The Annual Catalog Conference for 2004 has been set for next May—silencing marketers’ grumbling about the ACC conflicting with the Direct Marketing Days in NY show.
The ACC, which is sponsored jointly by the DMA and Catalog Age magazine, is scheduled for May 3 to 5 at McCormick Place in Chicago, while “every effort is being made,” to keep DMD NY in June, said Christina Duffney, DMA spokesperson. (Catalog Age is a sister publication to Direct magazine.)
A possible monkey wrench: The Javits Center does not let conferences reserve dates earlier than one year in advance, so the dates for the 2004 DM Days show cannot be finalized, Duffney said.
This year, DMD NY is June 2 to 4 at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. The ACC is at the Moscone Center in San Francisco June 1 to 3. Marketers complain that they can’t possibly attend both shows.
In a related issue, the free passes to DM Days that the Direct Marketing Association is extending to airline marketers and military recruiters this year, has nothing to do with worries about attendance, said Duffney.
The DMA announced on Monday that these two groups would be given complimentary admission to the conference to be held in New York on June 2 to 4 [Direct Newsline, May 13].
“The show itself is going great,” Duffney said. “Everything is on target with attendees and exhibitors.”
Last year, some 6,000 delegates attended DMD NY. There were about the same number in 2001.
The DMA purchased the show in March.
Why comp these groups? “It was just a nice gesture,” Duffney said. “The airline industry is a bit challenged and we thought they could benefit from attending a direct marketing conference.”
As for military service recruiters, “we thought they could benefit from any direct or interactive marketing experience in light of what is going on in the world,” Duffney added.
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