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By Jim Carey, Core Strategies
Jimmy Durante used to say, "We
are faced with insurmountable opportunities."
I feel that way sometimes. The future
is ours... if we don't screw it up.
As direct marketers, we stand at the
crossroads of revolutions in communications,
computing, manufacturing, distribution
and finance. These will drive the whole
world economy in the next century.
But how do we get a grip on this incredible
future? How do we seize this opportunity...
when in real life, everyone is working
too hard, and no one has the resources
they would like to have?
I think that the answer for us is partly
in upgrading our skill set, and partly
in upgrading our mind set. And that's
what I hope the CADM can help do for you.
Because the CADM exists to help make
you more valuable to your company... and
to yourself.
Upgrading Our Mind Set
First, we have to upgrade our self definition.
If we allow ourselves to be stereotyped
as "the mail people," we're
dead. And we deserve to be.
Instead, we have to make clear that we're
the masters of personalized, interactive
relationship building... the marketers
who know how to make the most profitable
use of technology... and that we've been
doing it for a long time.
Let's say that... and let's be that.
Upgrading Our Skill Set
We also need to keep our skills sharp.
It seems that half the stuff I knew five
years ago doesn't matter any more. In
fact, it gets in the way if I'm not careful.
Meanwhile, there is so much new stuff
that it's impossible to keep up. Think
of it - e-commerce, predictive modeling,
lifetime value, privacy, data warehouses,
digital printing, regulatory changes -
those are just a few.
How do we keep up? How do we upgrade
our skill set? The CADM can help.
Delivering The Knowledge You Need
We want to make the CADM the clearinghouse
for the knowledge you need to succeed.
Our programming will focus on delivering
user case studies about what works now
in four areas:
- The Basics - For those who
are new to the business, and those who
want a broader perspective. We're also
updating the Basic Course to keep pace
with changes in the business.
- Creative and Message Development
- To focus on how to communicate in
a compelling manner; how to be on strategy,
build the brand and increase sales.
- Database Marketing - To focus
on what's really working now; and how
technology, marketing and business practices
can work together.
- E-commerce - To focus on best
practices for consumer and business-to-business
marketing, and how we can build on our
existing expertise.
New Special Interest Groups - for
free
This year, every member is entitled
to join one Special Interest Group (SIG)
for free. (Additional SIG's are only $10/year.)
We already have five established SIG's
- Creative Exchange, Business to Business,
PhoneBIZ, Entrepreneur Exchange, and Financial
Network.
Now, we're adding four new SIG's - E-commerce,
Database Marketing, Not for Profit, and
Production.
And we'll increase programming between
SIGs and with groups outside the CADM.
New Ways to Deliver Value to You
We're developing new ways to reach you.
We'll use conference call programs that
you can access from your desk. We'll be
making extensive use of e-mail, including
an e-supplement to Admarks. We'll be archiving
presentations on the web site so you can
access them later. And we're looking for
your ideas about what we program and how
we deliver it.
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