Today we meet Sharon Traina, vice president at Conrad Direct Inc. and a hands-on list broker. Her mother was a marketing director and worked with lists, which Traina says influenced her choice of career.

In this excerpt from his new book "The New Influencers—A Marketer's Guide to the New Social Media" (Quill Driver Books; www.newinfluencers.com) author Paul Gillin shares some thoughts on blogging etiquette.

In fiscal year 2006, the federal government had $412 billion burning a hole in its pocket. Direct marketers may be getting their share, but there's no reason why their share shouldn't be larger, according to Mark Amtower.

ACMA plans to intervene in rule and rate making, influence Congress and document the economy strength of the catalog industry, as shown by sales and the number of employees.

The Direct Marketing Association has inked a deal to merge its E-mail Marketing Council with the E-mail Experience Council, creating a leading professional organization for e-mail marketers.

Former presidential candidate Al Gore is launching a consumer-generated advertising contest to promote his environmental causes.

You’ve done your homework about which shows you’ll invest you time, money and staff resources. Now it’s time to plan your show activities. While all organizations are different and goals vary, here are some general rules.

Kodak is on the road with a tour that showcases its products and encourages consumers to become shutterbugs.

Social networking and community network Web sites like MySpace.com drive 12% of online shoppers to purchase more than they planned, according survey findings released in a report from JupiterResearch.

Despite the popular of social networking sites and other online communities, they have little effect on influencing online retail sales, a new report has found.