NEW YORK — “List Leader of the Year, it’s about bloody time,” joked Donald Mokrynski, chairman of Mokrynski & Associates Inc., Hackensack, NJ, at a dinner honoring him as the Direct Marketing Association List & Database Council’s 2004 List Leader of the Year.
“I shouldn’t complain. Look at poor Ben Franklin — he had to be dead two centuries before he got any recognition from the DMA,” he added, referring to the DMA’s induction of that historical figure to the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame this year.
Mokrynski was honored by clients, co-workers and other industry professionals last night at The Manhattan Penthouse preceding today’s DMA List Vision 2004 conference at the Waldorf-Astoria. Chris Paradysz, CEO of ParadyszMatera and last year's List Leader, presented the award.
On a serious note, Mokrynski thanked his family and his Mokrynski & Associates family.
“It doesn’t get any better than the list business,” he said. “I share this award with all the people I’ve worked with and who have worked for Mokrynski & Associates.”
Before founding his namesake list firm in 1978, Mokrynski worked in the development and acquisition of mail-order and mailing list businesses at loyalty firm The Sperry Hutchinson Co. for eight years.
His company has more than 130 employees providing list brokerage and management as well as e-commerce and insert media services.
Mokrynski is a member of several industry groups, including the List & Database Council and the DMA Catalog Council and its Operating Committee. He also serves as the newsletter chairman of the Catalog Council.
The award is given to a list professional with at least 10 years in the industry. The recipient must be active in one or more of these list-related areas: ethics, education, practices and standards, privacy issues, postal reform, communication or environmental concerns.
