ACCM Announces L.L. Bean Legacy Leon Gorman and Credit Suisse s David McQuillen to Keynote

New York, NY, March 1, 2007 - The Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) will present keynotes by L.L. Bean legacy Leon Gorman, who serves as the company’s chairman and is its former president, and David McQuillen, vice president of customer experience & voice of the customer at Credit Suisse (Zurich, Switzerland). ACCM (www.accmshow.com) will be held May 21 - 23 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

Leon Gorman
Chairman of the Board and Former President
L.L. Bean
Tuesday, May 22, 8:45 AM - 10:00 AM

The legendary L.L. Bean company was started by Gorman’s grandfather and entrepreneur Leon L. Bean in 1912 based on the simply stated business philosophy: "Sell good merchandise at a reasonable profit, treat your customers like human beings, and they'll always come back for more."

After taking over the post of president in 1967, Gorman introduced the "stakeholder concept," which linked the company's success to its customers, employees, and the environment. Over the next 30 years, he turned the company into a billion-dollar, multichannel enterprise - and left a significant mark on the conservation community. In 1992, Gorman was inducted into the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Hall of Fame. In 2001, he stepped down from L.L. Bean as president and was named Chairman of the Board.

Speaking at ACCM on May 22, Gorman will present a true-to-life account of the iconic company just as he does in his newly released book, L.L. Bean: The Making of an American Icon. He will share his experiences and the behind-the-scenes struggles that preserved the identity that his grandfather’s company had built. He also will address how he opened the door to needed change, making L.L. Bean the 21st century multichannel marketing all-star that it is.

David McQuillen
Vice President, Customer Experience & Voice of the Customer
Credit Suisse - Zurich, Switzerland
Wednesday, May 23, 8:45 AM - 9:45 AM

David McQuillen, who was named one of the “Top Ten Creative Minds of 2006” by Fast Company magazine, establishes programs that allow management to interact with their own company from their customers' point of view. At ACCM on Wednesday, McQuillen will describe how to set up "customer experience immersion programs" that help companies experience the company through the Web site, call center, in person, and through printed materials. He will explore the impact these programs can have on establishing a true customer culture that will improve customer satisfaction and sales.

At Credit Suisse, McQuillen leads two teams. The first, Customer Experience, is a team of designers charged with improving customer experiences at all customer touchpoints. The second team, Voice of the Customer, is responsible for helping Credit Suisse's more than 250 Lean Sigma Black Belts gather, manage, and act on client insights. His prior experience includes work at e-Invest, Accenture Strategic Services, and NCR.

McQuillen’s efforts have been featured in magazines such as Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Darwin, and leading marketing magazines in Europe.

About ACCM

Co-sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and Multichannel Merchant, the Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) is the world’s largest and most comprehensive conference for catalog, Internet, and multichannel professionals. For more information and to register, please visit www.accmshow.com.

About Multichannel Merchant

MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT helps executives manage all facets of their businesses by providing superior analysis of successful strategies across all areas of multichannel marketing - print, catalogs, e-commerce, merchandising, operations, retail, and more. It’s the one source that helps professionals capitalize on opportunities in their core businesses, and integrate strategies to maximize their successes in each channel. MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT’S franchise includes MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT magazine; the Annual Conference for Catalog & Multichannel Merchants (ACCM); MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT Weekly, List & Data Strategies, and Searchline e-newsletters; www.multichannelmerchant.com; the Annual Multichannel Merchant Awards; and much more.

About 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 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 end-to-end direct marketing process. Founded in 1917, DMA today represents more than 3,600 companies from dozens of vertical industries in the US and 50 other nations, including a majority of the Fortune 100 companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.

In 2006, marketers - commercial and nonprofit - spent $166.5 billion on direct marketing in the United States. Measured against total US sales, these advertising expenditures generated $1.93 trillion in incremental sales. Last year, direct marketing accounted for 10.3 percent of total US GDP. Also, there are today 1.7 million direct marketing employees in the US alone. Their collective sales efforts directly support 8.8 million other jobs. That accounts for 10.5 million US jobs.

The Power of Direct: Relevance. Responsibility. Results.

RSS Subscription