The Direct Marketing Association will reveal preliminary findings from its 2001 State of the Catalog Industry Report at its Catalog Conference & Exposition in Boston in June.
This is the first time the DMA is giving an advance look at the report, that is traditionally released during the DMA's annual fall conference.
“We decided to release the report early because most catalogers, if they attend conferences, this is the one they most likely will attend,” said Amy Blankenship, director of consumer media relations at the DMA.
A session during the catalog conference will feature industry executives debating the findings and taking questions from the audience.
“What I hope people will get from this format is more of a personal perspective as opposed to just the raw numbers,” said Lee Lorenzen, president/CEO of Altura International/CatalogCity.com, Monterey, CA. Lorenzen will be among the panelists discussing the report.
“I think having an open dialogue on how these numbers can affect [a cataloger] by people in the business will prove beneficial,” he said.
Bill Dean, president of W.A. Dean & Associates, will moderate.
“I'm hoping this will be a lively discussion,” said Dean, whose firm co-sponsored the DMA survey. “We have people in the industry talking about how all the [statistics] affect [catalogers]. It will be a great opportunity for people to debate and ask questions.”
The session will be Tuesday, June 5, from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. Panelists include Lorenzen; Michael Sherman, president and chief marketing officer at Fingerhut; Fred Young, chairman/CEO of Black Box Corp.; Jules Silbert, executive vice president at Brylane; and George Ittner, president/CEO of Newport News.
