If the sky seemed so bright one night in June that you had to wear shades, blame the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation.
Last month the DMEF handed out its annual Rising Star Awards, which recognize DM pros age 40 or younger who show superior leadership and have a “stellar” track record of giving back through teaching and mentoring.
This year's winners were Draftfcb senior vice president Janet Barker-Evans; Rodale Direct vice president, database marketing Todd Leiser; Google sales operations senior analyst Joseph Pak; NextMark founder/president Joe Pych; and Datacore Marketing founder/president/CEO Jeff Yowell.
“Nothing represents the potential of tomorrow like the spirit and success — not to mention the variety — of our recipients,” said DMEF chairman Allen W. Dyon in a statement. “These awards recognize an unwavering commitment to advancing the direct marketing profession.”
The DMEF also gave Wunderman/KnowledgeBase Marketing its Corporate Commitment Award. Previous recipients include Time Consumer Marketing, Bookspan, Kraft and America Online.
