For the first time, the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation will recognize three “Rising Stars”. These awards will be presented at the DMEF’s June awards dinner in conjunction with its Corporate Commitment award, which recognizes organizations that excel in nurturing younger DMers.
The new “Rising Stars” awards will be bestowed on a trio of individuals under 40 who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to the direct marketing industry.
In addition to the age requirement, candidates should have been involved with direct marketing for at least 10 years, and have demonstrated “significant business success,” according to Terri L. Bartlett, the DMEF’s president. They should also have significant commitment to giving back to the direct marketing field, such as through education or mentoring.
“They should be wise and involved beyond their years,” Bartlett said. “You should look at them and say ‘how do you do everything you do within a 24-hour time frame?’ They achieve incredible results, and have generosity of spirit in the way they conduct themselves as demonstrated in way they nurture future generations of DMers.”
The cutoff date for nominations for the Corporate Commitment award is Jan. 31. The DMEF has not set a cutoff date for the Rising Stars awards.
The challenge is finding truly worthy candidates. Before 40, many DMers are focused on their career. It takes an exceptional individual to give back at that relatively youthful stage of their professional development, said Brian Kurtz, executive VP of Boardroom Inc and a member of the DMEF’s board.
“They don’t have to be teaching on a regular basis, but they have to have some opportunity to give back, such as through a training program,” Kurtz said. “Perhaps they work for a company that fosters [employee] growth within itself, even if the company is not directly involved in direct marketing education. If, [as a result of these awards] a company comes onto our radar as one we should be involved in, that would be nice gravy.”
Kurtz noted that much of the younger DM mentoring might come via the online space. “When looking for rising stars, we owe it to ourselves to go out of terrestrial marketing. We have to look at both offline and online.”
Entry forms and submission requirements for the Corporate Commitment award may be found at www.the-dma.org/dmef/2007corpcomm.shtml. The entry form may be used to nominate individuals for the Rising Stars awards as well.
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