From:     TargetRight Marketing <>
Subject:     Webinar: Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Renting B2B Email Lists

My initial thought was that they clearly couldn’t effectively rent a B2B email list and that is enough of a reason to not go to the webinar.

I mentioned the email online and one of my delivery friends mentioned wanting to see headers. This confused me, until I checked and realized that the mail came through that particular ESP. I sent a copy off to abuse@ and considered the matter done.

But there was even more fail than was immediately obvious. I did receive a helpful response from the ESP rep. It said:

Hi Laura,

You signed up for emails from the DMA Northern California like 100 years ago.
You unsubscribed from those emails like 100 years ago.
TopRight emailed this third party offer to that list, but from another account.
And they included people who had previously unsubscribed. Including you.
Let’s assume that wasn’t on purpose.
Also, the from address wasn’t DMA NC, nor was the body content, nor was there any reference whatsoever.

Oh. That list. See, when I first started out I attended one or two talks put on by the local DMA folks. At one or another of the sessions I paid my fee and was told to hand over a business card. Being a bit new at this I did. A few weeks later I started getting spam from the Northern California DMA. I know better now than to hand over a business card at something like this if I don’t want email.

So I unsubscribed from the DMA list, as the ESP said, like 100 years ago.

Some stunningly bad practices all around.

[O]ne outcome of the DMA’s recent proxy fight with Board member Gerry Pike is that I’ve been appointed to the DMA’s Board and its Executive Committee and have been labeled “part of the reform movement” in the trade press. While I wasn’t actively leading the charge on DMA reform with Gerry, I am very enthusiastic about taking up my new role.

I gave Gerry my proxy and support for a number of reasons, and those reasons will form the basis of my agenda as a DMA Board member. As a DMA member, and one who used to be fairly active, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the DMA over the past few years.

1. The DMA could be stronger in fighting for consumers’ interests.

2. Despite a number of very good ideas, the DMA’s execution around interactive marketing has been lacking.

3. Finally, I think the DMA suffers from a lack of transparency that doesn’t serve it well in the hyper-connected world we live in here in 2009.

Best of luck to Matt and Gerry in accomplishing this agenda. A strong, consumer aware DMA can only help both the marketers and consumer.

Previous post: Tension at the DMA

HT: Box of Meat

The dispute has also generated a lawsuit as the DMA alleges that Mr. Pike has inappropriately used the DMA membership contact lists to support his bid for election.

Who is Gerry Pike Big Fat Marketing Blog
Proxy fight for DMA board Direct Mag
Legal action against Pike DirectMag
DMA proxy fight DirectMag
Gunfight at the DMA corral Ken Magill

Cognitive dissonance among marketers

I fully understand the desire to control access to information put on the web, and the desire to know who is reading your stuff. And, of course, the DMA is all about collecting personal information in order to provide meaningful targeted advertising to recipients. If this is not their goal with the website, then there is no reason to require registration.

Taken with the EEC fiasco, it demonstrates that the DMA is not a leader in online marketing.