Executive search firm Spencer Stuart has been chosen to help pick the successor to Direct Marketing Association president H. Robert Wientzen.
The DMA said last month that it wants its new leader in place by July 1, when Wientzen steps down.
The search committee wouldn’t discuss the qualities they are seeking in Wientzen’s replacement, said Michael Sherman, vice chairman of Crosstown Traders Inc. and chairman of the DMA’s search committee.
The committee would consider candidates with expertise in policy issues, association leaders, entrepreneurs and company leaders, said Sherman. “We are looking for the best available person who’s going to take the association forward,” he added.
Sherman confirmed that a number of candidates already had applied for the job. Their names have been forwarded to Spencer Stuart.
Could a woman take the top spot for the first time in DMA history?
“We are looking for a man or a woman,” Sherman said. “We said we want a diverse search, and we want the best candidate.”
Wientzen’s term has been clouded by federal regulations that have limited the industry, including Can Spam and the telemarketing do-not-call registry.
Would the committee look for someone who is steeped in Washington policy issues?
“We’re debating this question now — do we hire a former [member of Congress]?” said Sherman.
Spencer Stuart has a sophisticated association practice in Washington, said Jim Horton, spokesman for the search firm, who noted that the firm has a policy of not talking about ongoing searches.
Spencer Stuart is the third-largest retained search firm in revenue in the United States and globally, according to Executive Recruiter News, a newsletter that reports on the executive search field.
“They are highly regarded both within and outside the search community and are one of a small number of firms that compete for this kind of search,” said Joseph Daniel McCool, vice president and editor in chief of the monthly newsletter.
Leading the search at Spencer Stuart are Leslie H. Hortum and Christopher C. Nadherny. They can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
Besides Sherman, members of the DMA’s search committee include Rebecca Jewett, the DMA’s 2004 chair and vice chairman of Norm Thompson Outfitters; Joseph Lawler, R.R. Donnelley; Ronald Bliwas, A. Eicoff & Co.; Gordon Cooke, head of J. Jill Group; Pat Campbell, managing partner of Terra Nova Marketing Solutions; and Liz Kislik of the consulting firm Liz Kislik Associates.
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