DMA Solicits Board Nominees

The Direct Marketing Association has opened nominations for vacancies on its 2011 board of directors.

To be eligible, DMA board candidates must be senior-level executives — president; chief executive officer; chief operating officer; chief marketing officer; etc. — and meet the following criteria:

Have the authority to speak for their company, organization, or division;
Maintain a leadership role in the field of direct marketing;
Capable of representing their membership segment;
Currently a voting member of a DMA member company in good standing;
Available for board meetings held in January, May, and October;
Available to serve on DMA’s Standing Committees; and
Have no conflict of interest with DMA.

According to a DMA statement, the greatest need for board representation exists in the nonprofit organization and business-to-consumer segments.

Nominations will be evaluated by the DMA nominating committee, which is chaired by the immediate past DMA chairman of the board Kelly B. Browning. The nominating committee will then present the status of nominations to the full board in May.

DMA members will vote on the final slate of board nominees during the Association’s annual business meeting which will be held during the DMA2010 Conference & Exhibition on Oct. 10.

Nomination forms are available at http://www.the-dma.org/aboutdma/Board_Nomination_Form10.pdf. They can be returned via email to [email protected]; via fax to 212.768.7353; or mail to Direct Marketing Association, Attn: M. Mulvihill, 1120 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10036-6700. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, Feb. 26, 2010.

The Provocateur’s Take: All right, folks. With the understanding that only around one-third of the seats are going to turn over, let’s knock around some ideas as to what sort of individuals could/should be nominated. Here’s the current roster: http://www.the-dma.org/aboutdma/boardofdirectors.shtml. Which industries aren’t represented? Which perspectives would be needed? And does e-commerce guru and Big Fat Marketing Blog contributor Amy Africa have the time or inclination to add her considerable knowledge to the board? Or perhaps offering a seat to a Capitol Hill insider? How ‘bout giving the CEO of a very, very small Web-based business a seat, for diversity’s sake? The number of firms with annual revenue under $5 million represented on the board seems kinda… nonexistent.