founded in 1917, its members include direct marketers from every business segment as well as the nonprofit and electronic marketing sectors. Included are catalogers, Internet retailers and service providers, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, retail stores, industrial manufacturers and a host of other vertical segments, including the service industries that support them. According to a DMA-commissioned study, direct and interactive marketing sales in the United States are projected to have surpassed $2 trillion in 2002, including $126 billion in catalog sales and $34 billion in sales generated by the Internet. The DMA's Web site is www.the-dma.org, and its consumer Web site is www.shopthenet.org.

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