DMA Boardgames: The Aftermath of the Association’s Fall Follies

DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBER GERRY PIKE'S FIGHT IS OVER.

He's back on the board, along with two new members chosen at his recommendation. But will the fresh blood lead to any real reform for the DMA?

For those out of the loop, in the weeks leading up to the DMA's annual business meeting, Pike, who hadn't been re-nominated to the board, waged a proxy campaign online to get members' proxy votes. The DMA countered by urging members to stay the course and turn their votes over to the association.

Pike's communications struck a chord with many DMA members, coalescing their frustration with the organization. His hot button issue was DMA president and CEO John A. Greco's compensation, which, as of mid-2008, was nearly $840,000.

But the salary squawk overshadowed some of the other points Pike raised, such as perceptions that DMA management isn't serving members' needs, that advocacy and lobbying successes aren't being communicated, and that member groups such as councils have been eviscerated.

A compromise was reached before the mid-October meeting, and neither side released the number of proxies received. Three board members who had stood for re-nomination agreed to step away, and Pike and the two new members took their places. Three non-voting member representatives were also appointed to the board; what their duties will be are unclear.

All aspects of the organization are up for review, right down to its name and logo, says incoming board chair Eugene Raitt, who admits they don't reflect the increasing importance that digital channels play in marketing mixes.

The spark for change didn't begin with Pike, said Raitt, who noted in a late October interview that he himself had been championing the issue for over a year. “You may not recognize the DMA in a few years,” Raitt said. “It will be bigger, stronger and more viable.”

But in the end, will the maneuvering of the board really make a difference?

“A lot of us who had lapsed into a period of indifference to the DMA now seem to have become interested again — and energized,” says Chicca D'Agostino, founder and president of Focus Worldwide.

Focus has been a DMA member since the list and data company first opened 1994, and D'Agostino has participated in a variety of clubs and councils. “I served…along with a group of smart, talented individuals who were dedicated to making a difference in the industry and volunteered many hours in this effort.”

When the DMA dismissed the council operating committees without any prior discussion, according to D'Agostino, “It felt like such a slap in the face to all of us who had worked so hard, as if everything we had accomplished — and wanted to continue doing — had little value.”

With Pike back on the DMA board, D'Agostino is looking forward to seeing how the organization will change.

“I don't feel the DMA has kept pace with the times,” she says. “Hundreds of start-up companies founded by bright, creative, innovative 20-somethings have come on the scene in the past few years. Their companies specialize in the areas of mobile marketing, PURLs, social media, etc. The DMA's efforts moving forward should be with this in mind.”