Welcome to the first week of the SDMA blog.

My name is Cynthia Cruver and I’m the SDMA’s ’07-’08 president. Sharon Long Baerny of We Know Words, left the organization to me in good order at the end of her presidency last year. And not only that, she set up the new blog spot. (Thank you Sharon.)

In 2004, the national Direct Marketing Association (DMA) based in NYC cut loose its local chapters and a scrappy bunch of entrepreneurial DM professionals picked up the pieces and built a very nice organization. The difference? More relevant content for our regional market place that focuses heavily on new technology and DM techniques. The organization continues to evolve with 100% volunteer labor and offers fabulous direct marketing networking.

This year we set out to clear up a few misunderstandings about the SDMA and direct marketing in general. Direct marketers don’t just put paper in the US postal system—we use a variety of media to illicit responses—direct email marketing, paper, online and more. Email marketers are direct marketers. And, there’s a big difference between the DMA and SDMA.

The board repositioned the .org with the help of SDMA VP of Marketing, Stuart Gordon of the Hacker Group. (See new positioning statement at the end of this post.)

Before I close, here’s a little about me. My day job is as a partner and account executive for GCDirect, a boutique DM firm located in Seattle, Washington. Previous to this business I was a partner at Three a.m. Direct. I help B2B and B2C marketers generate new customers and maintain existing customers.

From a personal standpoint I love the SDMA because I always come away from the meetings with new information and new tools I can immediately use to help my clients and my own business. Meeting for dinner and drinks (rather than lunch or breakfast), makes the learning more fun and less pressured (i.e. don’t have to rush back to the office or a meeting and get to have a cocktail which is always nice!)

On November 7 we have an amazing set of marketers speaking about the latest in email practices from Tommy Bahama, Expedia, Alaska Airlines and Microsoft. Something for everyone with actionable items to take away and use immediately. This meeting is our first EVER east side event to be held at The Bellevue Club in Bellevue. Please join us!

A special thanks to Compendium for sponsoring the SDMA with their compended blogging ASP. Thank you Chris Baggot!

And here’s who we are today:

The SDMA connects area marketing professionals with new ideas and emerging technologies. It nurtures innovative thinking in all areas of marketing, including ecommerce, creative development, data and production. Frequently scheduled events feature prominent speakers on a variety of relevant and cutting-edge topics, as well as quality networking SDMA membership is open to all interested marketing professionals.