Kevin Noonan has left his post as executive director of the Association for Interactive Marketing to join New York e-mail performance management firm Return Path.
Noonan departs AIM, a subsidiary of the Direct Marketing Association, after 18 tumultuous months, during which AIM and the DMA struggled to devise a common industry approach to dealing with spam.
Last summer, the DMA quashed an AIM e-mail best practices document that defined spam as unsolicited commercial e-mail, a definition supported by many e-mail marketers. The DMA/AIM guidelines eventually were released in October without defining spam.
“It was just a great opportunity with Return Path,” Noonan said. “AIM's much more robust when I took over the helm, and it was time to not pass up a great opportunity when it came up.”
At Return Path, Noonan will be director of new business development, in charge of promoting Return Path's e-mail assurance and change-of-address services. Prior to AIM, Noonan was group vice president of Internet and media research at The Yankee Group.
DMA spokesman Lou Mastria said a search has begun for Noonan's replacement.
