Here’s My DMA Story

Yeah, back in 1999, bright-eyed and eager to tackle the direct marketing world, I opened Johnson Direct and immediately joined the DMA. I figured that it was a good idea to be associated with the industry’s leading association. I also assumed it would be a prerequisite to speaking at the conference. I was wrong. But the story gets better.

When Mr. Greco became the leader, I was actually excited to see him speak, give his state of the union address and help make the direct response marketing industry stronger as we moved into interactive media. I attended the conference — not as a delegate — I refuse to pay $2,000 for sessions that I could be giving — so I use the location as a central meeting point for clients and prospects. As I was walking into the opening general session, sans name badge (remember, I was not an official conference delegate, but was a DMA member). I was stopped by a DMA staffer, told I could not attend as only registered delegates could see the new guy give his speech and was summarily told to leave.

As luck would have it, that night I attended a party that a supplier was hosting and may have had one , okay, maybe three or four, too many beers and guess who walks into the party? Yep, Mr. Greco.

If you have ever met me, I am a nice guy. I can be, however, quite direct. I approached Mr. Greco and explained how ludicrous it was to ban DMA members from the defacto annual meeting — the general session at the conference — simply because they did not fork over $2k or more to participate in the conference. I explained that more members typically attend the general session than the “Annual Meeting” — which was being held at a Ritz-Carlton the next day by-the-way. My position was/is that DMA members should be allowed into the conference opening general session, regardless of registration at the annual conference. As a matter of fact, the DMA used to encourage as many people as possible to attend that opening.

Mr Greco was cordial, listened to me and said he agreed with my comments. I did not renew my membership the next year and have not been a DMA member since. I have no plans to rejoin. I hope they get great attendance at the annual meeting. It may be better this year than the conference attendance from what I am hearing.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that the DMA has become a reactive, not proactive organization and it’s hurting us all. Postage increases, do-not-call regulation, pending do-not-mail legislation and no focus on emerging media. Ouch.

For the record, Gene Raitt is top-notch. He was a client of mine. Gerry Pike? Don’t know him.

To me, the question comes back to a passion of mine: relevancy. Is the DMA relevant to its members? Let’s hope the vote at the annual meeting makes that clear.