DMA TELESERVICES COUNCIL HONORS JOHN CROUTHAMEL AND NICOLE COGAN

The DMA Teleservices Council announced today that John Crouthamel, founder and CEO of zConnex, is the recipient of the 2006 Teleservices Excellence Award for outstanding performance in the teleservices industry. The council also presented a new honor, the Teleprofessional of the Year Award, to Nicole Cogan, vice president and group program manager for Campbell-Ewald.

The awards were presented at a luncheon held during DMA's Teleservices Conference in Newport Beach, CA.

Teleservices Excellence Award: John Crouthamel

John Crouthamel's career in direct marketing began 28 years ago at Grolier Incorporated where his management skills and vision enabled the company to design, develop, and launch the first automated outbound telephone dialing and data management system of its kind.

Today, as founder and CEO of zConnex Group, Crouthamel, brings a multitude of corporate leadership in the direct marketing industry to the company. In addition to his role as CEO, he is responsible for Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Call Center CRM Quality, and Voice Technology interface programs.

Prior to founding zConnex Group, Crouthamel served as vice president of Network Services at WebMD in the company's Practice Service division. He also was a co-founder of Intelogistics, Inc., where he served as president and CEO until the company joined forces with Prosodie Interactive. He also served as president of FirstCall Communications, which earned four awards during his tenure, including the American Telemarketing Association's prestigious TELO AWARD.

Teleprofessional of the Year Award: Nicole Cogan

Leading Campbell-Ewald Program Headquarters, Nicole Cogan manages all operational aspects of the company's substantial direct and fulfillment business for clients, including Chevrolet, the United States Navy and the US Postal Service.

Recruited to Campbell-Ewald in 2000 to implement the Program Headquarters function, Cogan has developed best-of-class processes and procedures that seamlessly manage projects from inception to analysis of results. She is responsible for the training and evaluation of telemarketing and fulfillment partners to insure that their performance complies with the agency's rigorous standards.

With a background in telecommunications, Cogan brings considerable expertise to Program Headquarters leadership, and her process management skills engender excellent working relationships with clients and partners that make her an asset on any account.

About DMA

The Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org) is the leading global trade association of business and nonprofit organizations using and supporting multichannel direct marketing tools and techniques. DMA advocates industry 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 entire direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today has more than 4,800 corporate, affiliate, and chapter members from the US and 46 other nations, including 52 companies listed on the Fortune 100.

In 2005, companies spent an estimated $161 billion on direct marketing in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated an estimated $1.85 trillion in increased sales in 2005, or 7 percent of the $26 trillion in total sales in the US economy (which includes intermediate sales). All together, direct marketing accounted for 10.3 percent of total US GDP in 2005.

About DMA Teleservices Council

The goal of the DMA Teleservices Council is to represent and promote teleservices as a valuable part of the marketing mix by serving and educating "telemarketing influentials" and marketing practitioners. Also, their mission is to identify and develop the needs of individuals in a position to influence policies and practices in customer relations. For additional information on the council, visit http://www.the-dma.org/councils/teleservicescouncil or contact Kelli Hornachek at khornachek@the-dma.org or 212.790.1514.

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