THOUGHT LEADER FORUMS AT DMA05 PROVIDE TOP LEVEL ADVICE

New York, NY, August 22, 2005 – DMA05’s Thought Leader Forums, taking place Oct. 18 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, will focus on issues identified by The DMA to be the year’s hot topics. Consumer Behavior/Segmentation; Business-to-Business (B-to-B) Marketing; Creative Execution; Multichannel Marketing; and Executive Issues will be the subjects of thought provoking discussion when thousands of direct marketing professionals gather for the direct marketing community’s premier event.

“While DMA 05 concurrent sessions are designed to offer specifics on the art and science of direct marketing, the Thought Leader Forums are vision quests, addressing big picture topics and inspiring creative give-and-take,” says Ellen Shannon, DMA 05’s executive producer. “Attendees really get fired up by these sessions. They look forward to the barrage of new ideas each year, and to getting advice from people who are really in the know.”

This year’s Thought Leaders represent the fields’s elite in their respective specialty areas:

J. Walker Smith, President, Yankelovich Partners (Consumer Behavior/Segmentation), has been described by Fortune magazine as "one of America's leading analysts on consumer trends." He is an authority on social trends in America, whose quotable insights appear regularly in the national media and business press. Smith will address the gap between consumer expectations and marketing practices, offering attendees his personal insights from his new book, Coming to Concurrence.

Neil Metviner, President, Pitney Bowes Direct (B-to-B Marketing) is responsible for Pitney Bowes’ rapidly growing global small business customer base, supplies operations, and US customer care functions. He also served as president of Pitney Bowes Small Business Solutions, with responsibility for the management of 800,000 small business customers in the US. Metviner will demonstrate how America’s small businesses represent a big business opportunity for marketers who know how to reach them.

Jon Roska, Founding Partner, Roska Direct (Creative Execution), has pioneered acquisition and customer marketing techniques that have set standards in the B-to-B, consumer, and healthcare sectors. In recent years, his groundbreaking fusion of brand and direct marketing has charted a new course for advertising. An acclaimed author and speaker, Roska will present his formula for creating the all-new Fusion Marketing.

Frederick K. Neil, Vice President, Decision Support/Strategic Marketing, CDW (Multichannel Marketing), drives CDW's catalog and direct marketing efforts, and is responsible for finding the most effective ways to attract new customers and earn greater sales from existing customers. He will offer his insights on multichannel marketing to both the B-to-B and B-to-C sectors.

The Executive Issues forum brings together four top thinkers to address the first 100 days of any new leadership position – offering advice to marketing executives on the first steps to take in a new situation, or to address a new challenge, to ensure long-term productivity and success. The featured speakers are: Christopher Nadherny, Executive Recruiter, Spencer Stuart; Mitch Rhodes, President of Safeway Online/Home Grocer.com; Steve Frary, CEO of Oriental Trading; and Jonathan Flicker, EVP Marketing, Guthy-Renker.

To register, or for additional information about DMA05 in Atlanta this October 15-19, visit www.dma05.org or call 800.293.7279. Register by the August 31 early bird date and save $200.

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About The DMA

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading trade association for businesses and organizations interested in direct, interactive, and database marketing, which in 2004 generated more than $2.3 trillion in US sales, including $143.3 billion in catalog sales and $52.5 billion in Web-driven sales. In addition to catalogs and the Web, DMA members employ a wide variety of marketing media, including mail, e-mail, telephone, newspapers and magazines, interactive television, and radio, among others. Founded in 1917, The DMA today has more than 5,200 corporate, affiliate, and chapter members from the US and 46 other nations, including 55 companies listed on the Fortune 100. Reflecting the significant and growing role that direct marketing plays in today's advertising mix, The DMA's membership represents marketers from every business segment, including catalogers, Internet retailers, retail stores, nonprofit organizations, advertising agencies, financial services providers, book and magazine publishers, book and music clubs, industrial manufacturers, and a host of other vertical segments, as well as the service industries that support marketers.

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